Hot Ticket: Dan Harris, ‘Meditation Nerd’ This Weekend In Rhinebeck

A decade ago, Dan Harris, then a hard-driving co-anchor on ABC’s Good Morning America, published 10% Happier, a memoir about his balky immersion into the practice of meditation. The book has since sold a million copies and playful proselytizing is now his full-time occupation, via the podcast of the same name (more than 800 episodes to date) and rare in-person events like the one he’ll lead in October at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY.

Newbies and adepts alike are welcome to attend, in the flesh or via live feed. Over the course of the weekend, Harris and his co-chairs, self-professed “meditation nerds” Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren, share the podium for four discuss-and-sit sessions which include Q&A opportunities.

“It’s quite improvisational,” Harris says, “but there’s also a decent amount of formal teaching, so that people get the guidance they need. If you’ve never meditated before, this should be totally congenial. If you’re looking for something a little less strict than a formal retreat, I think this would be good. We try to keep in mind the whole spectrum of potential attendees.”

Plus, he promises, “There’s a huge amount of free time. People can decide: Do they want to take a walk? Get a massage?” Putting the zhuzh back in zazen, there’s even a Saturday night dance party where participants get to cut loose and make utter fools of themselves.

“I spend my life interviewing the great meditation masters,” Harris says, “and the common denominator is that they don’t take themselves too seriously—because that’s the end point, the whole point of the practice.”

zen at work (above) “If you’ve never meditated before, this should be totally congenial,” says Harris (center) with Sebene Selassie and Jeff Gordon about the upcoming Omega Institute event.