How To Relax The Need To Control Everything | Rosa Lewis
4/22/202656 min
Plus: Navigating the "dark night of the soul," the power of saying "no," and how to be more present.
Rosa Lewis is a mystic, awakening guide, artist and writer. She is the author of many books, most recently Unlocking the Depths of Being: Wholehearted Presence for a Mystical Reality. The last two meditations on this playlist are related to her book.
Join Dan and Emmy Award-winning journalist Allison Gilbert at 92NY on May 17th for a live conversation about how mindfulness can deepen connection and combat loneliness, available in person and via streaming. Register here.
Join Dan, Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren for Meditation Party, a 3-day immersive retreat at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, October 16–18, 2026. Register here.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDan Harris· Host0:00
[upbeat music] This is the Ten Percent Happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris. [upbeat music] Hey, gang. One of the most venerable spiritual cliches is the notion of being present. It may be a cliche, and therefore slightly annoying, but it is also an incredibly important concept and skill, being awake and alive to your life during this limited period of time when you're here on this planet. So today we're gonna talk about what being present actually means, and then, crucially, how to actually do it. My guest is a meditation teacher and self-described mystic named Rosa Lewis. Rosa and I talk about why sadness and grief, which of course nobody likes, can actually enable presence, the difference between feeling sadness and getting lost in self-pity, why, uh, the so-called dark night of the soul is a very normal stage in spiritual practice, why, and this is counterintuitive, but why, uh, visualizing death can help you process the bad things that have happened to you, why saying no can be a spiritual practice, and much more. Before we dive in, I just wanna say that if you wanna meditate with me, I have two live in-person events coming up. On May seventeenth, I'll be at the Ninety-Second