Learn Meditation in 5 Minutes with Dan Harris

Transcript

hey I'm Dan in 5 minutes from now you will be able to claim accurately that you know how to meditate and if you're already a meditator this little video may help you up your game or prove to you that you're sneaking suspicion that you suck at it is actually wrong here's a fact we all have a voice in our heads an internal narrator that has you constantly wanting stuff rejecting stuff judging people comparing yourself to people and engaging in ruthless self-criticism used effectively meditation can be the antidote to the voice in your head it's not a miracle cure that's why we call this thing 10% happier but early scientific studies suggest meditation can produce a long list of tantalizing health benefits okay so let's do it let's actually meditate for only 90 seconds I promise you'll survive it may comfort you to know before we start that you don't have to sit in a funny position this is my cat Ruby you can meditate pretty much anywhere in your office on your couch in a chair on the floor on a plane here we go we're going to set a timer for 90 seconds there are really only three basic steps first sit comfortably and close your eyes if you want Second Step Focus your full attention on the feeling of your breath coming in and going out pick a spot where it's most prominent your nose your chest your belly and just feel the raw data of the inhale and exhale the third step is the biggie as soon as you try to do this your mind is probably going to go nuts you're going to start thinking about things like what am I going to have for lunch do I need a haircut why do celebrities only marry other celebrities where do Geral run wild whatever no big deal as soon as you've noticed that your mind has wandered you may be tempted to think you've failed but it's actually a win why because you're seeing a thunderously obvious fact that most people Overlook which is that we have minds and are thinking and when we don't see our mental clamor clearly it controls us so all you have to do now is start again go back to your breath feel it coming in and going out if you get distracted again totally cool every time you start over it's like a bicep curl for your brain you don't have to reach some special State getting lost and coming back over and over is the whole game okay you can open your eyes congratulations you legit meditated and it didn't kill you I feel like meditation has been the victim of the worst marketing campaign for anything ever all the traditional art around meditation shows people with those beatific looks on their faces floating off into the cosmos I think this is a better way to think about it for most people meditation is hard especially at the beginning it does get easier though it's a bit like going to the gym if you're not panting or sweating you're probably cheating so many people tell me they can't meditate because they can't clear their mind write this down and put it up on your wall clearing your mind is basically impossible unless you are enlightened congratulations or you have died very sorry so why is meditation worth the trouble for beginners I think there are two big benefits the first is focus in our modern info Blitz Greg we are more distracted than ever and meditation can boost your mental muscle of focus the second benefit we've talked about a little bit but it Bears repeating meditation can really help you be less yanked around by your thoughts impulses urges and emotions you learn how to respond wisely to things instead of reacting blindly respond not react it is a game-changing proposition I'll be honest I was super hesitant about meditation personally because I'm a skeptical TV news anchor with the attention span of a 3-month-old golden retriever but then I had a panic attack on National Television which sucked uncontrollably but long story short It ultimately led me to meditation and when I first started looking into meditation I really attacked it like an investigative story I checked out all sorts of teachers some of them pretty deeply weird on this app I'm bringing together the teachers and the scientists who I found to be the most clear qualified and cool here's how the app works we kick things off with eight sessions of free content since we know you're very busy every session contains a short video and a short guided meditation and if you're short on time you can go to the just meditate section where we've even got some one minute long meditations yes that counts you'll also get a coach an actual experienced meditator not a robot who can answer your questions I really believe by medit ating you're taking part in the next big Public Health Revolution think about exercise in the 1940s if you told somebody you were going running they probably would have said who's chasing you then what happened the scientists swooped in they demonstrated all the health benefits of exercise and now we all do it and if we don't we feel guilty about it I think in the not too distant future everybody's going to think about mental exercise meditation the same way we now think about physical exercise at the core of all this is a radical and empowering notion I think most of us assume that happiness is contingent upon external factors but what the science is showing us is that in fact happiness is a skill susceptible to training okay so you've given me 5 minutes you now know how to meditate but you're just starting and the benefits can really come quickly here so to meet the guy who's made those benefits come to life for thousands of people including me dive into the next session