From the way we sit while watching TV to the way we put on our shoes, our days are filled with opportunities to improve our mobility–without getting all sweaty. That’s according to today’s guests, who are here to teach us about some simple ways to keep our bodies durable for as long as possible. Kelly and Juliet Starrett are the authors of the new book Built to Move: The 10 Essential Habits to Help You Move Freely and Live Fully. Their book covers 10 tests you can do to assess your mobility “vit...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep 611•Transcript available on Metacast If you’ve been listening to the podcast this week, you probably heard that we’re in the midst of a 3-week series on health and fitness – what we’re calling Get Fit Sanely. To state the obvious, one of the hardest parts of getting fit is to make and break habits. In conjunction with this series, we’re doing something cool over on the Ten Percent Happier app: we’re bringing back our Healthy Habits challenge, a 7-day course that pairs behavior change expert Kelly McGonigal and meditation teac...
Jun 16, 2023•13 min•Ep 610•Transcript available on Metacast Everyone from the Buddha to the Stoics have exhorted us to remember that we’re going to die. So what are we to make of Dr. Mark Hyman? He’s a physician and a student of Buddhism who is just out with a new book, called, “Young Forever.” In it, he argues that your biological age can be reversed even as you grow chronologically older. So we decided to have him on, learn about his approach, and gently grill him on some of the things that made us most skeptical. This is the second part of our n...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep 609•Transcript available on Metacast Most of us want to stay alive — and healthy — for as long as possible. But how to actually do that, given all the obstacles? What advice should we listen to? How do we find the time and motivation to follow it? And how do we do so without succumbing to what has been called the “subtle aggression of self improvement”? Today, we are launching an ambitious three-week series to tackle these questions. We are bringing on top experts from science and Buddhism who will talk about how to eat better, exe...
Jun 12, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep 608•Transcript available on Metacast Starting next week, we’re launching a six part series where we’re going to talk to a vast array of experts on longevity, exercise, and diet — we’re calling it Get Fit Sanely. To kick the series off, I wanted to have our senior producer DJ Cashmere on, who’s the architect behind this project. You’re gonna hear him get really personal about how these issues have affected his own psychology, and you’ll hear a very thoughtful person talk about what he’s taken away from the months of research he’s do...
Jun 09, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mindful movement is an excellent way to integrate and even invigorate mindfulness while cultivating the power of curious awareness. About Dawn Mauricio: Dawn Mauricio discovered the practices of Buddhist meditation in 2005, and from then on, did what any well-intentioned perfectionist would do — plunge in head first! Since then, she's graduated from several teaching programs, including Spirit Rock's four-year Teacher Training. Her teaching style is playful, dynamic, and heartfelt, and she teache...
Jun 09, 2023•7 min•Ep 607•Transcript available on Metacast It’s hard to be a human. No matter how good things are for you, being alive is still hard. Whatever your life circumstances are, we’re all subject to impermanence and entropy. This episode dives into a five-part Buddhist list for being stronger in the face of whatever life throws at you. Sister Dang Nghiem, who goes by Sister D, is a nun in the Plum Village tradition and a disciple of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. She was born in Vietnam during the war, and is the daughter of a Vietnam...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr•Ep 403•Transcript available on Metacast So many of us suffer over the issue of time management. Our guest today approaches the topic from research and personal experience and dives into how we can think more strategically about our time and aspire to build resilient schedules, rather than perfect ones. Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management and productivity books. Her latest is Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters . Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Th...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep 606•Transcript available on Metacast Be like a robot and try this light-hearted noting practice. Give your anxiety a break by immersing yourself fully in your external senses. 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 ex...
Jun 02, 2023•7 min•Ep 605•Transcript available on Metacast As you might already know, May is Mental Health Awareness Month – and, while mental health is important every month, it’s an important opportunity to share resources that can help one another. So, in that spirit – we’re going to bring you a bonus episode from a podcast we love called Meditative Story. We’re going to share my episode of Meditative Story with you, where I tell a personal story about a father-son trip that I went on with my son, Alexander, when he was four years old. And how ...
May 31, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast The notion of “being your authentic self” might sound like too much of a tired trope, but getting real and stripping away your fears and hang-ups can help you live a more meaningful life. In her new book, “Bold Move: A 3-Step Plan to Transform Anxiety into Power” , Dr. Luana Marques shares her story about growing up in chaos and learning early skills of cognitive behavioral therapy that helped her cope with anxiety and live boldly. Dr. Luana Marques is an Associate Professor of Psych...
