Happiness Break: A Walking Meditation With Dan Harris of 10% Happier
5/28/20267 min
Trouble sitting still? Learn to practice meditating by simply walking in this practice guided by 10% Happier host Dan Harris.
How To Do This Practice:
- Start walking at a comfortable pace in a place where you can move without rushing.
- Notice your body moving by paying attention to your feet, legs, and arms as you walk.
- Tune into your senses by observing sounds, sights, temperature, and other details around you.
- Notice when your mind wanders into planning, worrying, or distractions.
- Gently return your attention to the sensations of walking and your surroundings each time you drift away.
- Keep walking with curiosity and allow yourself to stay present without needing to do it perfectly.
Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.
Today’s Happiness Break Guide:
DAN HARRIS the host of 10% Happier, a podcast about mindfulness and other practices and thoughts that can support our well-being.
Check out Dan’s podcast, 10% Happier: https://tinyurl.com/324xtuut
Related Happiness Break Episodes:
Moving Through Space, With Dacher Keltner: https://tinyurl.com/5f58jp42
Walk Your Way to Calm, with Dacher: https://tinyurl.com/y8md2759
Making Space For You: https://tinyurl.com/yc42s6mv
Related Science of Happiness Episodes:
How To Focus Under Pressure: https://tinyurl.com/3hpah4ss
How to Find Calm Through Walking: https://tinyurl.com/43dr26re
How To Do Good For The Environment (And Yourself): https://tinyurl.com/26msewb8
We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experiences with mindful walking. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.
Find us on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus
Help us share Happiness Break! Rate us and copy and share this link: https://tinyurl.com/6s39rzus
Transcription: https://tinyurl.com/9n5xu96e
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
Scores of Black veterans aren't getting the medical treatment or compensation they need, all because of their race.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:07
We're doing this lung testing like this, and it's not scientific, and it's hurting patients.
Speaker 3· Soundbite0:11
I have seen white veterans get more benefits, and if they basing it upon color of our skin, that's not right because we are all veterans.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:21
We are banned from talking about anything that has race in it.
Speaker 10:26
To hear all episodes of The Race Equation from the New England Journal of Medicine, subscribe to Intention to Treat.
Dacher Keltner· Host0:32
Hi everyone, this is Dacher Keltner. Welcome to Happiness Break, where we guide you through practices to help you strengthen the things that can bring you greater meaning in life, from self-compassion to awe and wonder. Today we're going to do a little mindful walking, about six minutes, with my friend Dan Harris. You may know Dan from his podcast Ten Percent Happier. He also wrote a best-selling book by the same name. I recommend that you check them both out. They've helped a lot of people. Walking in general shifts our neurophysiology in many different ways, elevating serotonin levels, and as a result can help us with health conditions like hypertension and inflammation. Adding mindfulness to regular walking, studies show, can reduce our daily stresses, it can lift up our moods and positive emotions, and it can soften the edges of feeling anxiety and depression,