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

If you are like me have this 'chatter' going on in your head - this book is so worth reading. The way it's written is to give you the 'why' before the 'how'. It's done this way so you find the scientific validation along with Dan Harris ability to write his impressions of finding his way about calming the chatter in his head. He calls it the monkey brain and I so get that.I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an understanding of why we have the chatter and how to slow it down so we have time to 'respond' instead of 'react' to situations. For those with trauma, ADD, ADHD, or any of the other things that cause our brains to shift into overdrive - leaving us little time to actually 'think thru something' without the constant 'reviewer in our head' or are looking for a way to slow your brain down... read this book starting with page 1 to the end. It has helped me beyond words. And more importantly it has helped my relationship with my husband because he suffers from trauma.I bought this book to help me 'retrain' myself to work with meditation. I have to admit the first half of the book was interesting and for me.. I wanted the "meat" with the instructions and how it worked. That I found out happens in the last half of the book. However, even tho it was interesting to read the 1st half of the book - if I had known the 'meat' was the 2nd half I might have been tempted to skip the 1st part... DON'T... because Dan Harris puts it all together and you will get so much more out of reading the entire book. What he does is in the 1st half is talk about his whys, frustrations, questioning experts in the field and then what he learns from them. It all makes much more sense if you have this background and knowledge when you get to the 2nd half. Be brave and keep reading - in the end it will benefit you.Also, the great part that I learned about this book is a better word usage for talking about meditation to other people who have not experienced it. As Dan Harris states (paraphrasing here) Meditation has a bad PR wrap from the early folks who promoted it. Today it's being used by CEO, The Marine Corps, and other major companies where it has been proven to be more than beneficial.For me... it has given me new language to talk with people about meditation so it isn't so "woo woo or far out there" and it's more understandable. I've worked with meditation for over 25 yrs and have used it most of those years. After reading this book I'm back at my old schedule of meditation because it helps me deal with my world. It has reminded me that I do have the ability to 'respond' instead of 'react' inside my head so what comes out of my mouth - I won't have to eat or apologize later for because something hit a hot button for me or triggered something for me or I was just in one of those - leave me alone moods. So when I do 'react' I know its something that I need to work on so I can obtain a shift of perspective so that darn hot button isn't one in the future. Another way of saying that is I'm not on auto pilot when I respond - I have the ability to take a breath before speaking or understanding in an instant that I was ready to 'react' instead of processing and responding.If I could afford to give this book to people... it would be to our people who have served this country. I know that if they would read it - in some small way it would help them deal with what they saw and experienced. It's not a do all solve all - but it's a good easy step in the right direction.

But the topic is life-changing and important. I’m not even religious and I think he dunks on religion too much, considering he’s participating in Buddhism, which happens to be a pretty ordinary run of the mill world religion. He complains about first world problems a LOT. I did appreciate that someone else of some experience came to the same conclusion about Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra as I did, because I really cannot stand either one of them. Not that he was overly critical of them, just that neither one has advice I can use, and he felt the same. It’s clear to me that Tolle has no advice about how to become mindful because he had a stress-induced stroke in juuust the right spot in his brain to make him “always mindful” and Chopra never shuts up but also never says anything.Not true about this book. It told me everything I need to know about why I should be meditating. No odd religious beliefs necessary. I read it for a class in mindfulness and it really prepared me for the class and the information I received. Great book.

About this time last year I decided I wanted to learn how to meditate. I came to the conclusion that my stressful work days and busy personal life filled with relentless obligations had started to make me lose my cool. Seemingly small things would cause me to erupt like a volcano and I would find myself wondering just what the hell happened a few minutes later. In short, I was becoming my dad who would yell obscenities for a few minutes in our kitchen just because he dropped his spoon. The thought of one day becoming that made me grimace. Plus I didn't want my wife being one of those women who complained about her husbands' temper during a girls’ night out. I knew I had to do something.My searches around the net for meditation information was more confusing than enlightening. Vague words like mindfulness, heart chakras, and loving-kindness were thrown around like crazy and then I tried to read one of the most critically acclaimed and loved books on being present and what I thought was about meditation but turned out it wasn’t, Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, only to be disappointed again by vague concepts, made up woo woo terminology that truly did not make any sense at all, and no concrete advice given to gain Tolle’s “enlightenment.” I lost count of the times I had to go back and re-read a sentence or even a paragraph just to understand what the heck Tolle was saying. Don’t get me wrong there were certainly strong points to the text but it just felt like I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get to something of practical substance. And then I found Victor Davich’s 8 Minute Meditation and Dan Harris’ 10% Happier and cut through all the crap and started meditating every day and have never looked back.I’m much more focused, creative, and relaxed than before. Don’t get me wrong it definitely took a while to get where I’m at. The first couple of weeks were a pain in the butt. Trying to get over the fact that yes my mind wanders and that it’s really not that big of a deal takes time. You learn to forgive yourself and you try to gain focus again, even if for only a short while. That’s really what meditation is all about and that’s why I couldn’t wait to read this book by Mr. Harris. I’m pretty sure his story of becoming a meditator is very similar to a lot of people’s out there, just on a much grander (and funnier) scale. I can relate to his panic attack that he suffered on air. I suffered one not that long ago in a hotel bedroom in Boise, Id. His search for help with his anxiety is also something I’m sure everyone has experienced only to be let down by traditional western medicine’s answer of a pill that will solve all your problems. And lastly I’m sure you’ll find, just as he did, that if you stick with it long enough this meditation thing really isn’t that complicated but that it really does have a lot to offer.So maybe you haven’t gone through all this stuff yet like Harris, myself, and a bunch of other people already have. First, count yourself lucky and second, save yourself the confusion and anxiety and just read this book in advance before you really need it. Like me, I’m sure you’ll be glad you did. Lastly take his instructions and tips at the end of the book seriously and practice them religiously. He’s giving you pearls here and these techniques and mindsets are a godsend. Thank you Dan for writing your hysterical, honest, and most importantly insightful story.