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Getting Unstuck
Matthew Hepburn
,
December 29, 2021
The past two years, and even the past two weeks, have taught us that much of life is beyond our control. But we don’t have to feel stuck, writes Matthew Hepburn in this week’s Ten Percent Weekly.
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December
Getting Unstuck

The Wisdom of Omicron Madness
Jay Michaelson
,
December 17, 2021
In just the past five days, as the Omicron surge has engulfed New York City. Jay Michaelson writes about how to be resilient in the face of yet another wave of COVID.
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December
The Wisdom of Omicron Madness

When Becoming a Parent Changes Everything (Especially You)
Yasmeen Khan
,
December 16, 2021
In this excerpt from Ten Percent’s new podcast, Childproof, Yasmeen Khan and Yael Shy discuss how to recognize, and accept, the changes that come with becoming a parent.
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December
When Becoming a Parent Changes Everything (Especially You)

Feeling Fulfilled - In Eating and in Life
Amanda Gilbert
,
December 8, 2021
Most of us, I think, want to feel fulfilled by whatever comprises our days and our lives. We may seek fulfillment through work, friendships, relationships, or family. Or we may seek fulfillment through inputs like art, curling up with a page-turning novel, meditating, enjoying a cup of tea, or gathering together with loved ones for the holidays.Yet experiencing fulfillment is, itself, a practice. We can watch all the entertainment in the world, we can work harder and longer, but if we don’t learn to experience fulfillment, we’ll never be satisfied.
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December
Feeling Fulfilled - In Eating and in Life

What is Intuitive Eating?
Christy Harrison
,
December 3, 2021
Diets don’t work. Here, as part of Ten percent’s Anti-Diet Challenge, Christy Harrison talks with Dan about developing a more balanced, natural relationship with food.
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December
What is Intuitive Eating?

What I Learned Teaching Mindfulness to Students with Special Needs
Tim Hwang
,
November 23, 2021
Tim Hwang teaches meditation to public school students with autism, ADHD, and intellectual challenges. Here’s what he’s learned about the power, and limits, of mindfulness.
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November
What I Learned Teaching Mindfulness to Students with Special Needs

Gratitude and the Practice of Kvetching
Jay Michaelson
,
November 19, 2021
Reflecting on the blessings around us is an essential counterweight to negativity bias, and, ideally, an inspiration to ethical action.
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November
Gratitude and the Practice of Kvetching

Is Your Meditation Good Enough?
Emily Horn
,
November 11, 2021
One moment of mindfulness was good enough. And yet, if you’ve meditated, you know that this feeling can be fleeting.
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November
Is Your Meditation Good Enough?

Shelter from the Storm
Jay Michaelson
,
October 21, 2021
Meditation isn’t just about measurable, objective benefits. It’s about “shelter from the storm,” to quote Bob Dylan, a space of solace and stability in an unstable world.
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October
Shelter from the Storm

Next-Level Loving-kindness
Matthew Hepburn
,
October 15, 2021
Loving-kindness meditation is deceptively simple: you focus on a person in your life and wish them well. But it can actually be a complicated meditation to integrate into your life. Not only do the details vary from teacher to teacher, which is confusing enough, but eventually you also have to make it your own.
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October
Next-Level Loving-kindness

How to Build Deeper Relationships
Carole Robin
,
October 7, 2021
Think of the best relationships in your life. What makes them so valuable, so enriching? What is happening for you when you are with one another?One of the hallmarks of exceptional relationships is the extent to which we each feel known by the other. We may feel intimacy, trust, familiarity, acceptance and support; we may feel love. We feel seen. We can be ourselves instead of spinning our image. And all of these depend upon knowing and being known. That’s true in our most precious personal relationships, but also, to lesser extents, in our work lives, family lives, and everyday interactions.
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October
How to Build Deeper Relationships

