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

Dan Harris

Mar 2014 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

#1 New York Times Bestseller

REVISED WITH NEW MATIERAL

Winner of the 2014 Living Now Book Award for Inspirational Memoir

"An enormously smart, clear-eyed, brave-hearted, and quite personal look at the benefits of meditation."

—Elizabeth Gilbert

Nightline anchor Dan Harrisembarks on an unexpected, hilarious, and deeply skeptical odyssey through the strange worlds of spirituality and self-help, and discovers a way to get happier that is truly achievable.

After having a nationally televised panic attack, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had propelled him through the ranks of a hypercompetitive business, but had also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.

Finally, Harris stumbled upon an effective way to rein in that voice, something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation, a tool that research suggests can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain. 10% Happier takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America’s spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.

Ratings and reviews

There was a snap sale so I got the book for $3. I recommend it at retail price. A relentlessly skeptical, and deliberately secular entertaining read on the pros and cons of mindfulness meditation and the alternatives, 10% happier is worth your time. Sample useful bit: Transcendental meditation is about concentration and is based on Hindu tradition , mindfulness meditation is based on Buddhist tradition Harris includes enough information to get started meditating, but spends the most time on "Why" rather than "How". Given that mediation is simple but not easy. "Why" is the right focus. Partly a memoir, the book has enough entertaining stories from a network TV correspondent and anchor to hold your attention. (Name dropping Barbara Walters and Peter Jennings) Harris starts from a hard core of skepticism. For example, at first encounter with Eckhart Tolle , Harris is alternately gob smacked at the insight and annoyed at the crazy, concluding that most of the good bits of Eckhart Tolle are lifted right from Buddhism. Buddhism he characterizes as more a philosophy than a religion. However , Harris constantly re-accesses his own skepticism . He initially dismissed Loving Kindness (Metta) meditation but eventually adds it to his practice and says some useful things about being compassionate without being a patsy.

There was a lot of background of his life he talked about and his career so I was just always waiting for him to explain the 10% happier part... However its interesting to see that someone like him who's on tv& rich who you would assume is having the best life had a terrible mindset. he realized it and wanted to fix it. So he looked for a solution and it was meditation he had to practice it and incorporate it into his life. If he didn't care about fixing it, his life would have never changed

When I started reading the book it was on a referral. I just downloaded it not sure what to expect not even reading the back to know what I was getting to or who Dan Harris was. But after a few what feet random chapters.. With great stories I was able to really get into the book. Liking Dans non religious version and how he broke down many Buddhist terms/savings into how they pertained to life and in a simpler form to understand. This book makes me want to be 10% Happier.

About the author

Dan Harris is the coanchor of Nightline and the weekend editions of Good Morning America. He regularly reports for 20/20, World News with Diane Sawyer, and the weekday editions of Good Morning America. Before joining ABC News fourteen years ago, he worked for local news outlets in Boston and Maine. He lives with his wife, Bianca, in New York City. This is his first book.