Tap into your ADHD superpowers with a meditation that celebrates your unique wiring. Embrace exploration and self-acceptance.

About Jeff Warren:

Jeff is an incredibly gifted meditation teacher. He's trained in multiple traditions, including with renowned teacher Shinzen Young. Jeff is the co-author of NY Times Bestseller "Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics," and the founder of the Consciousness Explorers Club, a meditation adventure group in Toronto. He has a knack for surfacing the exact meditation that will help everyone he meets. "I have a meditation for that" is regularly heard from Jeff, so we've dubbed him the "Meditation MacGyver."

More information on the group retreat (AKA Meditation Party) at the Omega Institute is here. 

To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Meditating with ADHD.” 

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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. His most recent album is “AMIDA”, a spiritual, Lo-Fi Hip Hop album exploring life, death and his Buddhist faith.

Beyond music, Ofosu is an author, releasing his self-published children’s book “You Are Enough” in 2020 and “Love Your Amazing Self” via Storey Publishing in 2022. He lives in Rockville, Maryland, with his wife and four children.

In this episode we talk about:

• The relationship between self-compassion and a successful meditation practice
• All the reasons people resist self-compassion, and his rebuttals
• Whether self-compassion is selfish
• How to do self-compassion off the cushion, including practices like journaling, written reminders, establishing accountability partners, and simple questions you can drop into your mind when all else fails
• How to do self-compassion on the cushion, including practices like body scans, metta, and a check-in practice you can use at the very start of your sits
• And how to teach self-compassion to children

Related Episodes:

The Voice in Your Head | Ethan Kross

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Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/ofosu-jones-quartey

Additional Resources:

• Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://10percenthappier.app.link/install

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How self compassion works, how to practice it, and what the research says about the benefits.

GUEST BIO:

Dr. Serena Chen is Professor of Psychology and the Marian E. and Daniel E. Koshland, Jr. Distinguished Chair for Innovative Teaching and Research at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the self and identity, interpersonal relationships, and social power and influence. She is a Fellow of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, American Psychological Association, and Association of Psychological Science. Dr. Chen was also the recipient of the Early Career Award from the International Society for Self and Identity, and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the Social Sciences Division of the University of California, Berkeley.

In this episode we talk about:

• The connection between self-compassion and authenticity
• As well as self-compassion exercises that you can incorporate into your daily life
• How self-compassion influences the desire for self improvement
• How it can lead you to be more understanding of other people 
• The connection between self-compassion and good leadership 
• And how self-compassion can apply to parenting as well as to educational realms 

Related Episodes:

happier.webflow.io/tph-live/14-kristin-neff">How to Make Self-Compassion Work for You | Kristin Neff

happier.webflow.io/tph/podcast-episode/kristin-neff-self-compassion">Kryptonite for the Inner Critic, Self-Compassion Series | Kristin Neff

happier.webflow.io/tph/podcast-episode/kristin-neff-360">Self-Compassion Ain’t Always Soft | Kristin Neff

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Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/serena-chen

Additional Resources:

• Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://10percenthappier.app.link/install

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Cara introduces you to the magic of doing less. These gentle no-frills instructions get right to the heart of meditation practice.

About Cara Lai:

Cara Lai spent most of her life trying to figure out how to be happy, or at least avoid total misery, which landed her on a meditation cushion for the majority of her adulthood. Throughout many consciousness adventures including a few mind-bendingly long meditation retreats, she has explored the wilderness of the mind, chronic illness, the importance of pleasure, and a wide range of other things that she might get in trouble for mentioning publicly. In the past, Cara has worked as an artist, wilderness guide, social worker and psychotherapist, but at this point she’s given up on being an adult in exchange for an all-out mindfulness rampage. Her teaching is relatable, authentic, funny and sometimes crass, and is accessible for many people. She teaches teens and adults at Inward Bound Mindfulness Education, Spirit Rock, Insight Meditation Society, and UCLA; ultimately hoping to become as good of a show-off as Dan. And to help people be happier.

To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Put It All Down.”

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Debating the cliche: Does everything happen for a reason? Plus, the Meditation Party crew tackles equanimity, work/life balance, and meditation vs napping.

Sebene Selassie describes herself as a “writer, teacher, and immigrant-weirdo.” She teaches meditation on the ten percent happier app and is the author of a great book called You Belong. She’s based in Brooklyn. 

Jeff Warren is also a writer and a meditation teacher. He and Dan co-wrote the book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. He also hosts the Consciousness Explorers podcast. He’s based in Toronto. 

If you want to be part of the show, please call in with a question or comment. The number is 508-656-0540. Or you can email us with a voice memo at podcast@tenpercent.com with a voice memo. 

Tickets for the two more Meditation Party retreats this year at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York are available now. The last one was a blast. Come join us for both. One is in May, the other October. 

Related Episodes:

How to Stay Calm No Matter What’s Happening | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren

Meditation Party: The “Sh*t Is Fertilizer” Edition | Sebene Selassie & Jeff Warren

Meditation Party with Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren: Psychedelics, ADHD, Waking Up From Distraction, and Singing Without Being Self-Conscious

Meditation Party: Magic, Mystery, Intuition, Tattoos, and Non-Efforting | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren

Science-Based Tools for When You're Stressed, Obsessed, or Overthinking | Dr. Jenny Taitz

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Digging into the nuts and bolts of Stoicism with one of its best-known modern proponents.