How to Train Your Mind Away from Anxiety
Jud Brewer
,
September 29, 2021
Needless to say, anxiety is on the rise right now. The continuing pandemic and the prospect of a Delta Variant winter; climate change; political uncertainty -- rates of anxiety have already been rising for decades, but in the last two years, they’ve skyrocketed.As a behavioral neuroscientist who’s been studying anxiety and addiction for many years, I believe the key to unwinding this anxiety is understanding what it is and what it isn’t.
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September
How to Train Your Mind Away from Anxiety

Quietly Undone: Disruption as Nature
Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
,
September 17, 2021
We are to be undone and unraveled because life inevitably gets disrupted by a sudden death of a loved one, the loss of a home, or the arrival of a life-threatening illness. We face the unimaginable and think to ourselves, “I’m not who I thought I was” or “this isn’t where I’m supposed to be”. Although, it feels like destruction, to be undone is to be reminded that in nothingness, there is peace.
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September
Quietly Undone: Disruption as Nature

Train Your Puppy
Cory Muscara
,
September 10, 2021
If you’ve ever meditated, you may have noticed that your mind likes to wander. In fact, many people who subscribe to this very newsletter tell us that they can’t meditate because their mind is always wandering.But this is a myth! And if it’s keeping you from meditation, please read on.
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September
Train Your Puppy

Meeting the Inner Critic with Radical Kindness
Lama Rod Owens
,
September 2, 2021
Cultivating radical kindness goes beyond just being “nice” or “doing the right thing.” It means that we consciously choose to live, speak, and act from a place of deep care and compassion for ourselves and others—especially when it’s the last thing we want to do. That's what makes it radical! And we can build this ability, bit by bit.
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September
Meeting the Inner Critic with Radical Kindness

The Delta Variant
Jay Michaelson
,
August 27, 2021
The delta variant caused a cascade of what meditation teachers often call “difficult emotions”: rage, fear, confusion, disappointment, and many more. Of course, mindfulness will not protect you from the virus. Nor will it banish all your difficult emotions so that you feel great about everything. But it does have three very useful superpowers.
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August
The Delta Variant

Feeling Awkward?
Dr.Susan Pollak
,
August 19, 2021
A year of social distancing has created psychological distance as well. We’re all out of practice.
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August
Feeling Awkward?

Coping with Uncertainty
Oren Jay Sofer
,
August 12, 2021
Many of us thought we were done with the pandemic. But we aren’t. What now?
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August
Coping with Uncertainty

Your Kids’ Screen Time… and Your Own
Sumi Kim
,
August 4, 2021
Mindfulness can help you set boundaries around screen time, which in turn can help you and your family be more mindful.
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August
Your Kids’ Screen Time… and Your Own

Meditation Tips for Hot Summer Days
Jay Michaelson
,
July 29, 2021
It’s summer! The perfect time for barbecues, beaches, and, this year, remembering what it’s like to hang out with other human beings.Jay Michaelson shares four tips for meditating in the summertime. Even when you’re not meditating.
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July
Meditation Tips for Hot Summer Days

How to Be a Kinder Person
Emily Horn
,
July 22, 2021
Kindness to others is at the center of the world’s spiritual and ethical traditions. When we cultivate kindness, we deepen our relationships with ourselves and others. We learn to be a good friend – even to strangers. And we're really wishing people well with genuine warmth and authenticity.But how do we do it? How do we cultivate more kindness?
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July
How to Be a Kinder Person

Embracing Ambition
Yael Shy
,
July 14, 2021
So how do we tap into the creativity and energy of ambition without getting swallowed up by negativity, greed and delusion? For me, the key has been to lean into ambition and then, over and over again, release any attachment to the outcome.
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July
Embracing Ambition

Responding to Life, Instead of Reacting to It
Stephen Batchelor
,
July 8, 2021
You may have heard meditation called a “practice.” As in, “I practice mindfulness.” “I practice Zen.” And so on.But this alone is a very narrow understanding of practice. Really, the point of practicing meditation is to practice being human: the way we see ourselves and the world, the way we form intentions and ideas, the way we speak to each other, the way we act, the way we make our living, the way we apply ourselves. Practice involves far, far more than just meditating.
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July
Responding to Life, Instead of Reacting to It

