Never Worry Alone | Dr. Robert Waldinger

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Most of us want to stay alive — and healthy — for as long as possible. But how to actually do that, given all the obstacles? What advice should we listen to? How do we find the time and motivation to follow it? And how do we do so without succumbing to what has been called the “subtle aggression of self improvement”? Today, we are launching an ambitious three-week series to tackle these questions. We are bringing on top experts from science and Buddhism who will talk about how to eat better, exercise smarter, and extend your lifespan. Guest number one is Dr. Peter Attia. He has trained at Stanford University, Johns Hopkins, and the National Institutes of Health. He’s the host of a popular health and fitness podcast called The Drive and the author of a new book called Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. In this episode we talk about: Why Peter kind of hates the word ‘longevity’ The definitions of ‘lifespan’ and ‘healthspan’–and what we can do in five key areas to increase both The importance of exercise, including what types of exercise to do, how to measure your fitness, and how even a little bit of weekly exercise can go a very long way The roles our genes play in our lifespan and our healthspan The importance of nutrition, including Peter’s top tips, his personal evolution, and his take on intuitive eating How to get better sleep (and when to stop tracking it) How to think about pharmaceutical tools, incl. a discussion of how to make sense of the crowded and unregulated supplement market The importance of emotional health, including a raw story from Peter about how he came to understand the importance of mental health, and why he believes tending to your emotional health makes all of the other health levers easier to pull. Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/dr-peter-attia-608

5 Juni 20231h 26min

As you might already know, May is Mental Health Awareness Month – and, while mental health is important every month, it’s an important opportunity to share resources that can help one another.  So, in that spirit – we’re going to bring you a bonus episode from a podcast we love called Meditative Story. We’re going to share my episode of Meditative Story with you, where I tell a personal story about a father-son trip that I went on with my son, Alexander, when he was four years old. And how this trip really changed our relationship.  If you’re not familiar with Meditative Story, it provides immersive storytelling with mindfulness prompts embedded right into the narrative, woven with a wonderful musical soundtrack.  I hope you enjoy this episode of Meditative Story. x

31 Maj 202328min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- It’s hard to be a human. No matter how good things are for you, being alive is still hard. Whatever your life circumstances are, we’re all subject to impermanence and entropy.  This episode dives into a five-part Buddhist list for being stronger in the face of whatever life throws at you.  Sister Dang Nghiem, who goes by Sister D, is a nun in the Plum Village tradition and a disciple of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. She was born in Vietnam during the war, and is the daughter of a Vietnamese mother and an American soldier. Sister D experienced an unfathomable amount of loss before relocating to the US, where she became a doctor and later, after experiencing more loss, became a nun. She’s written several books and her most recent is Flowers in the Dark. In this conversation, Sister D shares her story, and then walks us through The Five Strengths of Applied Zen Buddhism which include trust, diligence, mindfulness, concentration, and insight. Content Warning: This episode covers difficult topics including death, mental illness, and sexual abuse.  Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/sister-dang-nghiem-403-rerun

31 Maj 202359min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- So many of us suffer over the issue of time management.  Our guest today approaches the topic from research and personal experience and dives into how we can think more strategically about our time and aspire to build resilient schedules, rather than perfect ones.  Laura Vanderkam is the author of several time management and productivity books. Her latest is Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company. Laura’s TED Talk on “How to Gain Control of Your Free Time” has been viewed more than 12 million times, and she also hosts the podcast Before Breakfast. Her previous books include Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done, I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, and 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think.  In this episode we talk about:  Why time is the great leveler Why time management strategies aren’t only for people lucky enough to set their own schedules  Why Laura’s number one rule in her book is to “give yourself a bedtime”  Why she is a big believer that that weekends and evenings do not have to be work free zones How to use exercise as a reset button during your day Why creating a habit doesn’t have to mean doing it everyday The time management rule that Laura gets the biggest pushback on  And the rule Laura says all the other rules are jealous of Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/tph/podcast-episode/laura-vanderkam-606

