Discussing his experience with panic attacks, Dan Harris describes the tools that have helped him move from resistance to acceptance.
Grab your copy of the 10th-anniversary edition of Dan’s book, 10% Happier, HERE to learn more about the benefits of meditation in his life.
“I’ve had experiences in meditation where the resolution on my mindfulness is tuned way up so that I’m actually seeing how rapid the mind is instead of being stuck in the hallucination of discursive thought. So you can turn down the rate of thinking, and really be there with physical sensations, quickly passing thoughts, sounds.” – Dan Harris
In this episode, David and Dan dive into:
- How Dan went from experiencing panic attacks to finding meditation
- Dan’s definition of happiness
- Stabilizing our well-being
- The compounding effect of meditation practice
- Navigating difficult external experiences
- Working on a loving-kindness practice
- Pith instructions from spiritual teachers
- Allowing feelings instead of resisting
- The fear of death and all-pervasive suffering
- Temporal experiences and observing the pause of time
- Impermanence and not taking everything so seriously
- Equanimity and looking at our emotions as passing weather
“Panic is just a set of physical sensations, which, as a panic sufferer, I have experienced countless times and always survived. So, it’s okay, just let it go. Let the sensations be there, it’s okay to feel it. What is making it worse is my resistance to it.” – Dan Harris
About Dan Harris:
Dan Harris is an author, podcaster, and retired American journalist for ABC News. He was an anchor for Nightline and co-anchor of the weekend edition of Good Morning America. After an on-air panic attack, Dan dedicated himself to meditation and spreading the word about its benefits. His “10% Happier” podcasts feature interviews with other meditators. Dan’s book, 10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Really Works – a True Story, was published in March 2014.