The Practice of Freedom
Sharon Salzberg
,
July 1, 2021
True freedom may come from a much-misused word: morality.While the term ‘morality’ may have connotations today of prudishness or judgment, in fact, a commitment to morality is a commitment to living life in the most free, most loving, and most expansive sense. It means living a life that reflects our love and compassion for ourselves and others.
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July
The Practice of Freedom

Enjoy Some Gratitude
Jay Michaelson
,
June 24, 2021
As we in the United States explore the many feelings of pandemic transition – delight, awkwardness, anxiety, and everywhere in between – I want to make a plug: Enjoy some gratitude!
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June
Enjoy Some Gratitude

Finding Acceptance
Lama Rod Owens
,
June 15, 2021
I came out to the world as queer when I was 21; I came out to my ultra-conservative parents when I was 38.The reason was clear: I never thought that they would understand or accept me. In fact, I always had this fear that they would actually disown me.
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June
Finding Acceptance

Accepting Anxiety in Order to Tame It
Leslie Booker
,
June 9, 2021
There’s a funny thing about anxiety: all of us experience it, and all of us think we shouldn’t be experiencing it.
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June
Accepting Anxiety in Order to Tame It

How to Spot, and Reverse, the Signs of Burnout
Leah Weiss
,
June 4, 2021
According to the World Health Organization, "burnout" means emotional exhaustion, plus depersonalization, and a reduced sense of efficacy. But chances are, we don’t need that formal definition. All of us have experienced it, especially over the last year.
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June
How to Spot, and Reverse, the Signs of Burnout

Getting Back into Shape―Mindfully
Jay Michaelson
,
May 26, 2021
We have a little secret. Mindfulness complements any approach you take and what issue you’re addressing.
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May
Getting Back into Shape―Mindfully

The Secret to a Good Relationship? Discomfort.
Susan Piver
,
May 18, 2021
Having spoken with hundreds of couples on applying meditative wisdom to their relationships, I have some bad news and some good news.
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May
The Secret to a Good Relationship? Discomfort.

Opening Up Wisely
Oren Jay Sofer
,
May 12, 2021
It’s difficult to even try to summarize the range of challenges that we as a society and individuals have faced.No wonder so many of us feel such a range of emotions: tired, anxious, numb; hopeful, grateful, eager to re-enter ‘normal’ life. Perhaps you even feel all of these things at once!
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May
Opening Up Wisely

The Buddha Was Wrong
Jay Michaelson
,
May 4, 2021
Forget meditation. External circumstances are the key to happiness. Or are they?
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May
The Buddha Was Wrong

Covid Transition Anxiety
Dr.Susan Pollak
,
April 21, 2021
Many of us have spent over a year being unable to be with family, travel freely, or socialize with friends as we’re accustomed to. So it’s understandable, even though we’re gradually getting vaccinated and transitioning to a new normal, that many of us are hesitant and uncertain.
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April
Covid Transition Anxiety

Hope in the Midst of Uncertainty
Sharon Salzberg
,
April 15, 2021
It can be frightening to hope.On the one hand, with vaccinations increasing and Covid deaths decreasing, we all want to feel hopeful. Hope encourages us to look forward toward a brighter future ahead.On the other hand, all of us are scarred by the last year, and many uncertainties remain. We don’t want to have our hopes dashed yet again.
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April
Hope in the Midst of Uncertainty

Making Room for Hope
George Mumford
,
April 7, 2021
With vaccines becoming widespread, the present moment is pregnant with possibility. How can we both embrace whatever comes up—the fear, the pain, the frustration, the love, the compassion—and at the same time generate hope and create a vision for the future?
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April
Making Room for Hope

