10% happier by dan harris
written by jasmine irven
book overview
I’ve been more invested & interested in meditation lately, catapulted further into the spiritual world by means of the meditation teacher training I recently completed. I’ve been meditating on and off for some time now, but this course really instilled in me the power of having a daily personal practise that is truly meaningful and reflective of the life I want to live.
P.s. this definitely doesn’t mean that overnight I’m suddenly meditating for hours every day, but it does mean I’m being more intentional in trying to fit it into my days where and when I can.
As such, (and because I definitely see myself teaching in the future), I’ve been diving more into books about meditation, most recently with the book 10% Happier. This is a great introduction to meditation for skeptics. Harris begins by outlining exactly why he was the last person he would have ever thought would be meditating, and then throughout the book + him slowly growing his own practice, shows the incredible benefits of meditation, and why it’s truly something everyone should be doing.
Below I’ve outlined some of my favourite takeaways and tools from the book. If you like this intro I’d really suggest reading the full book, which you can purchase here on Amazon!
introduction to meditation
There are many types of meditation, but at its most basic level meditation offers a way to clear the mind, to quiet the voice in our head. In the Buddhist lineage, the chaos that consumes our mind is generally referred to as our “monkey mind.”
Our mind is clouded with judgements, desires, assumptions, and thoughts, often which have no reasoning or purpose behind them. However, we become consumed with this voice in our heads, this ceaseless stream of thinking (thinking which is mostly negative, repetitive, and destructive). This voice is obsessed with the past and the future, at the expense of the present; we live in memory and anticipation despite the fact that we are living in the now.
Meditation allows for space between recognizing these thoughts, and actually acting on them; it provides room between impulse and action.
how to meditate
Often people dismiss meditation saying their minds are so busy that it’s impossible to clear them. In reality these are exactly the people who need to try the practice! The point of meditation is not about “clearing your mind,” it’s to find moments of mindfulness. It’s a chance to, if only momentarily, quiet the voice in our head that keeps us distracted, stressed, upset, frustrated, etc.
The basic meditation guidelines are as follows:
Sit comfortably, ideally straight
Lengthen your spine, relax your facial features, drop your shoulders
Feel the sensations of your breath – through your nostrils, chest, belly, as the breath goes in and out
When you catch your mind wandering (it will wander), forgive yourself and bring the attention back to your breath
We’re often rushing through life, with the assumption that whatever is coming is “better,” rather than just enjoying the moment we’ve curated and are experiencing right now. Meditation offers a way to experience life’s in between moments, a chance to reduce stress, to view what’s happening in our mind without judgement.
benefits of meditation
Mindfulness and meditation give you the opportunity to respond, rather than react to what is happening in your life. “We live our life propelled by desire and aversion… [and] in meditation instead of succumbing to these deeply rooted habits of mind, you are simply watching what comes up in your head non-judgmentally.” – Dan Harris
Meditation has been proven beneficial time and time again in scientific studies:
Improving stress and anxiety
Boosting the immune system
Improving focus
Aiding smoking cessation
Beneficial effects on depression, drug addiction, and binge eating
There are also physical changes in the brain in those who consistently meditate: thicker gray matter in the areas of the brain associated with self-awareness and compassion, while the regions of the brain associated with stress shrank. Our default mode network (the part of the brain active when we’re lost in thought, dwelling on the past or projecting into the future) – is deactivated in meditators while practicing, and also beyond their practice and throughout their day.
The concept of neuroplasticity means our brains can constantly change in response to experience, and practices like meditation can therefore help to sculpt our mind just as you sculpt your muscles when you exercise. In this way we can improve our levels of well-being, impulse control, and happiness, through practices like meditation.
Meditation offers less reactivity, less rumination, less stress, less battling with your monkey mind. But it requires openness, willingness, and curiosity. It allows your happiness to be more self-generated rather than constantly coming from external sources.
the objections, the frustrations, the experience
Harris describes a lot of his personal journey in the book, the decisions and impulsive actions that led him to finding meditation. However, each time he had resistance about a concept he would look a little deeper and most-often realized that things were not always as they seemed.
Meditation has a huge PR problem, but the reality is the simple concepts have the ability to make major changes in our lives. As the science continues to catch up to what spiritual leaders have been preaching for years, I think it’s clear there will only be more reason to meditate.
Despite its simplicity, meditation is extremely challenging. It involves setting aside time to actively do nothing. It involves quieting our minds. It involves being, rather than just doing. It means stripping away all of the things we use to avoid confrontation with ourselves. It means allowing emotions to come up and feelings to push themselves forward. These are things we actively resist in Western society. We’re applauded for having over-booked schedules, for pulling all-nighters, for succeeding at the expense of our well-being, but the reality is these things hold us back.
