10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story

by Dan Harris

Until recently, I thought of meditation as the exclusive province of bearded swamis, unwashed hippies, and fans of John Tesh music.

using meditation to improve their focus, curb their addiction to technology, and stop being yanked around by their emotions.

Sitting there in my underwear in front of my computer in the middle of the night, I put my head in my hands. My whole life, I’d prided myself on being a skeptic.

had no idea what was going to happen to my face, and reflexively believing the worst-case scenarios coughed up by ego certainly wasn’t going to help.

“impermanence.”

equanimity,

cri de coeur.

And there’s something about the act of being present and awake in this way that produces a gigantic blast of serotonin.

Hands feel stiff. Bird. Feet numb. Images of all those creepy baby faces in Renaissance art. Heart pounding. Back. Bird. Hands. Feet. Heart. Back, back, bird, feet, bird, bird, bird. Feet, hands, feet, feet, feet. Hands. Hands. Back, back, back. Heart, bird, feet. Feet. Bird. Feetbirdfeetbirdbackfeetfeetfeetheart. Bird. Bird. Bird. Old lady in the front row produces an epic burp.

“So you’re telling me that I can’t multitask?”