May 31, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep 604•Transcript available on Metacast Why, you might fairly ask, am I interviewing Rainn Wilson, best known for his star turn on the sitcom The Office playing Dwight Schrute, the hilariously dysregulated paper salesman with a lust for power and a tragic haircut? Why, you may ask, am I interviewing that dude about mental health and spirituality? Because in real life, Rainn Wilson has spent many, many years wrestling with religion, sobriety, and marital ups and downs, and he's got a new book called Soul Boom in which he cracks a lot o...
May 29, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep 603•Transcript available on Metacast We’re going to start experimenting with these Friday episodes. Historically on Fridays, we’ve dropped guided meditations – and we will still do that – but we’re also going to try some different formats, including some shorter episodes with guests that might not be a fit for our traditional Monday and Wednesday shows. Today we’ve got Dan’s new friend Geena Rocero. She has an incredible story about what it’s like to live with an all-encompassing secret. Geena was born and raised in the Philippines...
May 26, 2023•33 min•Ep 602•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Round II of the Meditation Party. The feedback we got from our first episode was overwhelmingly positive, so we’re going for it again. Meditation Party is an experiment we’re running with a chattier format – more of a morning zoo vibe, but way deeper, of course. The real agenda here is to show that meditation doesn’t have to be a solo death march; it is vastly enhanced by having friends. Dan’s co-hosts in this episode are his two close friends: the great meditation teachers Sebe...
May 24, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep 601•Transcript available on Metacast Historically on this show, we want guests who either have skills that they can teach us (i.e. meditation teachers or happiness researchers) or we want people who are willing to get super personal about their interior lives—and today you're gonna meet a bold-faced name who happens to have both qualifications in spades. Mayim Bialik burst onto the scene in the 1990s as the star of the TV show Blossom . Then she stepped away, got a bachelor's and a PhD in neuroscience, and became a mom. She returne...
May 22, 2023•59 min•Ep 600•Transcript available on Metacast Through the protection of gratitude, the world becomes brighter and more hopeful, and the mind becomes more balanced. Gratitude: cultivate it! About Pascal Auclair: Pascal Auclair has been immersed in Buddhist practice and study since 1997, sitting retreats in Asia and America with revered monastics and lay teachers. He has been mentored by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield at the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. He is a co-founder of...
May 19, 2023•7 min•Ep 599•Transcript available on Metacast It's always a big deal when we get the maestro Joseph Goldstein on the show. He's one of the greatest living meditation teachers—and we cover a lot of ground in this conversation both related to meditation and to life. This is the third installment in a series we've been running this month on the Eightfold Path. If you missed the first two episodes, don't worry. Joseph starts our conversation with a brief description and explanation of this pivotal Buddhist list. The list is basically a recipe f...
May 17, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep 598•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s show features one of Dan’s personal musical heroes, Mike Diamond — “Mike D” from the Beastie Boys. Their conversation is wide ranging and covers topics from the role of failure in achieving success to Mike’s personal meditation practice. They say, “never meet your heroes”, but Mike D doesn’t disappoint in this smart and thoughtful discussion. Mike D formed the Beastie Boys with Adam Yauch, aka MCA, in the early 80’s, winning a number of Grammys and spanning a multi-decade career. I...
May 15, 2023•56 min•Ep 597•Transcript available on Metacast Tame your inner curmudgeon and turn up the good vibes by wishing everyone well. And we mean e v e r y o n e. About Sharon Salzberg: A towering figure in the meditation world, Sharon Salzberg is a prominent teacher & New York Times best-selling author. She has played a crucial role bringing mindfulness and lovingkindness practices to the West. Sharon co-founded the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) alongside Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield and is the author of nine books, including Lovingk...
May 12, 2023•6 min•Ep 596•Transcript available on Metacast Virtue is a tricky topic. It’s often sold to us by religious leaders who are thundering judgmentally, and sometimes hypocritically, down to us from the mountaintop. But from the Buddhist perspective, there is actually a deeply self-interested case for ethics and virtue. The Buddhists are not trying to get you to follow a bunch of very specific rules: they are trying to get you to do no harm because that will make you happy. This is part two of our series on a venerable Buddhist list ...
