E153 - Dan Harris: How to Conquer the Voice in Your Head

Know Thyself

André Duqum

Self-improvement, Education

4.8 • 658 Ratings

🗓️ 8 July 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Retired news journalist and bestselling author, Dan Harris, explores the journey of transforming the mind through meditation. After experiencing a transformative on-air panic attack in 2004, Dan embarked on a journey that led him from the high-pressure world of network news to the forefront of the mindfulness movement. Drawing from his own skepticism and personal struggles, Dan shares how meditation became a practical tool for taming the relentless voice in his head and cultivating real happiness.

To start your free trial with Wix:

https://bit.ly/3SXG2qK

Andrés Book Recs: https://www.knowthyself.one/books

___________

0:00 Intro

2:56 10% Happier - Mindfulness for Everyone

6:37 Going Deeper with Contemplative Practices

10:12 Combining Western Knowledge & Eastern Wisdom Traditions

13:21 How Felt Experience Outweighs Intellect

18:55 Surrendering to Life’s Inherent Impermanence

26:45 Relative vs Absolute Truth

30:39 Understanding the True Nature of Self

32:49 Working With Denser Emotions

36:25 Ad: Wix

37:30 How to Notice & Separate Yourself From Desire

42:30 Fueling Your Life From Love, Not Lack

47:38 Awakening & Meeting Spiritually Minded Individuals

59:03 The Importance of Laughter

1:00:57 Where Mindfulness Industry Falls Short

1:06:00 The Future of Humanity is Community

1:09:40 His Daily Meditation Practice

1:15:53 Overcoming the Voice in Our Head

1:21:51 Conclusion

___________

Episode Resources:

https://www.instagram.com/danharris/?hl=en

https://www.danharris.com/

https://www.instagram.com/andreduqum/

https://www.instagram.com/knowthyself/

https://www.youtube.com/@knowthyselfpodcast

https://www.knowthyself.one

Listen to the show:

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4bZMq9l

Apple: https://apple.co/4iATICX

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	My job used to be to deliver terrible news, and now my job is to deliver really good piece of news.
0:05.7	You have an enormous amount of power to upgrade your own software.
0:08.9	We all have this constant conversation happening in our head, this inner voice that chases us out of bed in the morning, and is just talking at us all day.
0:16.5	And when you're not aware of this nonstop conversation, it owns you.
0:20.2	But with meditation, you're seeing the voice in your head.
0:23.4	And in the seeing of the voice in the head, you're diminishing its power.
0:26.4	What do you feel like the industry per se of mindfulness falls short?
0:32.0	Well, first of all, the thing that I've seen is that the moment when some sort of urge arises and you don't like say the thing that's going to ruin the next 48 hours of your marriage or whatever it is, that is like incredibly empowering for people.
0:46.9	When you have these moments where you're not so owned by your conditioning, it's really affirming.
0:58.3	Yeah. conditioning, it's really affirming. Hey everyone, welcome back to know thyself. Our guest today is a retired news journalist and best
1:04.4	selling author of 10% happier. He had a transformative live panic attack in 2004 that really opened his eyes up and towards the path of mindfulness,
1:15.9	meditation, and through his books, through his teachings, and his collaborations, he's really been a pioneer and leader in the space of introducing people to meditation and mindfulness and compassion.
1:29.9	And Dan Harris, thank you for being here.
1:31.9	Thanks for having me.
1:32.7	Can I just say at the beginning that I, as you know, but your audience doesn't know,
1:38.0	I somehow had a mix up in my calendar and I showed up here two hours before the interview
1:44.1	was supposed to take
1:45.0	place at your home. And you were incredibly gracious in this very strange and awkward situation.
1:52.2	And so whatever meditation you're doing is clearly working. Thank you. Yeah. You imagine it. I just
1:59.4	put a good show on for the podcast and I'm a dick the rest of my life.
2:03.6	You know, it's interesting you say that because I've had moments in my own life, in my own career as a quasi self-help guru, where it's been pointed out to me that there's actually a quite a humiliating delta or gap
2:18.9	between the stuff I say publicly and the way I behave privately. And that has been a huge
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from André Duqum, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of André Duqum and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.