Episode Details

(0-5 minutes)

Eric introduces himself and explains his current passion which is mindful improv. He teaches groups of people how to respond mindfully to social situations. He explains some exercises that he uses at the beginning of class.

He talks about how he helps beginners get through initial blocks and past their fears of opening up in front of an audience. Stewart then brings up his experience as a beginner in Salsa and how when we begin anything we are only aware of a small fraction of the stimuli that is being presented to us. After we start to improve whole new layers of awareness open up.

(5-10 minutes)

Eric explains how he views teaching and how its really important to impart to new students only one thing about what they are learning. He has people focus on their emotional experience. Whether they are fearful or excited? This brings people into how they are feeling now. He says that mindful improv is about helping people develop a practice of it not only in the class itself but in their lives as well. Stewart brings up how this is one of the most important parts of a meditation practice as well: to bring the practice into daily life.

Eric explains how he has been practicing disciplined mindfulness practices for several years now and has taken notes. He shows how no matter how much we practice some things just continuously come up and we have to learn how to deal with these issues and not wish them away.

We talk about how Eric doesn't really have a formal practice and that he really tries to bring the practice into daily life. He mentions that many friends of his try to convert him into a formal meditation practice. From Eric's perspective, he is already aware, at least a little bit, in everyday life. Awareness is always present so its a better practice to just heighten that awareness in everyday life as opposed to setting off a time where we do it.

(10-15 minutes)

Stewart mentions how historically he would have disagreed with Eric about the necessity of having a daily formal sitting meditation practice, but how over the last couple years he has started to see it differently. Any technique is just a crutch that makes the conditions more favorable to drop into a meditative state. The meditative state is what we are looking to engender, not the technique. Humans have a way of turning positives experiences into stable beliefs, but these beliefs are not accurate indicators of reality.

Eric mentions that culture itself is a byproduct of these stable beliefs. He explains the process of ego development in a young child. The infant starts off as just pure consciousness. There is no separation between the baby and its environment. The baby just is. As it starts to develop, the baby takes on communication with the family and starts to develop a sense of self. The baby starts to develop likes and dislikes.

At some point, the individual then becomes conscious of this conditioning and they have an opportunity to make a shift to say "Oh now I'm an individual and I am on my own". In reality its difficult to do this because the process of the individual's relationship to the environment continues. We are always conditioned to the environment around us. There is no separate self.

Eric goes on to explain how formal sitting practice might be helpful for someone who has a 9-5 job and needs a sense of structure to their practice to make it stick. Eric doesn't have this life. He talks about how his schedule is very erratic.

Stewart mentions that he often finds himself in a state of friction and that its difficult to remember in those times that those times are necessary for the creative times.

Eric mentions the cult of working hard that is endemic in the startup world. He believes that this type of deification of work is unnecessary. He mentions that most work and conversation are worthless and busywork.

(15-20 minutes)

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