Podcast Summary
Podcast: 10% Happier with Dan Harris
Episode: This Quick Practice Will Make You Feel Lighter | Jay Michaelson
Date: February 8, 2026
Guest: Jay Michaelson (Teacher of the Month, Meditation Teacher)
Episode Overview
This episode features a guided meditation led by Jay Michaelson, focusing on a nontraditional loving kindness practice. Instead of reciting phrases, listeners are guided through a visualization of a limitless golden light emanating from the heart. The meditation is designed to encourage feelings of warmth, compassion, and connection—not just for loved ones, but for neutral acquaintances and even those with whom we have difficulties. Dan Harris describes the exercise as accessible even for skeptics, noting its immediate and uplifting effects.
Key Discussion Points and Insights
1. Introduction to the Practice (Visualization over Phrases) – [04:38]
- Jay Michaelson introduces a twist on traditional loving kindness (metta) meditation:
- Traditional practice uses phrases like “may you be happy.”
- This version relies on a somatic (body-based), wordless visualization taught by Venerable Ayakima, a Sri Lankan Buddhist nun.
- Intent:
“Sometimes I like to take away the verbal element. … Sometimes I just like the quiet. So I also like this version of loving kindness practice with more of a somatic element and fewer words.” – Jay Michaelson [04:44]
2. Guided Meditation Steps and Visualization – [05:13 – 15:37]
a. Grounding in the Body
- Listeners are invited to close their eyes and feel the weight and stillness of their body—preparing to focus attention inwardly.
b. Visualization of Golden Light in the Heart Center – [06:30]
- “The practice is to imagine that in your heart there is a golden, warm glow of light. This light doesn’t take any effort to cultivate. It’s already there. And best of all, it has no limit.” – Jay Michaelson [06:39]
- Encouragement to let go of doubts or skepticism: “You can fake it at first.”
c. Filling the Body and Expanding Outwards – [07:07]
- Imagine the warm light filling the body from head to toe, and then,
- Extend that light to someone easy to love—friend, family, or pet.
- “Imagine someone for whom it’s easy for you to feel loving kindness… Now enlarging this golden field of light to include them as well. There’s plenty of this light. It doesn’t diminish…” – Jay Michaelson [08:22]
d. Expanding the Circle – [09:07]
- Include more people for whom you have uncomplicated loving feelings.
- “People in your life for whom you can easily extend this warm light of loving kindness.” – Jay Michaelson [09:15]
- Expand to mentors, benefactors, teachers, therapists—those who have supported you.
e. Including Neutral People – [10:26]
- “We can include people for whom we don’t have strong feelings, but who we encounter in our day to day lives. Sometimes this is called the neutral person…” – Jay Michaelson [10:34]
f. Including Those with Whom You've Had Difficulties – [11:19]
- Extend the visualization even to people with minor conflict, emphasizing the expansion of unconditional goodwill.
- “It’s not about judgment or forgiveness. We’re not saying that everything is okay or that every action is okay… We’re just extending loving kindness… even to people in our lives with whom we have difficult relationships.” – Jay Michaelson [11:46]
g. Encompassing All Beings – [13:00]
- “You can imagine this light radiating out to people who are around you, whether it’s the town or village or city or block or building where you find yourself right now.”
- Gradually expand the sense of this warm light to everyone, animals, and the entire world—removing yourself as the central generator.
h. Receiving as well as Giving – [14:20]
- “We can close this meditation by imagining that we in our bodies… are within that field of light. Just as you create it, so you receive it and so you float in. … You’re welcome to stay here for a while. And when you’re ready, you can open your eyes.” – Jay Michaelson [14:32]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On skepticism:
“Please do not worry if you find any of this stuff barf tastic at first. As Jay says, just fake it until you make it.”
– Dan Harris [00:38] -
On the nature of loving kindness:
“This light doesn’t take any effort to cultivate. It’s already there. And best of all, it has no limit.”
– Jay Michaelson [06:41] -
On inclusion:
“All of them are welcome because there’s plenty of light around. So, with gratitude, we imagine that warm light extending to them as well, including them in this field.”
– Jay Michaelson [09:53] -
On challenging people:
“The light is not about judgment or forgiveness. We’re not saying that everything is okay… We’re just extending loving kindness in the form of this warm light, even to people in our lives with whom we have difficult relationships.”
– Jay Michaelson [11:46] -
On universality:
“…To the point where we are no longer at the center, since we’re not really the ones generating this love and kindness. This is the field in which we exist in our experience.”
– Jay Michaelson [13:57]
Important Segment Timestamps
- [00:21] – Dan Harris introduces Jay Michaelson and the episode’s featured meditation
- [04:38] – Jay Michaelson begins the guided loving kindness practice
- [06:30] – Visualization of golden light in the heart
- [08:22] – Extending light to an easy-to-love person
- [09:07–09:53] – Including mentors, benefactors, and more loved ones
- [10:26] – Extending to neutral people
- [11:19–11:46] – Extending to people with whom one has minor conflict
- [13:00] – Extending to the wider community, everyone, all living beings
- [14:20] – Closing: Receiving as well as giving, resting in the universal field
- [15:37] – Meditation ends
Tone and Language
Throughout the episode, Jay Michaelson uses clear, encouraging, and gentle language—reminding listeners that the practice is imaginative, flexible, and requires no perfection. Dan Harris injects humor and relatability, normalizing skepticism and underscoring the practice’s accessibility.
Summary
This episode delivers a richly detailed, wordless version of loving kindness meditation, shifting from cognitive recitation to embodied visualization. Jay Michaelson’s guidance demonstrates how compassion can be both boundless and effortless, rooted in visualization rather than words, and extended to all beings—regardless of the listener’s mood or initial skepticism. The practice affirms that the more goodwill you share, the more you experience, ultimately leaving practitioners both lighter and more connected.
Listeners are warmly encouraged to try the practice—no matter how they feel about “woo-woo” meditation—and to fake it until genuine warmth arises. This approachable, non-dogmatic meditation offers a simple yet profound tool for feeling lighter, kinder, and more at ease.