As much as I enjoy Sam for talking about it, I don't think he is very persuasive to atheists about mindfulness and meditation. The whole experience of losing what we call "I" is his main talking point, but it is ungraspable to someone who hasn't even pursued meditation in a sustained manner.

He would be more successful if he chose to start at a more understandable goal: being happy.

What does it take to be happy? Well, one aspect is that you must BE. You must live, and the more fully you live/experience life, the happier you can be. Meditation is a wonderful tool to increase our capacity to "be"

Studiously trying to maintain awareness of ALL our sensory input, all our experiential faculties, can be another definition of meditation. The difference I can experience in the quality of my day can be astounding between a day when I begin with 15 minutes of meditation vs. not. Granted, I have been doing this for some time, it makes me a more integrated, informed, smart, and happy individual.