10% Happier with Dan Harris Folgen

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- At times, self-improvement can seem like a never-ending hallway filled with limitless shame and insufficiency. So when something as simple as the breath falls into this category, it seems only natural to meet that news with some resistance. Our guest today, James Nestor argues that many of us, of all things, are breathing incorrectly but that by fixing our breathing, it can help with both physical and psychological ailments.  Nestor is a science journalist who wrote a book called, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, which spent 18 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was translated into more than 35 languages. In this episode we talk about:  How Nestor got interested in breathing in the first place Why we are the worst breathers in the animal kingdom The importance of posture The deleterious effects of mouth breathing Why we need to chew more The relationship between breathing and anxiety The relationship between breathing and sleep And we dive into a variety of breathing exercises  Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/james-nestor-492

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- Most of us worry about money sometimes, but what if we changed the way we thought about our relationship to finances? Today's guest, William MacAskill, offers a framework in which to do just that. He calls it effective altruism. One of the core arguments of effective altruism is that we all ought to consider giving away a significant chunk of our income because we know, to a mathematical near certainty, that several thousand dollars could save a life. Today we're going to talk about the whys and wherefores of effective altruism. This includes how to get started on a very manageable and doable level (which does not require you to give away most of your income), and the benefits this practice has on both the world and your own psyche. MacAskill is an associate professor of philosophy at Oxford University and one of the founders of the effective altruism movement. He has a new book out called, What We Owe the Future, where he makes a case for longtermism, a term used to describe developing the mental habit of thinking about the welfare of future generations.  In this episode we talk about:  Effective altruism Whether humans are really wired to consider future generations Practical tips for thinking and acting on longtermism His argument for having children And his somewhat surprising take on how good our future could be if we play our cards right Podcast listeners can get 50% off What We Owe the Future using the code WWOTF50 at Bookshop.org. Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/william-macaskill-491

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- In this episode from our archives, psychologist Kelly McGonigal dives into her book The Joy of Movement and practical steps on how to develop healthy habits. Kelly McGonigal, PhD, is a health psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University, and a leading expert in the new field of "science-help." She is passionate about translating cutting-edge research from psychology, neuroscience, and medicine into practical strategies for health, happiness, and personal success. She is the author of The Joy of Movement, The Willpower Instinct, and The Upside of Stress. In this conversation we talk about:  Why her book is a love letter to movement and human nature  The science behind the runner's high Why she wants to change the conversation around movement  Why shame and self-criticism is disempowering and not motivating  The value of setting intentions How Kelly has used psychology and meditation to relieve her own pain and suffering  And what Tonglen meditation is — and its impact on her life  Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/kelly-mcgonigal-rerun