How To Stop Getting Dragged Around By Your Anxieties, Thought Loops, and Insecurities | Sebene Selassie

Mar 6, 2026 21m 22 insights Episode Page ↗
Dan Harris and meditation teacher Sebene Selassie preview their new audiobook, "Even You Can Meditate," offering a practical guide to starting or restarting meditation. They discuss adapting practices, understanding mindfulness beyond just the mind, and navigating common challenges like the five hindrances.
Actionable Insights

1. Meet Pain with Grounding

Employ meditation to meet pain and suffering with grounding, centering, and capacity. This approach helps you deal with reality rather than distracting yourself or trying to get away from it.

2. Reduce Added Suffering

Use meditation to reduce the “extra layer of suffering” (e.g., “why me” narratives) that we add to pain. The practice helps you learn to be with things as they are, rather than adding mental anguish.

3. Cultivate Non-Judgmental Awareness

Cultivate mindfulness to observe what’s happening in your mind and body with a non-judgmental, warm remove. This allows you to view difficult emotions or physical discomfort without drowning in them.

4. Confront Uncomfortable Emotions

Use mindfulness to confront and “be with” uncomfortable emotions and painful sensations directly. This is an alternative to avoiding them through self-medicating behaviors like technology addiction, shopping, or drinking.

5. Ground in Body Awareness

Ground your meditation practice by starting with body awareness, as the body is always in the present moment. This makes it a reliable anchor for your awareness when the mind tends to wander.

6. Reframe Distraction as Practice

Reframe getting lost in thought during meditation as part of the practice, not a mistake. The act of remembering and returning to the breath or body is mindfulness itself.

7. Set Clear Intention

Set a clear intention for your meditation practice, starting with a desire for personal well-being, health, happiness, and reduced stress or suffering. This initial choice helps direct your practice.

8. Explore Your “Why”

Explore and track your “why” for meditating over time, as a clear intention acts as a powerful engine and motor for consistent practice. This motivation can evolve from self-care to broader purposes.

9. Broaden Intention to Others

Broaden your meditation intention beyond personal well-being to include benefiting others, finding more meaning in your work, and purpose in your life. This allows your intention to spread out into well-being for all.

10. Practice “Remembering to Wake Up”

Practice “remembering to wake up” from distractions (e.g., thought loops, unhelpful behaviors) and “start again” with renewed awareness. Apply this repeatedly, both during formal meditation and in daily life situations.

11. Enhance Focus & Calmness

Practice meditation to enhance focus, effectiveness, efficiency, calmness, and reduce emotional reactivity. This ancient technology helps executives, athletes, and others achieve peak performance.

12. Start Meditating Consistently

Start meditating consistently, as benefits can appear quickly (e.g., within a couple of weeks) and compound over time. These improvements can accrue like a good investment.

13. Prioritize Self-Care

Prioritize self-care through meditation, as taking care of yourself provides more energy. This increased capacity then allows you to be more present and available for others.

14. Find Your Meditation Style

Find a meditation style that works for you by exploring various traditions and techniques. The goal is to discover what best suits your life, brain, and specific needs to derive benefits like reduced stress and improved sleep.

15. Experiment with Practices

Experiment with various meditation practices, trying them out in a suggested deliberate order initially. Ultimately, figure out which ones work best for you and your individual needs.

16. Adapt Posture for Comfort

Adapt your meditation posture by standing or lying down if sitting still is difficult or causes physical pain. There are many ways to meditate beyond traditional sitting positions.

17. Maintain Open Posture

When meditating, sit up straight or at least keep your body open, avoiding a collapsed posture. This supports proper breathing and enhances your sense of alertness during practice.

18. Use Standing for Grounding

Use standing meditation as a good option to feel grounded. Bring your awareness to your feet, as it helps you connect with physical sensations and stay present.

19. Lie Down to Release Tension

Practice lying down meditation to fully relax the body and release tension often held while upright. This allows you to rest your full awareness on the body without the struggle of maintaining posture.

20. Anchor with Breath & Sensations

Consistently bring awareness to your breath and bodily sensations during meditation. This serves as a reliable anchor to guarantee you’re in the present moment when your mind inevitably gets lost in thought.

21. Approach Buddhism as Practice

Approach Buddhism as a practical philosophy to “do” rather than “believe in,” as it is not a theistic religion. This makes its foundational teachings on mindfulness accessible to agnostics or people of any religious belief.

22. Join Meditation Challenge

Join the free five-day ‘Even You Can Meditate Challenge’ from March 23rd to 27th on the ‘10% with Dan Harris’ app. This challenge offers different practices from Sebene and live online events with guided meditation and Q&A.