The Pandemic's Harvest
Jay Michaelson
,
March 31, 2021
The pandemic is changing again. And for once... maybe?... for the better.
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March
The Pandemic's Harvest

Making Room for Hope
George Mumford
,
March 29, 2021
With vaccines becoming widespread, the present moment is pregnant with possibility. How can we both embrace whatever comes up—the fear, the pain, the frustration, the love, the compassion—and at the same time generate hope and create a vision for the future?
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March
Making Room for Hope

Be Yourself, So the Right People Will Love You
Lama Rod Owens
,
March 25, 2021
I finally realized that I needed to stop and focus on understanding who I was, rather than trying to find happiness outside of myself, especially in someone to complete or validate me.
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March
Be Yourself, So the Right People Will Love You

How to Not Make Stress Worse
Emma Seppälä
,
March 18, 2021
No one likes stress, but according to numerous scientific studies, many of the things that people do to reduce it are actually ineffective, or worse, counterproductive.
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March
How to Not Make Stress Worse

The Paradox of Invincibility
Cory Muscara
,
March 10, 2021
Invincibility is a paradox.On the surface, the word may conjure up ideas of a stoic, “no pain, no gain” mental toughness, or even reckless teenagers acting like they’re invulnerable.But true invincibility comes from vulnerability.
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March
The Paradox of Invincibility

Coming to Love Your Body
Sebene Selassie
,
March 4, 2021
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.
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March
Coming to Love Your Body

It Is What It Is
Jay Michaelson
,
February 24, 2021
One of the more annoying meditation clichés is the familiar tautology “It is what it is.”The phrase is at once ubiquitous and, seemingly, meaningless. It can literally apply to anything that exists. It sometimes functions as a spiritual merit badge, meant to display the pseudo-wisdom of the person who says it. And yet, I’m here to defend it.
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February
It Is What It Is

Defending Against ‘Predatory Listening’
Oren Jay Sofer
,
February 18, 2021
It felt like stepping on the wrong end of a rake.My relative had asked for my opinion, but when I gave it, he launched into what sounded like a well-rehearsed argument, taking issue with each thing I had said and critiquing my character. I felt like I’d walked into a trap.
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February
Defending Against ‘Predatory Listening’

How Meditation Cultivates the Qualities of Love
Susan Piver
,
February 11, 2021
It’s often hard to love the people we love.Fortunately, the qualities we cultivate in meditation are also essential to a healthy, loving relationship: our capacities to feel, and act, with greater care, and to be with our experience as it arises, dips, soars, crashes, and re-arises.
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February
How Meditation Cultivates the Qualities of Love

Cultivating Resilience with our Parents
Dr.Susan Pollak
,
February 4, 2021
The pandemic has been especially hard on the elderly. Even though, at last, many are now receiving vaccines, people over 70 remain at increased risk not only of Covid-19, but also of anxiety, depression and loneliness, due in part to social isolation. I have seen this firsthand.
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February
Cultivating Resilience with our Parents

Hope
Jay Michaelson
,
January 27, 2021
Lately, some of us have felt something we haven’t felt in a long time: hope.
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January
Hope

Why We Get Anxious (And What To Do About It)
Dr.Rick Hanson
,
January 20, 2021
Why are we like this? And what can we do about it? In an evolutionary framework, anxiety is adaptive.
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January
Why We Get Anxious (And What To Do About It)

The Power of Self-Compassion
Emma Seppälä
,
January 13, 2021
If we can change our relationships to ourselves, not only will be happier, but we will be able to find more sustainable paths to success.
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January
The Power of Self-Compassion

How To Make A New Year's Resolution That Sticks
Dr.Laurie Santos
,
January 7, 2021
Studies show that up to 95% of new year’s resolutions just don’t stick. Why? First, we often pick goals that don’t end up making us all that happy. And second, we’re confused about how to go about getting towards those goals.
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January
How To Make A New Year's Resolution That Sticks