This is the 10% Happier Podcast.

I'm Dan Harris.

Hey, hey, it is a common desire.

Many of us have this urge to get out of our heads, to escape the internal noise, the chatter,

the sermon drawing, the sound and fury, et cetera, et cetera.

You hear about it in pop songs and poetry, this urge to be blown away, to transcend.

But how do you actually do it?

My guest today is a font of practical advice.

Her name is Willa Blithe Baker.

She is the founder and spiritual director of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, Massachusetts

and its retreat center, the Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, New Hampshire.

She was authorized as a Dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagu lineage of Tibetan

Buddhism after 12 years of monastic training and two consecutive three-year retreats.

As if that's not enough, she also has a doctorate from Harvard and she is the author of

a brand new book called The Wakeful Body, Somatic Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom.

In this conversation, we talk about what somatic mindfulness actually is, the three levels

of your body, earth, subtle and awareness, specific exercises for getting out of your

head, and crucially how to meditate without all of the effort.

This is a ranger conversation.

We go on all sorts of fascinating esoteric digressions, but Willa always guides us back

to the practical stuff.

Before that, one quick item of business.

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