May 10, 2023•42 min•Ep 595•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s guest is the legendary astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Tyson is the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History , the host of the Emmy nominated podcast, Star Talk , and the recipient of 21 honorary doctorates. He also has an asteroid named in his honor. Tyson’s latest book is right up our alley on the show. It's called Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization and it’s basically about how taking a scientific perspective can improve your l...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep 594•Transcript available on Metacast Not thinking is not the point of mindfulness. We know, shocking! Emotions and thoughts are inextricably linked: know them to know yourself. 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 im...
May 05, 2023•8 min•Ep 593•Transcript available on Metacast This episode kicks off our series on the Eightfold Path which will continue on Wednesdays for the next two weeks with Eugene Cash and Joseph Goldstein. DaRa Williams is a trainer, meditation teacher and psychotherapist and has been a meditator for the past 25 years. She is a practitioner of both Vipassana and Ascension meditation and is a graduate of the Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program and is an IMS Emeritus Guiding Teacher. In this episode we talk about: Th...
May 03, 2023•50 min•Ep 592•Transcript available on Metacast Actor Michael Imperioli is best known for a string of memorable onscreen performances that include Goodfellas , The Sopranos , and most recently on The White Lotus . What you may not know is that he has a deep Buddhist practice and has actually grown into something of a meditation teacher. In this episode we talk about: The classic celebrity life crisis that brought Imperioli to Buddhism The importance of consistent practice as a way to get familiar with your mind so that your though...
May 01, 2023•58 min•Ep 591•Transcript available on Metacast We’re bringing you a special meditation from another podcast that Dan is a fan of – and where he’s been a guest. It’s called The Science of Happiness , and it’s hosted by the great Dacher Keltner, a psychologist and author who has been on this show many times. Every other week, his show releases guided practices called Happiness Breaks. And the one we’re dropping here for you is led by Dekila Chungyalpa, founder and director of the Loka Institute at the Center for Healthy Minds. This meditation ...
Apr 28, 2023•12 min•Ep 590•Transcript available on Metacast Perhaps nobody is better at helping people unlock themselves than the Buddhist meditation teacher George Mumford who taught meditation to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. He's also worked with inmates, police officers, and corporate executives. There’s a reason why they call him the “Performance Whisperer.” George has an incredible story: he began teaching mindfulness and meditation after kicking a serious drug habit, leaving a career as a financial analyst, and then earning a master's in counsel...
Apr 26, 2023•56 min•Ep 589•Transcript available on Metacast Today’s guest is a happiness expert and devout non-meditator. In her latest book Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World , she describes how a routine visit to her eye doctor made her realize she’d been overlooking a key element of happiness: her five senses. Gretchen Rubin is the author of many books, including the New York Times bestsellers Outer Order, Inner Calm ; The Four Tendencies ; Better Than Before ; and The Happiness Project . Her b...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Ep 588•Transcript available on Metacast When the world feels like a dumpster fire, it helps to remember that your contributions to improve things matter—even the small ones. About Matthew Hepburn: Matthew is a meditation and dharma teacher with more than a decade of teaching experience and a passion for getting real about what it means to live well. He emphasizes humor, technique, and authentic kindness as a means to free the mind up from unnecessary struggle and leave a healthier impact on the world. Beyond Ten Percent Happier, Matth...
Apr 21, 2023•7 min•Ep 587•Transcript available on Metacast There’s so much to be grateful for in modern medicine. We can all agree that we would not do as well in a world with no Advil or dentistry. And yet, our guest today, who is a renowned doctor, says modern medicine is overlooking something crucial: the pernicious impact that modern living has on our minds and bodies. In other words, we are surrounded by these hidden societal and structural sources of stress and we aren’t thinking about how to treat and prevent these factors that are degrading our ...
Apr 19, 2023•57 min•Ep 586•Transcript available on Metacast Alexander Dreymon is the star of a great show on Netflix called “ The Last Kingdom .” He plays a Viking, so you're literally not going to find a guy who is more stereotypically masculine. But I've gotten to know Alexander recently and he's also incredibly thoughtful. We cover a lot of ground in this conversation: marriage, parenting, anger therapy, sleep, human connection, meditation, masculinity, and, uh, how to show your body on Netflix without developing body dysmorphia. We also talk a ...
Apr 17, 2023•57 min•Ep 585•Transcript available on Metacast 
