10% Happier With Dan Harris

A short, gentle body scan meditation from Bart van Melik, our Teacher of the Month for January. This isn't about fixing anything or achieving some special state. It's about finding one small place in your body that feels okay—not great, just okay—and seeing what happens when you meet that experience with a little bit of kindness. Bart is a meditation teacher and psychotherapist who has trained in Insight Meditation and Buddhist psychology. He's worked extensively in clinical settings with people dealing with stress, anxiety, and harsh self-talk. He's the guiding teacher for the Community Meditation Center in New York City. Check out more meditations from Bart throughout January in the 10% with Dan Harris app. Related episodes: Buddhist Strategies for Protecting Yourself from Everyday Chaos | Bart van Melik   Join Dan's online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel   To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.c

Plus, much more from the famed late-night TV show host. Seth Meyers is the host of Late Night with Seth Meyers. Before that, he was a cast member on Saturday Night Live for 13 seasons. In recent years he has released two standup specials: Lobby Baby, on Netflix and Dad Man Walking, on HBO. He wrote a children's book called, I'm Not Scared, You're Scared. And he co-hosts two podcasts, Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers and The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast. In this episode we talk about: How Seth maintains sanity while hosting a late-night show amid the firehose of news Joy and humor as resilience His early struggles with self-doubt  How raising children is potentially harder than hosting a late night TV show The upside of anxiety The art of listening Friendship, loyalty, and the emotional sustenance of creative partnerships. Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel To advertise on the sh

A deep dive on Ayurveda, a sophisticated system for health that's been refined over millennia. Nidhi Bhanshali Pandya is a renowned NAMA-certified Ayurvedic Doctor, the bestselling author of Your Body Already Knows (2025), and international speaker/educator known for her modern approach to women's health and longevity. In this episode we talk about: What Ayurveda actually is beyond TikTok trends  How ancient Ayurvedic principles align with (and differ from) modern medicine  How to brace yourself in the face of an imbalanced ecosystem The human tragedy of overoptimization The value of awe, fascination, and pattern-seeing as more effective than discipline or force  The three codes of life The framework to come back into our own intelligence in the kindest way  How modern life (especially electricity) disrupted our biological rhythm and created chronic imbalance The concept of balance and the Buddhist middle path as echoed in Ayurvedic texts The "inner climate" framework  Practical tools for sleep, including co

A toolkit for bringing more movement into your life.   Katy Bowman is a biomechanist who runs a movement education company, called Nutritious Movement. She's the author of 11 books, and her most recent is I Know I Should Exercise, But...: 44 Reasons We Don't Move and How to Get Over Them. In this episode we talk about: What a biomechanist does  What Katy means by "movement as nutrition"  How to determine your "movement diet" The distinction between movement and exercise  Why people don't exercise Strategies for consistency  The role of values and attention How to move if you don't like sweating  How to find time to move  The technique of "stacking your life" Overcoming embarrassment and shame related to movement  Strengthening your "so what" muscle Getting comfortable with discomfort What to do when you're addicted to your screen And much more Additional Resources: Katy's Substack   Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subs

Ever lie awake at night replaying all the moments you lost it with your kids, your partner, or your co-workers? You're not alone. Bart van Melik is back on the show (his first appearance was four years ago) as our Teacher of the Month for January. Bart has one of the more interesting origin stories in the meditation world: from a small town in the Netherlands to Kenya on an exchange program (where he met his wife of 30 years), to studying in Thailand, to teaching meditation to teenagers in juvenile detention in the South Bronx. In this conversation with executive producer DJ Cashmere, we talk about: The difference between being mindful and knowing you're mindful (and why this matters when your 11-year-old is pushing every button) Why awareness feels like protection How to stop the cycle of: snap, regret, repeat What Bart learned teaching meditation to kids in juvie who told him his meditation was "lit" Why your kids might be your fiercest Zen teachers The surprising power of saying "no" without av

Practical ways to upgrade your narrative. Melissa Febos is the national bestselling author of five books, including Girlhood, Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative, and a new memoir, The Dry Season. She is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and others. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The Best American Essays and others. She is a professor at the University of Iowa. In this episode we talk about: How to "audit" your personal narrative with simple questions Melissa's five-step method for rewriting unhelpful stories Why community, and vulnerability are required for real change; in other words, why it's harder to do this work alone Melissa's own experiences running this playbook with regard to her relationships and her addictions. Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel To advertise on the s

How psychology and spirituality can work together. Amita Schmidt is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Hawaii. She has taught Vipassana meditation for over thirty years, and was the Resident Teacher at Insight Meditation Society for six years. She is the author of the book Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master. Amita currently teaches and practices non-dual meditation and is a certified IFS (Internal Family Systems) therapist. In this episode we talk about: How psychology and spirituality can work together The basics of Internal Family Systems (or IFS) Amita's personal path through trauma, depression, and a pivotal insight that changed everything Why states like depression aren't as solid as they feel How to work with the inner critic Simple ways to access the sanest, wisest version of yourself The shift from psychological healing to spiritual insight The value of acceptance and surrender Simple pointers for sensing "aware presence" beneath all the mental noise Related Episodes: How (and Why

