10% Happier with Dan Harris

Dan’s best attempts to answer some listener questions from our Substack community. These questions came from our live Renegade Sangha session on April 8, and all of these sessions are open to paid subscribers. Check out how to join the party at DanHarris.com.

Anxiety has long been a massive societal issue that spiked during the pandemic, and many of us are still feeling it in 2025. In this episode, renowned Buddhist monk Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche talks in detail about how he personally works with anxiety and panic and the practices he draws upon when dealing with these states. Mingyur began doing long retreats in his teens and now teaches all over the world. He’s written the books The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness and In Love with the World: A Monk's Journey Through the Bardos of Living and Dying. He also oversees the Tergar Meditation Community, a global network of Buddhist meditation centers. This episode was originally published in July 2022. In this episode we talk about: Working with strong emotions using sound and the breath Deconstructing your reality to make it workable Understanding what awareness is in a Buddhist sense How to make meditation free-range and available to you all times The simple but also tricky advice of, “stop doing and just be” When to take a step back or even take a break from meditation What Mingyur Rinpoche says is the true purpose of the practice. This interview was recorded in person at the TED conference in April of 2022, where both Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and Dan Harris spoke. Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Dr. Robert Waldinger talks about his new book The Good Life: Lessons From the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness, which explores lessons from the longest scientific study of happiness. Dr. Robert Waldinger is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development at Massachusetts General Hospital, and co-founder of the Lifespan Research Foundation. He is also a Zen master and teaches meditation in New England and around the world. His TED Talk is one of the most viewed of all time, with over 43 million views. He’s the co-author, along with Dr. Marc Schulz, of The Good Life. In this episode we talk about: What the Harvard Study of Adult Development is and how it got started How much of our happiness is really under our control Why you can’t you be happy all the time The concept of “social fitness” Why you should “never worry alone” How having best friends at work can make you more productive And why, in his words, it’s never too late to be happy Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

You don’t have to focus too maniacally on your breath; your body is part of the process, too. Our good buddy Joseph Goldstein shows you how to balance. Joseph Goldstein is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, both in Barre, Massachusetts. He is the author of many books including, most recently, Dreamscapes of the Mind. This meditation is part of a new series on the Eightfold Path. The rest of the series is available on Waking Up, a top-notch meditation app with amazing teachers and a ton of courses for all levels. If you subscribe via this link: wakingup.com/tenpercent, you’ll get a 30-day free trial—and you’ll be supporting the 10% Happier team, too. Full and partial scholarships are available. Sign up for Dan’s newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Plus more surprising information on this fundamental human drive. Will Storr is a multi award-winning writer and Sunday Times bestselling author. His latest book is A Story is a Deal: How to use the science of storytelling to lead, motivate and persuade. Waking Up, a top-notch meditation app with amazing teachers and a ton of courses for all levels. If you subscribe via this link: wakingup.com/tenpercent, you’ll get a 30-day free trial—and you’ll be supporting the 10% Happier team, too. Full and partial scholarships are available. In this episode we talk about: Related Episodes: Why You Can’t Pay Attention - And How to Think Deeply Again | Johann Hari Sign up for Dan’s newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Ten Percent Happier online bookstore Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

How to boost your psychological immune system, the stoic way. William “Bill” Irvine is the emeritus professor of philosophy at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. He is the author of eight books that have been translated into more than twenty languages, including Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy and Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher’s Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient. Bill is one of many great teachers featured on Waking Up, a top-notch meditation app with amazing teachers and a ton of courses for all levels. If you subscribe via this link: wakingup.com/tenpercent, you’ll get a 30-day free trial—and you’ll be supporting the 10% Happier team, too. Full and partial scholarships are available. In this episode we talk about: Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Additional Resources: Links to Bill’s Waking Up contentLinks to Bill’s books

From punk rock to broadcast journalism. A veteran journalist shares her story. Alisyn Camerota is an award-winning journalist and author. She recently wrote the memoir, Combat Love: A Story of Leaving, Longing, and Searching for Home. In this episode we talk about: Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Additional Resources: Alisyn Camerota on SubstackSanity Podcast

Cross-training for your mind. Diane Musho Hamilton is an author, award-winning mediator, and teacher of Zen. She is the author of three books on conflict resolution, relationships, and communication. Her latest book is Waking Up and Growing Up: Spiritual Cross-training for an Evolving World, co-authored with Gabriel Wilson. Diane is one of many great teachers featured on Waking Up, a top-notch meditation app with amazing teachers and a ton of courses for all levels. If you subscribe via this link: wakingup.com/tenpercent, you’ll get a 30-day free trial—and you’ll be supporting the 10% Happier team, too. Full and partial scholarships are available. In this episode we talk about: Sign up for Dan’s newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Ten Percent Happier online bookstore Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes Additional Resources: Dan’s panic attack on live TV