29 Maj 20231h 14min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- The notion of “being your authentic self” might sound like too much of a tired trope, but getting real and stripping away your fears and hang-ups can help you live a more meaningful life.  In her new book, “Bold Move: A 3-Step Plan to Transform Anxiety into Power”, Dr. Luana Marques shares her story about growing up in chaos and learning early skills of cognitive behavioral therapy that helped her cope with anxiety and live boldly.  Dr. Luana Marques is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School, a former president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), and a renowned mental health expert, educator, and author. In this episode we talk about: Luana’s personal story growing up in Brazil and struggling with anxiety as a child What it means to live boldly What is psychological avoidance and the 3 R’s of Avoidance Luana’s three step plan to transform anxiety into power How to be comfortably uncomfortable Why the brain is a faulty predictor Why being bold is not the same as being fearless Why social support is the number one buffer across any mental health issue How aligning your daily actions with your values can help you deal with anxiety  How to identify your values by looking at pain And what Luana means by “being the water not the rock”   Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/dr-luana-marques-604

24 Maj 20231h 10min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Why, you might fairly ask, am I interviewing Rainn Wilson, best known for his star turn on the sitcom The Office playing Dwight Schrute, the hilariously dysregulated paper salesman with a lust for power and a tragic haircut? Why, you may ask, am I interviewing that dude about mental health and spirituality? Because in real life, Rainn Wilson has spent many, many years wrestling with religion, sobriety, and marital ups and downs, and he's got a new book called Soul Boom in which he cracks a lot of jokes and also makes a dead serious case for a spiritual revolution. (I'll explain exactly what he means by that.)  In this episode we talk about: the role of the Baha'i faith in his life why he was so miserable at the height of The Office's popularity what he considers his greatest achievement in life the importance of spiritual pilgrimage  the ingredients of the perfect religion, which he insists must include potlucks.  A little bit more about Rainn: he won three Emmys for his work on The Office. He hosts a podcast called Metaphysical Milkshake, and he's got a new travel series on Peacock called Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss. Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/rainn-wilson-603

22 Maj 20231h 9min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.   We’re going to start experimenting with these Friday episodes. Historically on Fridays, we’ve dropped guided meditations – and we will still do that – but we’re also going to try some different formats, including some shorter episodes with guests that might not be a fit for our traditional Monday and Wednesday shows.   Today we’ve got Dan’s new friend Geena Rocero. She has an incredible story about what it’s like to live with an all-encompassing secret.   Geena was born and raised in the Philippines. There, she became a star on that country’s thriving transgender beauty pageant scene. Then she moved to America to launch her modeling career. But here, in this new country, she was justifiably very worried about letting anybody in the fashion world know that she was transgender. So for many many years, she lived with a secret -- one that could destroy her livelihood at any moment. In 2014, she decided to come out publicly in a TED Talk that now has more than 4 million views. She’s now a public speaker, trans rights advocate and an award-winning producer/writer/director.   She is also an author, just out with a new memoir, called Horse Barbie. You’ll hear her explain what that title means. We also talk about the cost of living with a secret, why she decided to come out, and the overlap between gender and spirituality.     Where to find Geena Rocero online:  Twitter: twitter.com/geenarocero Instagram: instagram.com/geenarocero    Book Mentioned: Horse Barbie: A Memoir   Other Resources Mentioned: Geena’s TED talk: Why I Must Come Out   Download the Ten Percent Happier app today: https://10percenthappier.app.link/install

19 Maj 202333min

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Welcome to Round II of the Meditation Party. The feedback we got from our first episode was overwhelmingly positive, so we’re going for it again. Meditation Party is an experiment we’re running with a chattier format – more of a morning zoo vibe, but way deeper, of course. The real agenda here is to show that meditation doesn’t have to be a solo death march; it is vastly enhanced by having friends.  Dan’s co-hosts in this episode are his two close friends: the great meditation teachers Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren. 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. In this episode, we talk to Jeff about what it’s like to be a meditation teacher who has ADHD. And even if you don’t have ADHD, there’s a lot of practical value to this conversation, because we all have unruly minds, and Jeff has found some great ways to work with this condition.  We also take listener questions, discussing topics like drugs. Specifically, psychedelics — and whether you’re violating Buddhist precepts if you take them. We also talk about how frustrating it can be to repeatedly wake up from distraction in meditation.  And finally, we have a segment talking about the stuff we’re psyched about right now… in which Sebene sings for us.  Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/sebene-selassie-jeff-warren-601

17 Maj 20231h 7min