The legendary psychotherapist unpacks the concept of "hostile dependency" and explains why cutting people off doesn't always work. Psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author Esther Perel is a leading voice on modern relationships, known for her widely viewed TED Talks, bestselling books and the hit podcast. She runs a New York–based therapy practice and advises global organizations and platforms on the complexities of contemporary relationships. Follow Esther Perel's podcast Where Should We Begin? on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and subscribe to Entre Nous with Esther Perel on Substack for exclusive bonus content. In this episode we talk about: What Esther Perel really means by eros How modern life quietly depletes our sense of feeling alive Why aliveness can coexist with grief, pain, and difficulty  The danger of numbness  Introverts, extroverts, and the many non-social ways we experience vitality Vital sources of connection and meaning Co-regulation, touch, presence, and why words alone

Today we're gonna talk about some Buddhist hacks for two deeply related and all too common ailments: anxiety and overthinking. Most of us have struggled with one or both of these, and one of the people who has helped Dan the most is Joseph Goldstein. Regular listeners to this podcast will be familiar with Joseph and his very direct, very down-to-earth style, but if you don't know – let us introduce you. He's one of the foremost Buddhist teachers in the west, he's been Dan's teacher for about 15 years, and Dan's recently convinced him to write a book together, using a collection of these little phrases that he's cooked up over the years. Dan's been keeping a list of around a hundred or so tiny, useful phrases – bite-sized wisdom for meditation practice and for daily life. The book won't be out for a few years, but we're conducting a series of interviews with him, each one covering a few phrases, and we'll be releasing those here on the podcast.  The first installment of these interviews about Joseph's phrases

You may have noticed that your mind is out of control. It's filled with racing thoughts, ancient neuroses and grudges, revenge fantasies… So why are we like this and what can be done about it? Today, we're talking to one of our favorite people and also one of the most prominent meditation teachers in the West, Joseph Goldstein, about how "ridiculous" our minds are – that's a word he uses a lot to describe the mind – and some really compelling ways to train the mind. Spoiler: having a sense of humor is crucial here. Just by way of context: this is the first in a series of episodes with Joseph, focusing on the phrases he uses while he's teaching Buddhism and meditation. Dan and Joseph are collaborating on a book that will be a compilation of these phrases and how to use them. This book won't be out for several years, but as Dan conducts a series of interviews with Joseph, we'll release them here on the podcast. There's another part coming out this Sunday, January 4th.  Just to give you a little taste, here are

Buddhist strategies for taming that nagging voice in your head. Ofosu Jones-Quartey, a meditation teacher, author, and musician hailing from the Washington DC area, brings over 17 years of experience in sharing mindfulness, meditation and self-compassion practices with the world. Holding a bachelor's degree from American University and certified by the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, Ofosu is a graduate of the Teleos Coaching Institute and is the male voice on the Balance meditation app, reaching over 10 million subscribers.  Ofosu leads meditation classes and retreats nationwide, having taught and led retreats at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, The Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, Brooklyn Zen Center, Cleveland Insight, Inward Bound Mindfulness and more. As an accomplished hip hop artist under the name "Born I," Ofosu released the mindfulness-themed album "In This Moment" in 2021. Born I's most recent album, "Komorebi" (2025), has been hailed by listeners as "a

Radical advice on rethinking success, individualism, and the American dream.   Mia Birdsong is a pathfinder, culture change visionary, and futurist. She is the founding Executive Director of Next River, a think tank and culture change lab for interconnected freedom. In her book How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community, Mia maps swaths of community life, and points us toward the promise of our collective vitality.  In this episode we talk about: How to build community What it looks like in her own life Mutuality vs reciprocity  How to work with resentment and rejection  The etymological connection between friendship and freedom  The transformative power of asking for help And why she thinks the idea of bootstrapping—or going it alone—is a kind of self-hatred   This episode originally aired on May 22nd, 2024.   Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel To advertise on the show, co

What if the problem isn't you—but the idea that there's only one "right" way to meditate? In this episode, DJ Cashmere talks with meditation teacher Jeff Warren about how to build a mindfulness practice that actually fits your brain, nervous system, and life. Drawing from Jeff's experience with ADHD and bipolar disorder—and DJ's reflections on OCD and neurodiversity in his family—they explore why there's no such thing as a truly neurotypical mind, and why one-size-fits-all meditation advice often falls short. Rather than prescribing a single approach, Jeff emphasizes experimentation: noticing what settles you, what feels intolerable, and what helps you come back to presence. That might mean focusing on the breath, opening awareness, moving the body, journaling, or simply taking a walk. They return repeatedly to a simple litmus test for any practice: Is this helping me be here? And they frame that question through three core skills of mindfulness—clarity, concentration, and equanimity—which can be cultivated i

