Meditation, Solved: Is It Actually Worth It?
Mark Manson draws on years of Buddhist practice, retreats, and daily meditation to cut through the hype and backlash around mindfulness.
March 18, 2026
1 hr 28 min
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March 18, 2026
Meditation, Solved: Is It Actually Worth It?
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Mark Manson Episodes Around March 18, 2026
Episode 95 of 103 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
1:28:18This episodeMeditation, Solved: Is It Actually Worth It?
Summary
Meditation has been sold to us as a magic pill for so long that the backlash is almost as overblown as the hype. I spent years deep in Buddhist practice, went on retreats, meditated daily — and then slowly discovered that half the gurus evangelizing it were alcoholics, abusers, or running Rolls-Royce-funded cults. Here's what the more careful research actually shows: there are three things meditation does reliably well, and they’re probably not what you've been promised. More importantly, almost everything you've been told about how to do it is wrong — starting with the idea that the goal is to quiet your mind. If your brain turns into a chaotic mess the moment you close your eyes, that's not a failure. That's the whole point.
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CHAPTERS
(00:00) Introduction
(08:15) Skeptic Claim #1: Meditation Is Overhyped
(22:45) Skeptic Claim #2: "Meditation Isn't for Me"
(48:33) Skeptic Claim #3: The New-Agey, "Woo-Woo" Crowd Turns Me Off
(01:01:01) A Secular, Grounded Alternative: Meditation Without Metaphysics
(01:17:35) Conclusion: What Meditation Really Is
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