36: ABC News Anchor Dan Harris On How To Be Your Own Guru & Make Meditation A Habit

Some of us know what it's like to reach a moment of reckoning—a low point in life when we know that something has to change, and there's nowhere to go but up. For Dan Harris, this moment occurred on live television in front of 5 million people.

It took a panic attack reading the news on Good Morning America to make the journalist and anchor realize he needed to address his anxiety. After years of searching, Harris found his savior in meditation. But ever a skeptic at heart, Harris had to first cut through a lot of what he perceived to be flowery language and woo-woo jargon that diluted the practice's power in order to home in on his own brand of simple, straightforward mindfulness meditation. In the process, he wrote a book, 10% Happier, which went on to become a No. 1 New York Times best-seller, a practical meditation guide for the modern day.

In this podcast episode, Harris—who first shared his story with mbg on the 2014 revitalize stage—dives into the genesis of his legendary first book, and his latest one, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. Along the way, he gets real about his rock-bottom moment, his first foray into mindfulness, and the tips that have helped him meditate every day for the past nine years. He also speaks candidly about the "gurus" of today and why you don't need to shell out for a silent meditation retreat or travel to an ashram to harness all of meditation's truly life-changing benefits. If you're a skeptic, or just someone who has trouble quieting the mind regularly, you're going to want to give it a listen.

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