Happiness Break: A Walking Meditation with Dan Harris of 10% Happier (Encore)

Dec 12, 2024

Explore the art of mindful walking in a refreshing meditation guided by Dan Harris. Discover how simply being aware of your surroundings can enhance your wellbeing. Learn about the profound benefits of combining movement with mindfulness, including reduced anxiety and increased joy. Dive into the practice of cultivating self-compassion and detaching from the autopilot mode of daily life. Embrace each step as a celebration of the present moment, heightening your sensory awareness and reconnecting with your environment.

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ADVICE

Start With Body Awareness

Begin your walk by bringing attention into the body and noticing hamstrings, arms swinging, and feet hitting the ground.
When your mind wanders, gently return to raw sensory data like coolness, heat, or movement.

ADVICE

Treat Distraction As Part Of Practice

Expect distractions and treat them as normal; simply return attention to sensory experience each time.
Use noting like "coolness, heat, moving, tightness" to anchor attention if it helps.

ADVICE

Use Senses To Explore Familiar Places

Use seeing and hearing as meditation objects and notice something new even in familiar places.
If sight is unavailable, focus solely on sounds and what you haven't heard before.

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Trouble sitting still? Learn to practice meditating by simply walking in this practice guided by 10% Happier host Dan Harris.

Scroll down for a transcript of this episode.

How to Do This Practice:

Begin walking.
Bring your awareness to the present moment, noticing sights and sounds around you. When your mind wanders to worries or other thoughts, gently bring yourself back to what you notice around you.
See if you can notice the sensations in your leg as you take each step.
Continue walking this way as long as you wish.

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Today’s Happiness Break host:

Dan Harris the host of 10% Happier, a podcast about mindfulness and other practices and thoughts that can support our well-being.

Check out Dan’s podcast, 10% Happier: https://tinyurl.com/48cxcbjm

Order his most recent book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-to Book: https://tinyurl.com/44cmjuvd

Follow Dan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/danbharris
Follow 10% Happier on Twitter: https://twitter.com/10percent
Follow Dan on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danharris/
Follow 10% Happier on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tenpercenthappier/
Follow Dan on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-harris-91ba5716b/
Follow 10% Happier on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tenpercent/

If you enjoyed this Happiness Break, you may also like:

Moving Through Space, With Dacher Keltner - https://tinyurl.com/5n8dj5v6

Check out these episodes of The Science of Happiness about walking and mind-body awareness.

How To Do Good For The Environment (And Yourself) (Walking, With Diana Gameros) - https://tinyurl.com/3zfhhpus

How To Focus Under Pressure (Mindful Body Scan, With Amy Schneider) - https://tinyurl.com/5fkdre2v

We love hearing from you! Tell us about your experiences with mindful walking. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

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Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mwbsen7a