This week, we are delighted to share an episode of the 10% Happier podcast, which is hosted by bestselling author Dan Harris and features world-class insights and practices from experts in modern science and ancient wisdom.
Dan’s guest, for the second time, is Zen Buddhist monk and Way Out Is In co-host Brother Phap Huu, who discusses his burnout and how he recovered - and how you can, too.
The episode was recorded during early summer 2025, and first released on July 2nd 2025.
Together, Dan and Brother Phap Huu discuss:
- Why people are busier and more susceptible to overwhelm than ever before
- Why monastics aren’t immune to burnout
- The way that busyness is thrust upon us by contemporary lifestyles, but is also a result of us running away from the things we don't want to face
- Practical tools for addressing busyness and burnout
- Why doing nothing is an art
- The importance of perspective - and how contemplating your mortality can provide this
- The practice of total relaxation
- How to maintain healthy boundaries without adopting mental armor
- Ways to say no without annoying people
- How to protect ourselves in toxic environments.
And much more.
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Quotes
“When in chaos, come back to the fundamentals of the things that gave you joy and that gave you life.”
“There is a lot of suffering right here, right now, but it is still our responsibility to be able to see the beauty in life, to see the joy and to cultivate happiness: the little things that can spark our creativity, our foundation of love. We are not limited by suffering. We contain the potential for so many offerings that we can give to ourselves and to the world.”
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🔔 The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living is a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives.
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🎙️ The podcast is co-produced by the Plum Village App and Global Optimism with support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation.
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Resources
Interbeing
10% Happier with Dan Harris
Being with Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnout
Calm in the Storm: Zen Ways to Cultivate Stability in an Anxious World
Brené Brown
‘Daily Contemplations on Impermanence & Interbeing’
‘Recommendation’ (poem)
Thay's Poetry: ‘Please Call Me by My True Names’ (song and poem)