October 6, 2022
Meditation with Ravi
Description
Product guy Ravi Mishra hits us right in the transcendental gut with an invigorating discussion about Zen Buddhism and lights Jason and Kelcey up with a guided meditation - LIVE!
Episode
Bio
Ravi is a Senior Product Manager at Shopify. He has formerly worked as a senior product manager at Avaaz and a senior technical product manager at Warby Parker. When he is not busy managing products he is a product coach at The Product Therapist and a manager at The Manager School. He is a graduate of the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania, a proud alumnus of The Harker School, founder of the Awaken Meditation App, founder and CEO of Athleague.
Images

What Jason Learned
The actor playing Tank from "The Matrix", Marcus Chong, is half Asian, and was adopted by Tommy Chong (of "Cheech and Chong" fame, and a fellow half Asian-Canadian).
What Kelcey Learned
The 13th Amendment (abolishing slavery) was ratified by Mississippi in 2013 due to a clerical error, and was identified by a Mississippi resident after watching "Lincoln".
Top Five Tips for getting into meditation

  1. Have a dedicated, singular practice that you can build on over the long term

  2. Make your practice a regular habit

  3. Do not judge yourself during your meditative experience (you will encounter some mental distraction, that is ok!).

  4. Cultivate a sense of gentle curiosity

  5. Treat yourself kindly (meditation is about becoming friends with yourself)

  6. BONUS! It is totally normal to be emotional during your meditative practice, it's how you become friends with yourself!

Fact or Fiction: Meditation

  1. An estimated 50-100 million people meditate worldwide - FICTION, 200-500 million people are estimated to meditate worldwide

  2. Almost 6 times more children used meditation in 2017 than they did in 2012 - FICTION, almost 10 times more children used meditation in 2017 than they did in 2012

  3. According to the Pew Research Group, the percentage of Catholics who meditate weekly or more is higher than the percentage of Muslims in the US - FACT, 40% of Catholics report meditating weekly or more often, while 35% of Muslims report meditating in the same frequency

  4. Agnostic Americans are more likely to meditate than atheists - FACT, 24% of agnostics in the US meditate weekly or more vs 19% of atheists in the US

  5. The second highest % of US adults (by religious group) that meditate weekly or more often, is Jehovah’s Witnesses, only surpassed by Buddhists - FICTION, 77% of Jehovah’s Witnesses meditate weekly or more often, while 66% of Buddhists meditate weekly or more often (Jehovah’s Witnesses are encouraged by the church to meditate)

Won't You, Haiku?
Meditation

Saratoga here
Zen Buddhism makes me smile
I just tried it once