LeAnn Rimes, Grammy-Winning Artist

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- So many people are interested in their family tree. What kind of lives did our ancestors lead and what do their stories say about us? Today’s guest, Spring Washam, asks us to reckon with the people who have come before us in order to fully understand who we are and why we do the things we do. Washam is a well-known teacher, author, and visionary leader based in Oakland, California. She is the author of A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in Any Moment and her newest book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground. Spring is considered a pioneer in bringing mindfulness-based meditation practices to diverse communities. She is one of the founding teachers at the East Bay Meditation Center, located in downtown Oakland, CA and has practiced and studied Buddhist philosophy in both the Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism since 1999. In this episode we talk about: How Spring came to write about Harriet Tubman’s life Her work with plant medicine and the shamanic traditions The dream and the “conversations” Spring had with Tubman Why we are all so interested in ancestry How we can deepen our relationship with our ancestors  Family Constellation Therapy as a modality for doing ancestry work  Spring’s own family history Why she is still processing the experience of writing her book about Harriet Tubman  What she means by the “inner underground railroad” and how it is alive today And, how, in the inner underground railroad, freedom equates to nirvana  Content Warning: mentions of suicide Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/spring-washam-556

1 Feb 20231h 19min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- There may be a temptation in some circles to dismiss intuition as witchy, folkloric, or unscientific but there’s actually a ton of science around this. Our guest, author, actress and director, Amber Tamblyn will guide us through this. Tamblyn argues that intuition is a trainable skill but that this south-of-the-neck intelligence is often obscured by being too stuck in our heads and out of touch with our bodies.  Tamblyn has been nominated for Emmy®, Golden Globe, and Independent Spirit Awards. Her work in television spans over two decades including starring roles on House M.D., and Two and a Half Men. On the big screen, she starred in movies such as The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and 127 Hours. She’s written seven books, including her latest, which is called Listening in the Dark: Women Reclaiming the Power of Intuition.  In this episode we talk about: How she defines intuition, and the role it plays as a bridge between the conscious and unconscious parts of our minds Why we are conditioned to validate rational intelligence over intuitive intelligence   The gut/brain connection, and why the enteric nervous system is known as the “second brain” Practical tips for getting better at listening to our bodies The role of meditation in boosting intuition The scientific research that points towards the importance of having a relationship with nature, and how this can improve our intuition The relationship between intuition and creativity How we should think about dream life What to do when you’re not sure whether you should trust your gut How to recognize the difference between anxiety and intuition And why our society has downplayed the importance of intuition, which has been a tool used against women and men Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/amber-tamblyn-555

30 Jan 20231h 5min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Today’s episode is the first in an experimental new series called Meditation Party.  Dan takes listener calls with fellow meditators Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren and get candid about their practices and dealing with life Sebene Selassie is based in Brooklyn and describes herself as a “writer, teacher, and immigrant-weirdo.” She teaches meditation on the Ten Percent Happier app and is the author of a great book called, You Belong. Jeff Warren is based in Toronto and is also a writer and meditation teacher who co-wrote the book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics with Dan Harris. Jeff also hosts the Consciousness Explorers podcast. Call (508) 656-0540 to have your question answered during the Meditation Party! Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/sebene-selassie-jeff-warren-553

25 Jan 20231h 9min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- The better you understand your brain – and the more effectively you can work with it – the happier and healthier you will be. This is the central contention of today’s extraordinary guest, Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and she makes this assertion based on two levels of deep expertise. First, Dr. Taylor is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist. Second, back in the ‘90s, she experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain causing her to lose the ability to walk, talk, read, write or recall any of her life. She later recovered, but that experience, which you will hear her describe in riveting detail, gave her incredible insight into how the brain works.  She wrote a massive best-selling book called, My Stroke of Insight, which she has now followed up with a book called, Whole Brain Living, where she lays out exactly how to understand your brain and how to work with it. In this episode we talk about: Dr. Taylor’s personal story and how her life has changed post-stroke The marvels of the human brain The differences between the brain’s two hemispheres  How our society is skewed towards the left hemisphere and how living too much in the left hemisphere can burn us out The brain’s “four characters” and how to work with these characters through a practice she calls “The Brain Huddle”  The differences and similarities between “The Brain Huddle” and another practice we’ve talked about before on this show called, “RAIN” And she describes a tool for understanding your emotions called, “The 90-Second Rule” Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/jill-bolte-taylor-552

23 Jan 20231h 1min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- It can be difficult to grasp how much power of persuasion we actually have, or how to wield it wisely.  In today’s episode we look at science-based strategies for observing the effect we have on others, and how to better deal with our fear of rejection, and asking for favors.  Vanessa Bohns is a social psychologist and a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University. She is the author of You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why it Matters. In this episode we talk about: How much we often underestimate our own influence  Why it’s so hard to say no Why people are paying attention to us more than we think The impact of asking for things in-person The responsibility that comes with being in a position of power What it means to experience your own influence  And how we can be more aware of the influence we have Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/vanessa-bohns-550

18 Jan 20231h 4min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. Today’s guest is the man in charge of the world’s longest scientific study of happiness, a study that has been running since 1938.  Dr. Robert Waldinger is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, the director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development at Massachusetts General Hospital, and co-founder of the Lifespan Research Foundation. He is also a Zen master and teaches meditation in New England and around the world. His TED Talk is one of the most viewed of all time, with over 43 million views. He’s the co-author, along with Dr. Marc Schulz, of The Good Life. In this episode we talk about:  What the Harvard Study of Adult Development is and how it got started How much of our happiness is really under our control Why you can’t you be happy all the time The concept of “social fitness”  Why you should “never worry alone”  How having best friends at work can make you more productive And why, in his words, it’s never too late to be happy Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/robert-waldinger-549

16 Jan 20231h 2min

We're sharing a preview of another podcast we love, The Happiness Lab. On The Happiness Lab, Dr. Laurie Santos explores all the ways we get our happiness wrong and what we can to do really feel better. She walks through the latest evidence-based strategies for improving your mental health, sharing practical advice on what will really bring more joy. In her latest New Year season of The Happiness Lab, Laurie tackles how to listen to the inner voice of what we really need in the new year. We're often looking into the future... hunting for the "next big thing." We can get so fixated with these events and the happiness we hope they'll deliver, that we forget to look for joy right now. Actor and author Tony Hale (Veep, The Mysterious Benedict Society, Arrested Development) joins Laurie to discuss how he was always chasing new accomplishments, until he realized he was missing the chance to be happy living in the moment. You can hear more from The Happiness Lab at https://podcasts.pushkin.fm/thls6?sid=tph/.

16 Jan 202337min

When we think about Buddhism or the dharma, we probably don’t think about money.  But when the Buddha laid out guidelines about how to make an ethical livelihood, this didn’t preclude material success. This episode is part two of this week’s series on money, and dives into how we can bring Buddhist principles to an area of our lives that can create so much fear, greed, and dread.  Spencer Sherman is the founding CEO of Abacus, a values-driven financial firm, and certified mindfulness teacher.  He teaches the Fearless Finance program and The Mastery of Money program for NYU’s Inner MBA program.  He is also the author of The Cure For Money Madness. In this episode we talk about:  How to identify and reframe our potentially harmful beliefs about money How to apply the Four Brahma Viharas to having a healthier relationship with our finances How to use the RAIN technique when we become anxious about money Spencer’s ‘Enough Practice’ designed to give us a sense of equanimity  How generosity helps us let go and can create a sense of abundance  How mindfulness of money can key us into interconnection And whether you can actually be a successful investor if you’re guided by Buddhist values Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/spencer-sherman-544

11 Jan 20231h 11min