Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics

A 10% Happier How-to Book

By: Dan Harris, Jeffrey Warren, Carlye Adler

Narrated by: Dan Harris, Jeffrey Warren

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER FROM THE AUTHOR OF 10% HAPPIER

Too busy to meditate? Can’t turn off your brain? Curious about mindfulness but more comfortable in the gym? This book is for you.

You’ll also get access to guided audio meditations on the 10% Happier app, to jumpstart your practice from day one.

What exactly is meditation? ABC News anchor Dan Harris used to think that meditation was for people who collect crystals, play Ultimate Frisbee, and use the word “namaste” without irony. After he had a panic attack on live television, he went on a strange and circuitous journey that ultimately led him to become one of meditation’s most vocal public proponents.

Harris found that meditation made him more focused and less yanked around by his emotions. According to his wife, it also made him less annoying. Science suggests that the practice can lower your blood pressure, mitigate depression and anxiety, and literally rewire key parts of the brain. So what’s holding you back?

In Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, Harris and Jeff Warren, a masterful teacher and “Meditation MacGyver,” embark on a gonzo cross-country quest to tackle the myths, misconceptions, and self-deceptions that keep people from meditating. It is filled with game-changing and deeply practical meditation instructions—all of which are also available (for free) on the 10% Happier app. This book is a trip worth taking.

*Includes two bonus guided meditations

Praise for Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics

“If you’re intrigued by meditation but don’t know how to begin—or you’ve benefited from meditation in the past but need help to get started again—Dan Harris has written the book for you. Well researched, practical, and crammed with expert advice, it’s also an irreverent, hilarious page-turner.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

“The ABC News anchor, a ‘defender of worrying’ who once had an anxiety attack on air, offers a hilarious and stirring account of his two-steps-forward-one-step-back campaign to sort ‘useless rumination’ from ‘constructive anguish’ via mindfulness, along with invaluable suggestions for following in his footsteps.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

Critic reviews

“If you’re intrigued by meditation but don’t know how to begin—or you’ve benefited from meditation in the past but need help to get started again, Dan Harris has written the book for you. Well researched, practical, and crammed with expert advice, it’s also an irreverent, hilarious page-turner.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

“The ABC News anchor, a ‘defender of worrying’ who once had an anxiety attack on air, offers a hilarious and stirring account of his two-steps-forward-one-step-back campaign to sort ‘useless rumination’ from ‘constructive anguish’ via mindfulness, along with invaluable suggestions for following in his footsteps.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“If your mind has a mind of its own, this is the book for you! With humor, generosity, and devastating candor, Dan Harris makes meditation make sense. This is news we can all use.”—Mark Epstein, MD, author of Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself and Going to Pieces Without Falling Apart

“A gold mine of wise guidance for fidgety skeptics and experienced meditators alike . . .With Dan’s humorous, self-revelatory style and incisive questioning and Jeff’s down-to-earth, transforming wisdom, this book addresses the common obstacles people face as they begin and deepen their meditation practice. . . . Highly recommended.”—Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

“Part romp, part travelogue, part meditation manual, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics takes us along for the journey as Dan Harris and meditation teacher Jeff Warren traverse the country. We discover meditating police officers, moms, media figures, and the meditator on the street (literally, as they open a pop-up meditation booth). Dan discovers some things about himself as well. This book is fun, instructive, timely, and immensely helpful.”—Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness and Real Love

Great for beginners or even just the curious

Great for beginners or even just the curious. Dan and Jeff are very easy to listen to.

Good introduction to meditation

I enjoyed the book quite a bit. I’m a long term meditator since the 80’s with Jon Kabat-
Zinn’s Full Catastrophes Living. I’m not a daily meditator but do short 5-10 minute episodes multiple times a week. It helps with quieting the inner critic and helps clean up my thinking. “Your thoughts are not reality “. I often say that like an alcoholic will always be an alcoholic but hopefully an alcoholic in recovery, I’m an asshole in recovery. Meditation helps keep me in recovery. I often read books on meditation to re-inspire me and to find books to recommend. This will be another I will recommend to young physicians I work with. Thanks Dan and Jeff.

Great content but unnecessary bad language

I have the first book and the app. I enjoy the intro and stories but the cursing was so inappropriate for such well-educated folks wanting their work to be shared with the masses. There are so many people that I could not share this with due to the distraction of swear words. Shame that nobody dealt with thus as a topic during production.

Good book

I have been waiting for almost 2 years after this book. Mabey the expectations were too high. Dont get me wrong the book is good but never as good as the first one.

10% Less of a B$!ch

10% Happier was the perfect choice to get into the benefits and framework of mindfulness meditation. Dan Harris and Jeff Warren walk through their tour across the United States as they speak to various skeptics concerning the hesitations, faux pa, and cheesy mindset behind meditation. Not only do the authors break down the content to make it easy for any beginner to understand, but they do so in a humorous and self-deprecating way. Jeff Warren leads you through multiple guided meditations that keep you in track and able to concentrate on his voice. 10/10 would recommend this book to beginning or skeptic meditators who need more convincing or motivation.