10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works--A True Story

Nightline anchor Dan Harris embarks on an unexpected, hilarious, and deeply skeptical odyssey through the strange worlds of spirituality and self-help, and discovers a way to get happier that is truly achievable. After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure, involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had both propelled him through the ranks of a hyper-competitive business and also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out. We all have a voice in our head. It’s what has us losing our temper unnecessarily, checking our email compulsively, eating when we’re not hungry, and fixating on the past and the future at the expense of the present. Most of us would assume we’re stuck with this voice – that there’s nothing we can do to rein it in – but Harris stumbled upon an effective way to do just that. It’s a far cry from the miracle cures peddled by the self-help swamis he met; instead, it’s something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation. After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even marines who are now using it for increased calm, focus, and happiness. 10% Happier takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America’s spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives

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256 pages

Average rating: 7.27

11 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

E Clou
May 10, 2023
8/10 stars
What a surprisingly wonderful book! I picked this up by accident because I thought it was a popular science book about the phenomenon of our happiness set point and the small change we're able to make to those set points. A few pages in, I realized I was reading a memoir about a news anchor who was not the kind of person I find it easy to relate to usually. I checked on Goodreads and saw some not-so-positive reviews, and I almost gave up reading the book. I'm so glad I didn't.

The author first takes us on his journalistic investigation of religion, especially Evangelical Christianity, which then leads to his own spiritual quest. He skeptically interviewed some self-help gurus. He then went off in a different direction by examining Buddhism. This leads to a significant portion of the book examining the practice, purpose, and pitfalls of mindfulness and meditation. All the while, the author is describing how his quest helped him grow as a person, and I realized how much I can and do connect with the author.

I'm not sure if I could have totally understood the value of this book two years ago, but since then I've also regularly practiced (with some inconsistency) and read widely about meditation. This is one of my new favorite books about meditation. Harris has a very non-guru approach which was very refreshing to me because I am also not a meditation guru. He had every skeptical thought I had in my early learning process, but more importantly, he addressed problems that I had not yet resolved in my own practice. He provided information that was new to me despite the books I've read about meditation and mindfulness, and this has encouraged me to go back to practicing more regularly and possibly for longer sessions. I think I also want to go to one of those multi-day meditation retreats now.

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