What saying no can do for your sanity

Plus: A new month of podcast-paired meditations—only for paid subscribers

We’re kicking off July with some exciting news: starting today, each month we'll spotlight one exceptional teacher as our Meditation Teacher of the Month. They'll record custom meditations to accompany each Monday and Wednesday episode of the 10% Happier podcast, helping you integrate the lessons from the show into your daily life.

Throughout June each episode of the podcast was paired with a related meditation by Cara Lai. And today begins a month of companion meditations from Dawn Mauricio—a longtime Insight Meditation teacher and author of Mindfulness Meditation for Beginners. Among her many talents, Dawn has a knack for making this heady stuff accessible and, perhaps most importantly, fun. I think you'll love her.

In today’s episode of the podcast, I talk to a Buddhist monk who burned out and then wrote a book filled with Zen remedies for busyness and overwhelm—one of which is something he calls “the sacred no.”

In this era of burnout and overwork, one of the most potent weapons is a simple “no.”

This can be hard, especially for people pleasers.

I’m not actually a people pleaser, but saying no is hard for me for a different reason: anxiety. I tend to overcommit, especially in a work context, out of fear-based ambition.

Whatever is causing you to say yes—old habits, a desire to be liked, or an effort to maintain appearances—know this: too many yeses add up to a life lived in reaction, not intention.

Try this: Before saying yes, pause. Ask: Do I really want to do this? Will it nourish or deplete me? If it’s not a hell yes, consider a graceful no.

And check out today’s meditation for paid subscribers from Dawn. It’s about how to hit pause on overwhelm and designed to help you put the ideas you learn from the episode into practice.

Paid subscribers get the 10% Happier podcast ad-free, as well as:

• A cheatsheet for each episode — with key takeaways, time-coded highlights, and a transcript

• The ability to comment on posts and participate in subscriber chats

• Access to our twice-monthly live video sessions, in which I guide a meditation and take questions

• Tailor-made meditations every Monday and Wednesday, led by our Meditation Teacher of the Month and designed to pair with the podcast episodes

Join the party.

Episode Cheatsheet

The big takeaway

In a culture that glorifies doing, Brother Phap Huu makes the radical case for not doing—on purpose. His advice: rest is a practice, boundaries are kindness, and burnout is a signal, not a failure.

How a Zen Monk Fights Burnout (and How You Can Too)

Key takeaways: