#34 – Sam Harris, Ph.D.: The transformative power of mindfulness

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

January 7, 2020

Duration

2h 43m

Channel

Peter Attia MD

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://bit.ly/4c602k2 Original release date: 12/20/18 In this episode, Sam Harris, neuroscientist, author, and host of the Waking Up Podcast, walks us through the profound, yet practical, ways that meditation can transform our lives. Additionally, he helps to define the types of meditation and clarifies potential misconceptions with terms like happiness, pain, and suffering. We discuss: -The transformative moment that led to Peter reaching out to Sam [3:45]; -Comparing the two broad types of meditation, and Peter’s favorite meditation apps [7:45]; -The pleasure of a concentrated mind, meditating with pain, and the difference between pain and suffering [13:15]; -What it means to be happy, and how to break out of our default state [23:15]; -The disease of distraction, why humans suffer, the limitation of happiness, and letting go of anger with mindfulness [31:00]; -The challenge of learning mindfulness, the benefit of silent retreats, and Sam’s first experience in solitude as a teenager [54:15]; -Sam’s life-altering experience with MDMA [1:03:00]; -Mettā meditation a.k.a. loving-kindness, and the concept of ‘moral luck’ [1:14:00]; -Overcoming grief and dread with meditation [1:34:45]; -The wrong way to practice mindfulness, and the difference between -Vipassana and Dzogchen [1:44:45]; -Sam’s commitment to never lie, honesty in politics, and Sam’s viewpoint on the Trump phenomenon [2:06:00]; -Teaching kids to be more mindful [2:18:30]; -Sam’s current book projects, the consequences of a politically correct environment, and the potential of neuroscience to cure psychopathy [2:25:30]; -How you can follow Sam’s work [2:39:00]; and -More. Show notes page: https://peterattiamd.com/samharris/ About: The Peter Attia Drive is a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking…and a few other things. With over 10 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more. Peter is the founder of Attia Medical, PC, a medical practice with offices in San Diego and New York City, focusing on the applied science of longevity. The practice applies nutritional biochemistry, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, techniques to increase distress tolerance, lipidology, pharmacology, and four-system endocrinology to increase lifespan (delaying the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life). Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com/ Subscribe to receive exclusive subscriber-only content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/ Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter/ Connect with Peter on: Facebook: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDFB Twitter: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDTW Instagram: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDIG Subscribe to The Drive: Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveApplePodcasts Overcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveOvercast Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheDriveSpotify Google Play: http://bit.ly/TheDriveGooglePlay

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Peter Attia

  host

  Physician and host of The Peter Attia Drive, focused on health, performance, and longevity.

• Sam Harris

  guest

  Author and podcaster known for work on mindfulness/meditation and creator of the Waking Up app.

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Peter Attia MD, featuring Peter Attia and Sam Harris, #34 – Sam Harris, Ph.D.: The transformative power of mindfulness explores sam Harris and Peter Attia on Mindfulness, Suffering, Compassion, and Honesty Harris distinguishes concentration practices, which aim to absorb attention in one object, from mindfulness, which breaks the spell of being lost in thought and can be applied to any experience.

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