Ten Percent Weekly

What can you do if you get walloped by an attack of shame? Seized by the talons of a poisonous inner critic? When you’ve had a “terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day,” as the classic children’s book puts it? These are my favorite tweaks:

A powerful way of lowering stress for both ourselves and our children is to practice a little bit of meditation together. Doing this will bring greater calm, connection, and ease for the family as a whole. Many of us have zero opportunity to meditate independently, so meditating with our children is a great way of giving ourselves a moment, too.

You don’t have to stop your thoughts in order to meditate. That’s just a myth. And in fact, some of the most valuable parts of meditation come precisely when you notice that you’ve been distracted.

Getting to know your barriers to rest—the stuff that comes up when you let go of busy mode—can support your ability to unwind. Here are a few ideas to explore as starting points for finding relaxation…

In a way, every moment of mindfulness is a moment of coming out: accepting what’s true, having the courage to be ourselves.

I wasn’t always grateful for my body.

Over the years, I have spent an incredible number of hours critiquing this place that has been my home throughout my entire existence.

You want to exercise more, sleep better, or eat healthier, and you do, for a little while. But it’s hard to keep up a new habit, so you flake a little. And then, if you’re like me, you might resort to drill sergeant mode, operating on the assumption that the only route to success is white-knuckled willpower.

But that kind of willpower doesn’t work.

As a 12-year-old in Brazil, I found myself navigating the choppy waters of my parents' recent divorce. The storm had passed, leaving a silence that echoed through the halls of our once lively home. One morning, my tears and a stomachache became my silent rebellion against the world: "Mom, I can't go to school today."

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Why am I sharing this personal journey with you? Because I understand I’m not alone; many of us carry the weight of anxiety through much of our lives. And because I also want to share that it doesn't have to be this way. 

In a candid interview between Dan and Mike D of the Beastie Boys on the 10% Happier podcast, the musician opened up about loss, grief, and the power of meditation in helping him stay open to life’s ups and downs. 

Sometimes, we have to take care of business—other times, ourselves.

When it comes to maintaining a meditation practice, negative reinforcement does not work. But mindfulness does.

This year, we're bringing World Meditation Day down to earth with a week-long celebration of free meditations and live content unlocks.

For seven days straight, we're celebrating the power of meditation and mindfulness with practical techniques that you can apply to your everyday life.

Starting on Monday, May 15th and culminating on Sunday, May 21st with World Meditation Day, we invite you to join us on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth through free daily meditations.

I cried so much in the months after I had both of my two kids.

I cried in banks, in coffee shops, and lord knows every room of my house. I’m not actually sure who cried more – me, or my colicky babies. It wasn’t quite post-partum depression –I prefer to describe it as the everyday gut-wrenching, confusing, disorienting, sleep-deprived vertigo of parenthood.

Meanwhile, here I was, a meditation practitioner for almost two decades, with no clue about what my carefully cultivated spiritual practice had to say about this massive life shift.

Do I have your attention right now?

I hope so, but even if I do, I won’t keep it for very long. As you read this newsletter, chances are that you’ll miss up to half of what I say. And on top of that, you’ll finish reading it, convinced that you didn’t miss a thing.

There are days when I feel that climate change is the only thing that matters, and that the tragedy of it is unbearable. At least I know that I’m not alone. According to a 2020 study by the American Psychiatric Association, over half of Americans said they were somewhat or extremely anxious about the impact of climate change.

So what can we do?