An old friend (and my spiritual brother) discusses some of the most important things he’s ever learned. Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, author, podcaster and the proprietor of Waking Up, a top-notch meditation app with amazing teachers and a ton of courses for all levels. If you subscribe via this link: wakingup.com/tenpercent, you’ll get a 30-day free trial—and you’ll be supporting the 10% Happier team, too. Full and partial scholarships are available. In this episode we talk about: Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Additional Resources: On Having No Head

We’re going to give you a taste of the so-called “renegade sangha” sessions on DanHarris.com, which is powered by Substack. In those sessions, Dan usually guides a meditation and then takes questions. In this brief episode, you’re going to hear one of the best, funniest, most relatable questions we have received to date. Sign up for Dan’s newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Ten Percent Happier online bookstore Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Dan deconstructs the Dharmic elements of the popular HBO show, with the co-host of The White Lotus Official Season 3 companion podcast. Joshuah Bearman is a writer and film producer in Los Angeles. He has written for Wired, GQ, Harper’s, Rolling Stone, and contributed to This American Life. Along with Jia Tolentino, Josh is the co-host of the The White Lotus Official Podcast. In this episode we talk about: How Josh became interested in Buddhism How Mike White, the writer and creator of The White Lotus, became interested in Buddhism Buddhist concepts and themes all three seasons of The White Lotus Buddhist notions of self and identity Some paradoxes and pitfalls of Buddhism The perils of pleasure seeking Craving certainty as a bulwark against anxiety The importance of repetition of simple Buddhist ideas that we are programmed to forget The Buddhist concept of attachment The three jewels of Buddhism and the importance of relationships Related Episodes: Natasha Rothwell (White Lotus, How To Die Alone) On: Loneliness, Envy, People Pleasing, And Finding Your “Hell Yes” Michael Imperioli (From The Sopranos and White Lotus) Knows a Shitload About Buddhist Meditation Holding it Together When Things Fall Apart | Pema Chödrön Pema Chödrön, Renowned Buddhist Nun, On Her One Non-Negotiable Happiness Strategy Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Additional Resources: The White Lotus Official Podcast

They say enlightenment is always an accident. Here’s how to make yourself more accident-prone. Henry Shukman is a poet, author and Zen master in the Sanbo Zen lineage. He is founder of the Original Love meditation program, spiritual director emeritus at Mountain Cloud Zen Center and co-founder of the single-path meditation app The Way. His most recent books are Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening and the Zen memoir One Blade of Grass. In this episode we talk about: Sign up for Dan’s newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Ten Percent Happier online bookstore Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes Additional Resources: Henry's meditation app, The Way Henry's latest book, Original Love Henry's website

The liberation that comes from realizing that you’re never going to get everything done. Oliver Burkeman is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling Four Thousand Weeks, The Antidote, and most recently, Meditations for Mortals. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Psychologies and New Philosopher. He has a devoted following for his writing on productivity, mortality, the power of limits, and building a meaningful life in an age of bewilderment. Oliver is one of many great teachers featured on Waking Up, a top-notch meditation app with amazing teachers and a ton of courses for all levels. If you subscribe via this link: wakingup.com/tenpercent, you’ll get a 30-day free trial—and you’ll be supporting the 10% Happier team, too. Full and partial scholarships are available. In this episode we talk about: Related Episodes: The Power of Negative Thinking Time Management for Mortals Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Recorded in January 2025 during the week of the Presidential inauguration, this conversation with CNN commentator Van Jones is less about politics and more about how we react to politics. You’ll hear the questions that Van always asks himself before he goes on air, what he considers to be his purpose on earth, and how he thinks about the future. This conversation was part of a special Inauguration Week series which featured daily gatherings of the “Renegade Sangha,” as Dan calls it, including guided meditations led by Dan, and interviews with thinkers to help us make sense of the moment. To join future live sessions, become a paid subscriber at DanHarris.com. You’ll also get cheatsheets and transcripts for every episode, plus access to a community of other folks who take this stuff seriously. Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

