Mindfulness
by Dan Harris
Can a sceptic learn to meditate?
In June 2004, ABC News correspondent Dan Harris had a panic attack while reading the news live on Good Morning America. He was fiercely ambitious and suspicious of self-help. This book is how he came to meditate anyway, and what it did and didn't do for him.
Hear a sample · read by Laura
That's Harris's name for the running commentary we all live with, planning and comparing from the moment we wake. He says his was a jerk. Meditation won't switch it off. What it does is help you notice the voice, so you can decide whether to listen.
Every flash of anger or fear comes with an urge to act, like firing off a sharp reply. Mindfulness, as Harris describes it, puts a small gap between the urge and the action. In that gap you get a choice.
Harris worried meditation would blunt the edge he needed at work. It didn't. If it leads to action, keep it. If it's the tenth rerun of the same fear, drop it.
Harris refuses to oversell it. Meditation didn't make him serene or enlightened, and he still has bad days. When people asked why he bothered, his honest answer was that it made him about 10% happier, which he reckons is a very good return for a few minutes a day.
Panic on air
Dan Harris had a panic attack live on national TV, and it pushed him to look at his own mind.
The voice
Everyone has a voice in their head that never stops. Most of us obey it without noticing.
Noticing
Meditation trains you to catch a thought before it runs off with you.
Is this useful?
When a worry comes, ask whether it is useful. If it isn't, let it go.
Ambition
You can stay ambitious and still be calm. Harris kept his career and lost much of the panic.
A story from the book
Harris had come home from reporting in Afghanistan and Iraq feeling low, and started using cocaine and ecstasy. A doctor told him the drugs had probably played a part in the attack. He quit. Then Peter Jennings put him on the religion beat, which led him, very sceptically, to meditation.
One thing to try
Sit comfortably, close your eyes and feel your breath where it's strongest, at the nose or the belly. When you realise you've drifted off, which will happen constantly, start again. Catching yourself counts as success in Harris's account. Do five minutes a day this week.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. 10: Happier comes with a Your Move story to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appCan a sceptic learn to meditate? In June 2004, ABC News correspondent Dan Harris had a panic attack while reading the news live on Good Morning America. He was fiercely ambitious and suspicious of self-help. This book is how he came to meditate anyway, and what it did and didn't do for him.
The voice in your head; Respond, don't react; Is this useful?; Why only 10%?.
Sit comfortably, close your eyes and feel your breath where it's strongest, at the nose or the belly. When you realise you've drifted off, which will happen constantly, start again. Catching yourself counts as success in Harris's account. Do five minutes a day this week.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from 10: Happier in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Your Move story to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