Ryan Holiday is a prolific author, whose books include The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, and Discipline is Destiny. His newest book, Right Thing, Right Now, comes out in June, and is available for pre-order now. Ryan is also the host of the Daily Stoic Podcast.

In this episode we talk about:

• The history and theory of Stoicism, and some of its big names (including a former Vice Presidential candidate)
• Premeditatio Melorem, or thinking ahead to the worst possible outcome in order to avoid it
• Memento Mori, or being aware of the inevitability of one’s own death
• Amor Fati, or “loving one’s fate” as a path to acceptance of reality
• Journaling as a key Stoic practice, of talking to oneself on the page
• The four Stoic values: Courage, Temperance, Justice, Wisdom
• How Stoicism and Buddhism overlap – and how they don’t

Related Episodes:

The Dharma of Artificial Intelligence (AI) | Jasmine Wang & Iain S. Thomas

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Additional Resources:

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New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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Get comfortable with uncertainty and cultivate trust in life, even in the most turbulent times.

About Sebene Selassie:

Growing up, Sebene felt like a big weirdo. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised in white neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., she was a tomboy Black girl who loved Monty Python and UB40. She never believed she belonged. Thirty years ago, she began studying Buddhism as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. Now, Sebene is a teacher, author, and speaker who teaches that meditation can help us remember our inherent sense of belonging, that our individual freedom affects absolutely everyone and everything, and that our collective freedom depends on each and every one of us. Sebene is a three-time cancer survivor of Stage III and IV cancer.

To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Trust Yourself and Breathe.”

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Death isn’t the most appetizing topic, but contemplating mortality can be a massive source of motivation, perspective, and even stress relief. In this episode, life lessons from a death doula, who helps people at the end.

Description: 

There seems to be one clear bug in the human operating system — most of us do not like talking about death. Yet when we do talk about it, it can genuinely upgrade the quality of our lives.

Our guest today is Alua Arthur, a former attorney who is now what’s called a death doula, which is someone who helps guide people through the end of their lives. Through this work, she has learned some extraordinary stuff about how to live life right now. 

Alua is also the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization. Her debut memoir, Briefly Perfectly Human: Making An Authentic Life By Getting Real About the End, will be released on April 16, 2024.

This conversation took place at the 2023 TED Conference in Vancouver, immediately after Alua delivered her triumphant talk, which is out now. 

Special thanks to the TED Audio Collective. You can listen to Alua's talk and other TED talks on the TED Talks Daily podcast. 

In this episode we talk about:

• How death can be a powerful motivator 
• How consistently being aware that you’re going to die can be a “stress reliever” 
• The utility of imagining your ideal death
• Her view on reincarnation 
• How the concept of “healing” can sometimes be used as a weapon against ourselves 
• The importance of not leaving things unsaid 
• How “hope” at the end of life can sometimes be unhelpful
• What surprises her about death 
• How her work helped her out of her depression
• The five steps that you should take when confronting your own death 
• The harm that can sometimes result from too much medical intervention toward the end of life
• The often fraught relationship that vulnerable and marginalized people can have with the medical community 
• The benefits of thinking about what version of yourself you want to meet on your deathbed
• The death meditation that she uses when working with people 
• What to say and do when you are with somebody who is grieving 
• And a practice she calls, “The dying things exercise” 

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/Alua-Arthur-archive

Where to find Alua Arthur online: 

Website: goingwithgrace.com

Social Media:

• Twitter 
• Facebook 
• Instagram
• YouTube

Book Mentioned:

• Briefly Perfectly Human: Making An Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End

Other Resources Mentioned:

• Link to Alua’s TED talk
• Link to Dan’s TED talk
• Gail Ruben
• Glennon Doyle
• Atīśa Dīpaṃkara Śrījñāna
• Roshi Joan Halifax
• Larry Rosenberg

Additional Resources:

• Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://10percenthappier.app.link/install

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Professor and writer Arthur Brooks on his recent book (co-authored with Oprah Winfrey): Build The Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier. Arthur has seen the themes of this book play out in his own life. He started his career as a classical French horn player, then got his PhD in public policy analysis, and went on to run a think tank called the American Enterprise Institute. He is currently a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. He also does work with The Atlantic, where he writes a column and hosts a podcast called How to Build a Happy Life. Arthur was formerly on Ten Percent Happier to discuss his book From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. 

In this episode we talk about:

• Myth busting about happiness
• The three macronutrients of happiness
• The perils of pursuing pleasure
• How to be effectively and wisely ambitious
• How to ascertain if you have meaning in your life
• How to manage your emotions
• The difference between healthy and unhealthy envy 

Related Episodes:

• The Good News About Your Inevitable Decline | Arthur Brooks
• Why Dwight from The Office (Rainn Wilson) Is Calling for a “Spiritual Revolution”
• The Upsides And Downsides Of Living A More Examined Life | Matt Harris

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Get your blood moving, mindfully! You can cultivate relaxation, even when you’re walking at a faster clip.

About Diana Winston:

Diana Winston is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center and the author of several books including Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness.

To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Brisk Mindful Walking.” 

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