New Year’s Series Episode 1. We talk with expert meditation teachers Susan Piver and Jeff Warren about a radical approach to the new year: self-compassion. Susan and Jeff help introduce the New Year’s Meditation Challenge launching in the Ten Percent Happier app. And we respond to listener voicemail questions about how to operationalize self-love in our everyday lives.

That’s right, we’re going all-in on self-love: leaning into the cheese, diving into the fondue, surfing the brie (a phrase that you’ll hear one of our guests today coin in real time). But I want to be clear: this is not sap for the sake of sap -- this is sap for the sake of science, and sanity. 

As tens of millions of us go about the annual, humiliating ritual of making and then abandoning New Year’s resolutions, there is ample evidence that you are more likely to achieve your long-term goals if you pursue those goals not out of self-loathing or shame (which is the not-so-subtle subtext of the whole ‘New Year, New You’ slogan) but instead with self-love -- or self-compassion.

So we have a whole bonanza of programming for you. First, our New Year’s Series starts today here on the podcast. Over the next few weeks, we’ve got a blockbuster lineup, including scientists, meditation teachers, and Karamo, star of the hit Netflix show Queer Eye and a vocal proponent of self-love. 

How to join the New Year’s Challenge:

·        Download the Ten Percent Happier app directly in the Apple App Store (for iPhone/iPad): http://apple.co/1V7sqo9 or the Google Play store (for Android phones): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.changecollective.tenpercenthappier 

·        If you are new to Ten Percent Happier, tap Get Started to register an account. (If you already have an account you’ll need to tap Sign In at the bottom of the screen.)

·        You should be prompted to Join the Challenge after registering your account. Just tap on the Join Challenge button and follow the prompts. 

·        If you don’t join the Challenge during registration, within the app tap the Join Challenge banner at the bottom of the screen and follow the prompts. 

·        If you don’t see Join Challenge in the app you can also join on a mobile device by tapping this link: https://10percenthappier.app.link/NewYearsChallenge21

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/newyear-challenge-kickoff-309