One of the foundational Buddhist lists—a kind of GPS for enlightenment. Joseph Goldstein is a cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, both in Barre, Massachusetts. He is the author of many books including, most recently, Dreamscapes of the Mind. Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, author, podcaster and the proprietor of the Waking Up app. This episode is the first installment of a new series on the Eightfold Path. The rest of the series is available on Waking Up, a top-notch meditation app with amazing teachers and a ton of courses for all levels. If you subscribe via this link: wakingup.com/tenpercent, you’ll get a 30-day free trial—and you’ll be supporting the 10% Happier team, too. Full and partial scholarships are available. In this episode we talk about: Sign up for Dan’s newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Ten Percent Happier online bookstore Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes

Make peace with the difficult parts of your personality. Dr. Richard Schwartz is a contemporary psychotherapist, PhD in marriage and family therapy. He founded the Internal Family Systems Model (IFS) therapy system and has authored many books, most recently: The Internal Family Systems Workbook. In this episode we talk about: Related Episodes: How (and Why) to Hug Your Inner Dragons | Richard Schwartz How to Get Out of Your Head | Willa Blythe Baker Kryptonite for the Inner Critic | Kristin Neff Self-Compassion Ain’t Always Soft | Kristin Neff The Voice in Your Head | Ethan Kross The Science Of Burnout — And How To Recharge From Stress | Kristin Neff and Christopher Germer The Science of Emotion Regulation: How It Impacts Health, Performance, and Relationships. | Ethan Kross Lessons From the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness | Dr. Robert Waldinger The Art of Growing Up, Jerry Colonna The Art and Science of the World’s Gooiest Cliche | Barbara Fredrickson Sign up for Dan’s newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Ten Percent Happier online bookstore Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes Additional Resources: The Internal Family Systems Workbook is part of the new Sounds True Inner Workbooks series, which currently includes The Nervous System Workbook by Deb Dana and The Healing Anxiety Workbook by Sheryl Lisa Finn, with more titles planned.

A 10-minute meditation that reminds you that you’re not just a brain: there is also a body. This meditation was originally part of one of Dan’s recent Ask Me Anything sessions on Substack – join us as a paid subscriber at DanHarris.com to be a part of these live online events as Dan guides a short meditation then takes your questions. Join Dan’s online community here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Brother Pháp Dung discusses the life and teachings of Vietnamese Zen master, peace activist, poet, and author Thich Nhat Hanh. In January 2022, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen master, peace activist, poet, and author passed away. He was the founder of the International Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called him “an Apostle of peace and nonviolence” when nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Thousands of people came out for his funeral. Brother Pháp Dung is making his second appearance on the show to talk about Thich Nhat Hanh. If you missed it last time he was on, Brother Pháp Dung has an incredible personal story. He was born in Vietnam in 1969 and came to the US at the age of nine. He worked as an architect/designer for four years before becoming a monk. He was very close personally with Thich Nhat Hanh, who he refers to as “Thây,” or teacher, and is now a Dharma teacher himself in Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition. This episode was first published in March 2022. This episode explores: The life of Thich Nhat Hanh: his path to Buddhism in the 1960’s and his exile from Vietnam for opposing the war. The meaning of “wrong view” or wrong perception. What non-separation and inter-being is. Thich Nhat Hanh’s view that birth and death are only notions. Grief, and why learning how to suffer will help you suffer less.

How to think about consciousness without breaking your brain. Annaka Harris is the New York Times bestselling author of CONSCIOUS: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind and writer and producer of the audio documentary series, LIGHTS ON. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Nautilus Magazine, the Journal of Consciousness Studies, and IAI Magazine, and she is also an editor and consultant for science writers, specializing in neuroscience and physics. In this episode we talk about: Related Episodes: The Fundamental Mystery of the Mind | Annaka Harris Susan Kaiser Greenland and Annaka Harris, Teaching Mindfulness to Kids#469. A Mystery That Matters | Anil SethPulitzer Prize-Winning Novelist Jennifer Egan On: Panic, Awe, Fetishizing Authenticity, and Our Possible AI Futures Sign up for Dan’s newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Ten Percent Happier online bookstore Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes Additional Resources: wakingup.com/tenpercent LIGHTS ON The Candy House The Case Against Reality On Having No Head: Zen and the Rediscovery of the Obvious Ten Zen Questions: Susan Blackmore

And how to figure out what matters most to you. Jonathan Fields is the author of several books, including SPARKED: Discover Your Unique Imprint for Work That Makes You Come Alive. He is also the host of two podcasts, Good Life Project® and SPARKED™. This episode is part of our ongoing Sanely Ambitious series. In this episode we talk about: Sign up for Dan’s weekly newsletter here Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok Ten Percent Happier online bookstore Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Our favorite playlists on: Anxiety, Sleep, Relationships, Most Popular Episodes Additional Resources: Sanely Ambitious