This is the 10% happier podcast. I'm Dan Harris.

Hello, people. I've had a long running conversation, or maybe you could call it a good

nature debate, much of which has actually played out on this very show with my friend Gretchen

Ruben. Gretchen, as you may know, is a mega best-selling happiness expert who claims that she cannot

meditate. And unlike most people who claim they cannot meditate, Gretchen has actually tried it many

times. What's fascinating to me is that she has now written a whole book that is essentially, in my

opinion, about mindfulness, although I'm not sure she would use that exact term. Anyway, the book

is called Life in Five Senses. How exploring the senses got me out of my head and into the world.

If you haven't read Gretchen's stuff or heard her on this show or on her own podcast,

she is incredibly interesting. I've often called her the Swiss Army Knife of Happiness because she

has so many techniques, both small and large, for improving your daily life, and she has spent years

researching this stuff. In this conversation, we talk about what provoked Gretchen to explore

her senses. How we often take our senses for granted. How our senses work with the brain to

impact our perception, the relationship between the senses and nostalgia, the surprising power of

ketchup and vanilla when it comes to the sense of taste, the sense of hearing, and what Gretchen

calls her audio apothecary, the interplay between the senses of taste and smell, the sense of touch,

and the use of comfort objects. Why she decided to visit the Met, the famous museum in New York City,

every day, and how she uses the five senses to boost her own creativity. A little bit more about

Gretchen. She's the author of many, many books, including New York Times bestsellers with names such

as Outer Order in her comm, the Four Attendancies, Better Than Before, and her first huge book,

The Happiness Project. Her books have sold more than 3.5 million copies around the world in more

than 30 languages. She also hosts the Top Ranking Award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Ruben.

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