<p dir="ltr">What if the very thing you think is blocking your progress in meditation — or in life — is actually the doorway forward?</p> <p dir="ltr">In this conversation with Dr. Christiane Wolf, hosted by DJ Cashmere, we explore how to work with expectations, frustration, and the belief that life needs to be different before we can be okay. Christiane shares clear, compassionate wisdom for turning toward difficulty instead of fighting it — and for discovering that what feels like the problem can become the path.</p> <p dir="ltr">Christiane is a physician, longtime meditation teacher, and author of Outsmart Your Pain and A Clinician's Guide to Teaching Mindfulness. She's known for blending deep Buddhist insight with warmth and humor.</p> <p dir="ltr">We're also thrilled to share that Christiane will be our Teacher of the Month for November, leading meditations and conversations throughout the month in the <a href="http://danharris.com/">DanHarris.com</a> Substack community.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Related Episodes:</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.danharris.com/p/peak-performance-at-any-age-christiane?r=4o5o&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false"> Peak Performance at Any Age | Christiane Wolf (Dharma Teacher/Doctor/Ultramarathoner)</a></p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.danharris.com/p/how-to-outsmart-your-pain-christiane-3b6?r=4o5o&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false"> How to Outsmart Your Pain | Christiane Wolf</a></p> <p dir="ltr"><br /> <br /></p> <p dir="ltr">Tickets are now on sale for a special live taping of the 10% Happier Podcast with guest Pete Holmes! Join us on November 18th in NYC for this benefit show, with all proceeds supporting the New York Insight Meditation Center. Grab your tickets <a href="https://www.nyimc.org/event/great-cosmic-joke/">here</a>!<br /> <br /> Tickets are now available for an intimate live event with Dan on November 23rd as part of the Troutbeck Luminary Series. Join the conversation, participate in a guided meditation, and ask your questions during the Q&A. Click <a href="https://troutbeck.com/culture/luminaries-series-conversation-meditation-with-dan-harris-2025/"> here</a> to buy your ticket!</p> <p dir="ltr"><br /> <br /></p> <p dir="ltr">Join Dan's online community <a href="http://www.danharris.com/">here</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Follow Dan on social: <a href="https://bit.ly/3tGigG5">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://bit.ly/3FOA84J">TikTok</a></p> <p dir="ltr">Subscribe to our <a href="https://bit.ly/3FybRzD">YouTube Channel</a></p> <p><strong><br /> <br /></strong></p> <p dir="ltr">To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit <a href="https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris">https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris</a></p> <p><strong><br /> <br /></strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Thanks to today's
Actionable Insights
1. Apply Suffering = Pain x Resistance
Understand Shinzen Young’s formula, ‘Suffering = Pain x Resistance,’ to recognize that while pain is an inevitable part of life, suffering is optional and can be reduced by minimizing your resistance to it.
2. Minimize Resistance to Pain
Actively work to reduce your internal resistance to painful experiences, as this is the primary way to decrease your overall suffering, potentially even to zero.
3. Reflect on Your Core Drivers
Regularly ask yourself ‘What drives you?’ to gain insight into your motivations, as many people may find their fuel is fear, self-loathing, or some form of inner coercion.
4. Examine Achievement Drive’s Roots
Consider that an intense drive for achievement might be rooted in a trauma or survival response, such as a need to prove worthiness, lovability, or to be ‘worth keeping.’
5. Free Frozen Energy for Drive
Engage in ‘healing work’ (e.g., therapy, meditation practices) over time to free up frozen energy in your system, which can transform into a healthier, more joyful, and less coercive driver for your actions.
6. Cultivate Equanimity Towards Past
Practice equanimity to come to terms with past circumstances and how things were, viewing them less personally and moving away from blame or victimhood by understanding that others did their best given their history.
7. Utilize Mindfulness and Compassion
Employ mindfulness and compassion as crucial tools when engaging in healing work and processing difficult past experiences, as they provide the necessary support for this process.
8. Make Meditation Non-Negotiable
Strive to make meditation a non-negotiable part of your daily routine, aiming for it to become a deeply nourishing and supportive practice.
9. Train Meditation for Daily Life
Understand that meditation is a training ground to develop skills that can be applied directly to your daily life, helping you recognize challenges and know what to do when they arise.
10. Prioritize Rest and Breaks
Consciously learn to rest, take breaks, and be offline (e.g., in nature, away from social media) to deeply nourish yourself, allowing you to return ready to fully engage with more ease.
11. Loosen Grip on Achievement Rigidity
Work to reduce the rigidity and ’no option’ mindset around achieving goals, allowing for more ease and flexibility in your pursuits rather than constant inner coercion.
12. Differentiate Pain and Suffering
Recognize that physical or emotional pain is an inevitable part of life and distinct from suffering, which arises from our resistance to that pain.
13. Seek Diverse Teacher Examples
Look for teachers or mentors who embody the life circumstances you aspire to or face (e.g., householders, parents, professionals) to find living examples of how spiritual practice is doable within those contexts.
14. Embrace Buddha’s Four Noble Truths
Understand the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths as a ‘prescription’ for increasing peace and liberation, recognizing that healing is possible by changing how we relate to things and reducing suffering.
15. Use Guided Meditations for Reflection
Engage with guided meditations as ‘reflections’ or conceptual practices to work with specific aspects of your mind (e.g., thinking, effort) in a contemplative, calm space, which can be listened to repeatedly.