Self-Help Without Other People Is Just Selfish — and Here's the Science to Prove It | Dan Harris

Hello, my fellow suffering beings. Welcome to the 10% Happier podcast. I'm your host, Dan Harris. Normally on this show, given that I'm the host, I ask a bunch of questions of some smart guest. Today though, I'm on the receiving end of the questions. What you're about to hear is an event that was recorded live at the 92nd Street Y Wire. I was interviewed, by the journalist, Allison Gilbert. We talk about why meditation still has a PR problem, why self help without thinking about other people is just selfish, how I personally cope with my panic disorder and sometimes take stairs instead of the elevator, the case for loving kindness practice even though it can feel a little cheesy. I sometimes describe it as, being like Valentine's Day with a a gun to your head. And why and how, I used ChatchiPT to help me get a really important recent medical diagnosis. So a lot here, and, I think you're gonna enjoy it a little bit more, before we dive in on Allison Gilbert, who is the one asking the questions. She runs a series of events at the ninety second Street Y, which is an incredible institution in New York City. It's called, the Connected Lives series, so it's an occasional series of events she does. She also has an app called More Connected that helps you, feel less isolated, build stronger friendships, etcetera, etcetera. You can get that app by visiting beingmoreconnected.com. Thank you guys for coming, and thank you, Dan Harris. Thanks for having me. I am just, a kid in a candy store, truly. I am so thrilled that you're here, and I wanna start with some congratulations for you. Thanks. Ten years I don't even know what you're gonna graduate before I wrote it. Well, it's ten years of your podcast. Yeah. Yes? Yes. Yes. And I just amazing. It's amazing. And the other person who had something to say, and we have to acknowledge her here, is doctor Ruth Westheimer because we are here in honor of her. And I was thinking about preparing to interview you tonight. So I was thinking, what does Dan Harris and doctor Ruth Westheimer have in common? And so I came up with two things. One is that she was a straight shooter, and if you have read Dan's books, if you listen to his podcast, you know that you don't mince words. You're very, very straightforward. And that she changed, of course, the conversation about sex. Mhmm. And what I think that you do, what I think you do so well is that you're changing the conversation about meditation. And you have said it has a massive PR problem. What is the PR problem that meditation has that you have sought so successfully to change? Well, I think it switched. When I wrote 10% happier twelve and a half years ago, or I think maybe just twelve years ago, it was just considered, fringe, …