Worry has a way of sneaking into everything—even gratitude, loving-kindness, and joy. In this episode, Dan Harris sits down with meditation teacher and psychologist Christiane Wolf to explore how to work skillfully with worry without suppressing it, indulging it, or turning meditation into yet another way to beat yourself up. Together, they unpack some of the most common pain points meditators face: Why trying to force certain feelings (gratitude, calm, compassion) often backfires Whether worry is ever actually helpful—and how to tell when it's not How to work with fear while waiting for a health diagnosis What to do when gratitude or loving-kindness practice triggers sadness or anxiety How consumerism (hello, holiday season) fuels craving and unease When mindfulness is enough—and when psychological work is needed to avoid spiritual bypassing Christiane offers practical tools for meeting worry with kindness, curiosity, and clarity—including how to "name it to tame it," how to gently redirect att

How to find your voice when you need to be heard, learn when it's smart to choose silence, and communicate better with the people who matter most.   Elaine Lin Hering is a former Lecturer of Law at Harvard Law School. She works with organizations and individuals to build skills in communication, collaboration, and conflict management. She is the author of the book Unlearning Silence: How to Speak Your Mind, Unleash Talent, and Live More Fully.   In this episode we talk about: How we learn silence and self-editing  How we often miscalculate the cost-benefit when it comes to speaking up or staying silent Elaine's four steps to learn how to speak up and find your voice How we can unintentionally silence others, especially those closest to us, and what to do about it    This episode originally aired on May 15th, 2024. Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel   Thanks to our sponsors:  AT&T: Happy H

Your blindspots and biases block your success and happiness. Here's how to navigate that. Dr Kirstin Ferguson AM is an award-winning leadership expert, author and columnist, ranked among the top 50 management thinkers in the world. Her career began in the Royal Australian Air Force and includes roles as CEO of a global consultancy and Acting Chair of the ABC. She holds a PhD in leadership and culture, writes the popular 'Got a Minute?' column in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and is a Member of the Order of Australia.  In this episode we talk about: The concept of blindspotting – what it is and how to do it The power of intellectual humility and how to practice it The difference between seekers and knowers – and when each mindset is useful The three major thinking traps How to disentangle ego from identity, manage defensiveness, and turn feedback into growth The role of curiosity in finding truth, building psychological safety, and leading more effectively How to "read the room" in workplaces, relati

In this episode, our Teacher of the Month Jeff Warren guides you through a meditation practice inspired by Zen and the Diamond Sutra: "Don't Know Mind." Sometimes the need to know—certainty about what's true, what's coming next, or how things "should" be—can create tension, anxiety, and overthinking. The antidote? Letting go of that need, resting in curiosity and openness, and cultivating a mind that dwells nowhere. To get more meditations from Jeff and our other teachers — plus join our weekly live sessions (every Tuesday at 4pm ET) — you can sign up at DanHarris.com. Related episodes: Working With a Brain That Doesn't Behave | Jeff Warren   Join Dan's online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel   To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris  

In this short solo episode, Dan shares a major update: after hearing from listeners and subscribers, he and the team have built a brand-new meditation app — 10% with Dan Harris. He explains why he returned to the app world, what makes this offering different, and how it's designed to help you build (and keep) a practice through community, live sessions, guided meditations, and more. Dan also announces a 30-day free trial and a special upcoming New Year's challenge with Joseph Goldstein. Important links: Download the new app: iPhone/iPad: App Store  /  Android: Google Play Store Step-by-step guide for existing subscribers Contact support: support@danharris.com (hi, Roy!)   Join Dan's online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris  

It is okay—and even beautiful—to be the idiot you are. Jiryu Rutschman-Byler is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest and teacher in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, with dharma transmission from Sojun Mel Weitsman. Jiryu has trained residentially in Zen temples since 1996, and currently serves as a co-Abbot of San Francisco Zen Center through his role as Abiding Abbot of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. Jiryu is the final editor of legendary Zen master Shunryu Suzuki's Becoming Yourself: Teachings on the Zen Way of Life.   In this episode we talk about: The legacy and teachings of legendary Zen master Shunryo Suzuki. What is Zen How to work with your day to day problems — and also life and death problems  How to soften the mind Whether to meditate with your eyes open or closed What does it really mean to become "one" with everything  Why life isn't something to be "figured out" The connection between the oft-misunderstood concept of "allowing" and being more effective in your life   The concept and practice of faith

A Darden School of Business professor explains how to use doubt to your advantage.   Bidhan (Bobby) Parmar, PhD, MBA, is the Shannon G. Smith Bicentennial Professor of Business Administration and Associate Dean for Faculty Development at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. He teaches courses on business ethics, collaboration, and creative and critical thinking.    In this episode we talk about: The common human allergy to discomfort and uncertainty The benefits of doubt The difference between choice fatigue and 'analysis paralysis' The nine subtle signs of analysis paralysis Why we need to be paying more attention to process vs. outcome  How to have confidence in the face of doubt  The role of rupture and repair in relationships The crucial final steps in the decision-making process – specifically one Bobby calls "After Action Reviews" And much more Join Dan's online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Additional Resources:  9