I have a short review about a book and app that I am reading and trying and it’s a little off the normal topic, but related to success. The topic is Mindfulness. It’s probably not new to all of you but it is to me. When I say new, I have known about it for years but never practiced it. In fact, if you ask people who know me well, they would tell you, I was never mindful about what I was saying or thinking. Of course that is a slight exaggeration but we all have those moments when our filters don’t work quite as well as they should. I probably had more of those moments than I would care to admit.
A couple weeks ago someone suggested that I read a book titled 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 by Dan Harris. Yes, the same Dan Harris of who is an anchor at ABC news.
People close to me have been suggesting that I should look into Meditation and Mindfulness as a way to relax. Sitting quiet for minutes, hours or days is anything but relaxing to me. I knew there was evidence of the science around it but I just couldn’t see myself doing it. People also suggested yoga. I think I made it through 2 sessions before I moved on from that.
I figured I could look into the book since there would be no commitments, no classes and no expectations. If it was terrible, I could just stop reading it. I downloaded the book and started reading it. It was fascinating. It was Dan’s story of how he reluctantly came to mindfulness. While our stories were very different, our ideas about mindfulness were exactly the same.
A corresponding app, called 10% Happier, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, was mentioned in the book. Mindfulness using technology … you’ve got my attention. It is a 14 day introduction to Mindfulness that includes about a 1-2 minute interview with Dan interviewing his teacher Joseph Goldstein and then a 8-10 minute meditation with Joseph leading it. Each day takes between 10-15 minutes. This is not what I thought a meditation program would be like. No chimes, gongs or Oms, just 10 minutes of being. This is presented in a way that anyone can do it. I hate to say it this way but it’s very normal. After about day 4, I was hooked. I knew this was going to be part of my day. The other cool thing about the app is that it comes with coaching. Each morning, you receive a text message from a real coach, (yes I tested that out to see if it was a robo text or a real person), with a little message and check in for the day.
I would highly recommend that you check out the book and app. By the way the app is free for the first 4 days. So you can really check it out without a committment. After that is $20 and is good forever. In fact, Derek one of the co-founders at Change Collective, who put out the app, is offering my readers 20% off. Just visit http://changecollective.com/10-percent-happier and use the coupon code: FRIENDPERCENTHAPPIER. (Note: I don’t have any connection to the company but was excited about it, and asked if they do could do something for us.)
If you have been practicing Mindfulness for a while or are new to it, let me know how it has impacted you by leaving a comment below.
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