Why is the Western mind so resistant to mindfulness? What is the source code that makes it so difficult for our culture to cotton on?
We live our lives rehashing what happened in the past or tripping out on what’s going to happen in the future. The present moment is the only thing that’s actually real. It’s also the one thing we’re so rarely available to.
Manoj Dias wasn’t looking for meditation.
He was a decade into marketing in Melbourne when he had an anxiety attack with no framework to understand it. Psychologists, medication, time off. None of it helped. What eventually did was a yoga class, taught by an ex-Buddhist meditation teacher who kept repeating the same sentence. You are not your thoughts.
That was twenty-two years ago. Since then he’s co-founded Open, a mindfulness studio in Venice, written Still Together, joined the faculty at Esalen, and carried this work into the NBA, Nike, Netflix, Google, and the United Nations.
This one was recorded live in New York at Rivian’s Performance House. Halfway through, Manoj stops the conversation and takes the whole room through a practice.
Most of the conversation circles a single problem. Mindfulness arrived here wrapped in this language of optimization, because that’s how you get people to pay attention. And there’s nothing wrong with that. You need those entry points. You need those portals.
The practice is carrying all of this awareness throughout the day. Not something you do and stop doing, and then go live your life.
Suffering as an Entry Point & Hearing Your Thoughts for the First Time
Wellness as a Secular Religion & the Return of Communion
Segmentation vs. Carrying Awareness Through the Day
Mind-Body Integration, Negativity Bias & the Free Throw
A Guided Coherent Breathing & Gratitude Practice
Live Audience Q&A: Peak Performance, Identity & Parenting
Peace & Plants,
Rich
Listen to the full conversation on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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