10% Happier: How Meditation Turned a Skeptic to an Evangelist

In all fairness, I doubt that Dan Harris, a news anchor and correspondent for ABC would call himself an evangelist. However, since he has written a wonderful book extolling the benefits of meditation (and I like to overstate things for effect) I am sticking with the word.

If you have an interest in meditation, calming your mind, not letting your ego run the show all the time, and/or genuinely being a kinder person—read this book.

Even if you have no interest in mediation and just like reading an stimulating, well-written book, read 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.

I have been meditating for over 20 years, so I admit a bias. I have seen the benefits in my own life from early on. In the first year or so, I was lurching my way toward a daily practice (read meditating for a week, then stopping for a week or month or two.) One day, as I was sniping about something minor, my boyfriend said “You haven’t been meditating lately have you?” I won’t bother you with my response.

His comment surprised me. I knew I felt better even if I sat for 10 minutes. I had no clue others could see the difference. My life was no less stressful. I just didn’t react as much.

That is the brilliance of meditation.

In many ways, we can’t control what is going on in or world. (The stock market comes to mind.) We can control how we respond.

This is where our power is.

We have a habit of looking outside ourselves for happiness and struggling with all the things wrong in the world—all the things that get in our way of happiness. It is a paradox that by creating greater calm inside, we actually find we have greater influence outside ourselves, with less struggle and stress.

As Dan writes in his book’s epilogue “Paradoxically, looking inward has made me a much more outward facing and much nicer colleague, friend and husband.”

Who doesn’t want that?

If you are interested in the meditation that Dan does, you can go to his website for a free 7 day introduction to meditation.