Dan Harris

And so it was a massive aha moment for me. How did that lead me to meditation? I went and interviewed Eckhart Tolle. I asked him, OK, dude, this is the smartest diagnosis I've ever heard of the human condition. What do I do about it? And he had no coherent answer whatsoever. And that left me in a state of confusion. And it was in that confusion that I started doing more research.

And so it was a massive aha moment for me. How did that lead me to meditation? I went and interviewed Eckhart Tolle. I asked him, OK, dude, this is the smartest diagnosis I've ever heard of the human condition. What do I do about it? And he had no coherent answer whatsoever. And that left me in a state of confusion. And it was in that confusion that I started doing more research.

And my wife, who keeps coming up, gave me a book by a guy named Dr. Mark Epstein, who is an actual trained psychiatrist, Harvard trained psychiatrist, lives and works in the New York City. And this guy Epstein is a Buddhist. And in reading his book, he talked about the fact that meditation is a great way to work with this voice in your head. And that's what got me onto meditation.

And my wife, who keeps coming up, gave me a book by a guy named Dr. Mark Epstein, who is an actual trained psychiatrist, Harvard trained psychiatrist, lives and works in the New York City. And this guy Epstein is a Buddhist. And in reading his book, he talked about the fact that meditation is a great way to work with this voice in your head. And that's what got me onto meditation.

And my wife, who keeps coming up, gave me a book by a guy named Dr. Mark Epstein, who is an actual trained psychiatrist, Harvard trained psychiatrist, lives and works in the New York City. And this guy Epstein is a Buddhist. And in reading his book, he talked about the fact that meditation is a great way to work with this voice in your head. And that's what got me onto meditation.

The voice in your head stays. There's no eradicating it. There's just skillful working with it.

The voice in your head stays. There's no eradicating it. There's just skillful working with it.

The voice in your head stays. There's no eradicating it. There's just skillful working with it.

So there are two levels to this. One, at the beginning, you don't have to change anything about the way you talk to yourself or the way you're constantly narrating the world. The first move is just to become aware of it. And this is what meditation or mindfulness meditation specifically is. is incredibly good at. It goes at self-awareness with extreme prejudice. How?

So there are two levels to this. One, at the beginning, you don't have to change anything about the way you talk to yourself or the way you're constantly narrating the world. The first move is just to become aware of it. And this is what meditation or mindfulness meditation specifically is. is incredibly good at. It goes at self-awareness with extreme prejudice. How?

So there are two levels to this. One, at the beginning, you don't have to change anything about the way you talk to yourself or the way you're constantly narrating the world. The first move is just to become aware of it. And this is what meditation or mindfulness meditation specifically is. is incredibly good at. It goes at self-awareness with extreme prejudice. How?

You sit, you try to focus on your breath coming in and going out, and then inevitably you're distracted a million times. And this is the point when most people tell themselves a story that I can't meditate. But actually, that moment when you think you failed is proof of success. Why? Because you're getting familiar with the voice in your head.

You sit, you try to focus on your breath coming in and going out, and then inevitably you're distracted a million times. And this is the point when most people tell themselves a story that I can't meditate. But actually, that moment when you think you failed is proof of success. Why? Because you're getting familiar with the voice in your head.

You sit, you try to focus on your breath coming in and going out, and then inevitably you're distracted a million times. And this is the point when most people tell themselves a story that I can't meditate. But actually, that moment when you think you failed is proof of success. Why? Because you're getting familiar with the voice in your head.

And over time, you have this kind of self-awareness, otherwise known as mindfulness, that allows you to view your thoughts and urges and emotions with some nonjudgmental remove. So like, for example, if I have a thought of, oh, I should say something that will ruin the next 48 hours of my marriage, I can notice the thought come and go without acting on it. So that's the first level.

And over time, you have this kind of self-awareness, otherwise known as mindfulness, that allows you to view your thoughts and urges and emotions with some nonjudgmental remove. So like, for example, if I have a thought of, oh, I should say something that will ruin the next 48 hours of my marriage, I can notice the thought come and go without acting on it. So that's the first level.

And over time, you have this kind of self-awareness, otherwise known as mindfulness, that allows you to view your thoughts and urges and emotions with some nonjudgmental remove. So like, for example, if I have a thought of, oh, I should say something that will ruin the next 48 hours of my marriage, I can notice the thought come and go without acting on it. So that's the first level.

The second level is and this is less about meditation and more about sort of modern psychological tools such as self-compassion, of which I'm a big fan. You can also counter program against your inner critic. You can learn to talk to yourself in a different way, to talk to yourself like the way a good coach would talk to

The second level is and this is less about meditation and more about sort of modern psychological tools such as self-compassion, of which I'm a big fan. You can also counter program against your inner critic. You can learn to talk to yourself in a different way, to talk to yourself like the way a good coach would talk to

The second level is and this is less about meditation and more about sort of modern psychological tools such as self-compassion, of which I'm a big fan. You can also counter program against your inner critic. You can learn to talk to yourself in a different way, to talk to yourself like the way a good coach would talk to