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

by Dan Harris

Dan Harris (Narrator)

10% HAPPIER is a spiritual book written for - and by - someone who would otherwise never read a spiritual book. It is both a deadly serious and seriously funny look at mindfulness and meditation as the next big public health revolution.

Dan Harris always believed the restless, relentless, impossible-to-satisfy voice in his head was one of his greatest assets. How else can you climb the ladder in an ultra-competitive field like TV news except through nonstop hand-wringing and hyper vigilance? For a while, his strategy worked. Harris anchored national broadcasts and he covered wars. Then he hit the brakes, and had a full-blown panic attack live on the air. What happened next was completely unforeseen. Through a bizarre series of events - involving a disgraced evangelical pastor, a mysterious self-help guru and a fateful gift from his wife - Harris stumbled upon something that helped him tame the voice in his head: meditation. At first, he was deeply suspicious. He had long associated meditation with bearded swamis and unwashed hippies. But when confronted with mounting scientific evidence that just a few minutes a day can literally rewire the brain for focus, happiness, and reduced reactivity, Harris took a deep dive. He spent years mingling with scientists, executives and marines on the front lines of a quiet revolution that has the potential to reshape society. He became a daily meditator, and even found himself on a ten-day, silent meditation retreat, which was simultaneously the best and worst experience he'd ever had.

Harris's life was not transformed into a parade of rainbows and unicorns, but he did gain a passion for daily meditation. While the book itself is a narrative account of Dan's conversion amid the harried and decidedly non-Zen world of the newsroom, it concludes with a section for the novice on how to get started.

• ISBN10: 0062331892
• ISBN13: 9780062331892
• Publish Date: 11 March 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperAudio
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 7 hours and 51 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Hillary]

I wanted to read a book to get started on my happiness project in January. I admit I was scrolling through books on overdrive and it was the title that made me check it out.



I was really getting into the book til he made fun Of Eckhart Tolle. I read Eckhart and feel in love. Then I looked at it from HIS perspective and ok Tolle is a little well WAY out there but Tolle makes valid points. So there. This book was really heavy on the sarcasm. Which I have to admit irked me a little. I mean I am a hardcore Desire Mapper so you know I eat up stuff like Tolle. I even order the Desire Mapper planner. I know this was a journey from Harris perspective so I tried to read it as it was meant to be read.

When I switched gears I really loved reading about how he found meditation helpful. I loved reading about how he overcame drugs and such and how he dealt with the pressure to get to the top. I found a lot of useful tidbits that I can apply to my own life. I even wrote them in my personal development list so I wouldn't forget them.He told the truth about what happened when he tried mediation. I too could relate to his journey. I struggled to get to the point where I could "detach" and see things for what they are. I still struggle at times. Sometimes when I am meditating I am all like this is bullshit. Yet some days I reach that place of ALMOST niverina and I feel like I have clarity on what to do with my life.

In the end, I really ended up loving this book. If you can handle a heavy dose of scarcsam then you should read it also.



This review was originally posted on Adventures in Never Never Land

[adamfortuna]

More of a memoir of an experience into self help than anything else, this one had me nodding along throughout in agreement as the authors stances on various trendy ways of managing happiness affected his overall health. I didn't end up having any revelations about my own happiness in reading this, but enjoyed the journey.