Sparking mindfulness: A keynote with Dan Harris

What started as a panic attack on live television became a career-changing wake-up call for Dan Harris. In his ENGAGE 2025 keynote address, Harris breaks down what science and lived experience can teach us about stress, anxiety, and how employers can support healthier, more resilient teams.

The keynote at Marathon Health’s ENGAGE 2025 conference addressed a challenge employers increasingly face head-on: the rising prevalence of anxiety and mental health concerns across today’s workforce. It also explored what this means for leaders working to support employee well-being while driving sustainable performance.

That theme came to life in the keynote address from Dan Harris, the Emmy Award–winning ABC News anchor, New York Times bestselling author, and founder of the 10% Happier podcast. He’s now best known for his approachable advocacy for meditation.

Harris grounded his talk in personal experience, sharing how his unlikely journey began with a panic attack, broadcast live to more than five million viewers on Good Morning America. 

“Welcome to the most embarrassing day of my life,” he said.

Rather than offering a polished prescription for self-improvement, Harris focused on sustainable change and what it truly takes to manage stress and anxiety in high-pressure environments.

“If you’d told me 20 years ago I was going to become what I am now, which is basically a traveling evangelist for meditation, I would’ve coughed my beer up through my nose,” he jokingly told attendees. “This was not the plan.”

Harris explained how it all ties back to his decades in broadcast journalism, which took him to war zones around the world. 

“I came home and I got depressed,” he said. “I was exhibiting what I now know to be some of the signature signs and symptoms. I was having trouble getting out of bed. I felt like I had a low-grade fever all the time."

“At this point, I did something incredibly stupid, which is that I started to self-medicate with recreational drugs,” Harris added.

In the aftermath of his on-air panic attack, Harris sought professional help. What he initially thought would be a short-term intervention turned into a long-term commitment—meeting with a psychiatrist weekly for over a decade. That experience became a foundational part of how he learned to recognize stress, confront anxiety, and build healthier mental habits over time.

Read on for key takeaways from the keynote, including how small daily practices can reshape our response to stress, and what employers and individuals can learn by approaching mental health with patience and intention.

Taming the inner voice with meditation

Harris described the constant inner narrator we all carry. It’s the voice that pushes you out of bed, runs nonstop throughout the day, fuels judgment and comparison, and keeps the mind stuck in the past or the future, instead of the present moment.

“When you're unaware of the inner chaos and cacophony, it owns you,” he said. “You act out every neurotic obsession as if it were, in the words of my meditation teacher, a tiny dictator.”

Harris said his wife gave him a book on meditation, which he was initially reluctant to try. 

“I thought meditation was going to be religious and strange and new-agey, but then I started to see all of this research that shows meditation in short daily doses can lower your blood pressure, boost your immune system, and help with anxiety and depression, which have been big issues for me since I was a little boy.”

Harris said research shows meditation can literally rewire parts of the brain tied to stress, focus, and self-awareness. He started with just five minutes a day, and over time, began to notice real, measurable benefits.

3 steps to meditation

Harris outlined a simple three-step approach to meditation. 

Sit comfortably and close your eyes, choose a neutral point of focus—most often the sensation of breathing—and then confront the hardest part. Almost immediately, he said, the mind rebels, pulling attention in every direction the moment you try to stay present.

“Your mind goes nuts, and that's the moment a lot of people think they've failed, but actually, that's the moment of success,” he said. 

In meditation, the goal isn’t to clear your mind, but to focus it—if only for a few moments—and then gently begin again each time you get distracted.

“Waking up from distraction is so important. Why? Because in those moments, you're getting familiar with the voice in your head,” he said. “You're seeing how wild and cacophonous and chaotic it is in here so it doesn't own you as much.”

Harris described how meditation helps you to work with thoughts and emotions more skillfully. Research shows that while life circumstances matter, happiness is not just something that happens to us. Rather, it’s a trainable skill shaped by how we learn to work with the mind.

“My job used to be to spread bad news all the time. Now, my job is to spread one really good piece of news, which is that the mind and the brain are trainable,” he said. “Happiness is not an unalterable factory setting. It's a skill.”

Overcoming resistance to meditation

For employers considering implementing mindfulness, meditation, or mental health programs at the workplace, Harris noted resistance is far lower than it once was. 

As mental health has become a widely recognized crisis, perceptions have shifted, and practices that once carried stigma are now viewed as practical tools for well-being. Many people increasingly recognize their own minds often work against them, fueling stress and unhappiness.

When introducing meditation to skeptical employees, Harris said you should ensure it’s voluntary, get executive buy-in, and make it as cost-effective as possible, if not free. 

“High-level buy-in is incredibly important. It makes a huge difference,” Harris said. “And if you're going to provide access to an app or bring in teachers, if you can lower the cost, hopefully towards zero, I think that really tends to help.”

Supporting employees starts at the top

HR leaders often serve as the first point of contact when employees reach out for support. 

Harris emphasized that supporting others starts with taking care of yourself. When people are overwhelmed or depleted, he said, they’re far less effective in helping those around them.

“You have to take care of yourself first.” Harris said. “You're really not much use to other people if you're a mess.”

He said time spent meditating, exercising, walking, sleeping, or connecting with friends can be especially powerful. Everyone has a benevolent side, and intentionally identifying and nurturing that part of one’s personality ultimately supports personal well-being, as well as the ability to serve others.

“This is what the Dalai Lama calls wise selfishness,” Harris said. “We're all selfish by nature, but if you want to do selfishness really skillfully, you’ll orient yourself toward service. If you can orient yourself toward the benefit of others, there's a ton of data to show that it will make you happier.”

Practicing self-compassion

Harris said most people walk around with an inner drill sergeant in their head, constantly pushing and criticizing in the name of productivity. 

He encouraged attendees to notice how different that voice is from the way they speak to a friend, child, or mentee who’s having a hard day. When someone you care about has a problem, you’re usually patient, kind, and supportive. Harris suggested practicing that same tone when talking to yourself.

“This capacity for benevolence is in all of us, and yet most of us never direct that same energy toward ourselves,” he said. “What you need is an inner coach. An inner coach doesn't let you off the hook. An inner coach doesn't paper over your mistakes. An inner coach doesn't have low standards. That’s the tweak.”

To learn more about meditation and mindfulness, check out Dan’s full session on demand. And contact your Marathon partner about attending ENGAGE 2026, kicking off February 25 in Colorado Springs.