Harris is an ambitious person, and that doesn’t change throughout the book. A lot of his resistance came from the fact that he thought somehow meditation would make him more dull, more of a push-over, that it would cause him to have “less thoughts,” or to be less successful. But this simply isn’t the case.
It’s not that you can’t strive for success, it’s recognizing what truly matters to you. It’s not about never worrying again, it’s about knowing what is worth worrying about and when worrying is no longer useful. It’s not about “having less thoughts,” it’s about clearing out the routine rumination, unhelpful assumptions, negative judgements, etc., that so often fill our minds, and instead making room for new, more productive and creative thoughts.
It’s going inwards that allows us to find success and happiness as we are.
lessons from meditation
impermanence + suffering
Buddha’s saying “life is suffering” actually translates more closely to “life is unsatisfying” – not meaning that your life will be miserable, but something more along the lines of everything in the world is ultimately unsatisfying because it won’t last (this goes for both positive and negative things).
In terms of “negative” experiences, this is so important to recognize because we often get stuck in moments of sadness, worry, etc., allowing them to consume us rather than recognizing that they are temporary states of mind, and that they will pass. It’s not about never being sad or never worrying, but knowing that you don’t need to be stuck in it, because it will pass, and is about recognizing when these thoughts + feelings aren’t serving you.
In terms of the “positive experiences”, it’s not that we can’t enjoy pleasant things, but if we have a deeper understanding of impermanence, it will help us appreciate everything so much more; moving our mind towards liberation.
So often we are just waiting for the next good thing to happen to us, telling ourselves we’ll be happy when _______. We live in anticipation, and then when we get that thing, we rarely take the time to just enjoy it in the moment! Instead when these good things happen we quickly add them into our baseline expectations, never filling the real void.
We need to wake up from the belief that there is something that is going to bring us ultimate freedom or happiness and instead, “learn to be happy before anything happens” – this type of happiness is self-generated, not contingent on exogenous forces.
“We tell ourselves we’ll sleep it off, take a run, eat a healthy breakfast, and then, finally, everything will be complete. We live so much of our lives pushed forward by these “if only” thoughts, and yet the itch remains. The pursuit of happiness becomes the source of our unhappiness.”
the concept of non-attachment
Something Harris struggles with a lot in the book is finding the balance between ambition and equanimity. In the end the conclusion is made that the answer is in non-attachment to the results.
For example if you want to achieve something in your career, you still need to do the work – you need to put up your hand, do the research, write the paper, make the call, etc., but you also need to recognize that you have limited control over what happens – you can’t control whether the company hires you, whether your book reaches the bestseller list, etc.
Striving is fine, as long as it’s tempered by the realization that the final outcome is out of your control.
“If you don’t waste your energy on variables you cannot influence you can focus more on those you can.”
If you succeed, great! But if you fail, you can continue to get up, dust yourself off, and try again, rather than getting stuck in emotions and sadness because you had such high expectations of everything going your way.
final tips + takeaways
In the beginning to stay focused on your breath, try counting your breaths, starting at one. Every time you get distracted, start over. When you reach ten (if you ever do) start back at one!
Try to meditate everyday; regularity is more important than duration.
It’s not about getting rid of all sadness, all worrying, all fear. But when you find yourself stressed about something that’s out of your control, worrying about the same thing for the umpteenth time, consider asking yourself “is this useful?”
Implement single-tasking – multitasking is a computer-derived term; humans have one processor and when you move from project to project your mind flits back to the original project and it can’t pick up where it left off. Instead it has to take a few steps back, ramp up again, and therefore productivity is lost. Instead, do only one thing at a time: “when you’re on the phone, be on the phone. When you’re in a meeting, be there.” I also wrote about this concept in terms of productivity in my key tips + takeaways from the book the productivity project.
Take short mindfulness breaks throughout the day – instead of checking your phone while your computer turns on, try watching your breath. When driving, turn off the radio, and feel your hands on the way. Many might think of these as wasting time, but that assumes the pauses aren’t helping you. In reality, they are a way to make you think more clearly, and for you to be more focused on what’s important.
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about the author
Hey there! I’m Jasmine, founder of the Sustainable Bliss Collective, a Certified Meditation Teacher, and lover of all things self-care, slow-living, and personal development.
I believe that ambition and self-care can coexist, and as such I hope to encourage and inspire you to take care of yourself, breathe deeply, connect with who you are, manifest your dreams, enjoy the blissful moments of each day, and make an impact in this beautiful world we call home.
Connect with me on Instagram here!
