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In this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk with Elena Foucher about meditation for busy people and how to build self-confidence for better productivity. Plus, Elena leads a guided meditation starting at 29min. We discuss:

• Alternative relaxation techniques to traditional, sit-down meditation.
• How to measure improvement in your meditation practice.
• How to improve your sleep.
• The definition of mindfulness and why it seems so hard.
• Why low self-confidence is so common, and ideas and strategies to improve it.
• How to recognize stress in the moment, before you spin out of control,
• Living in Hong Kong.

The point is not to get rid of stress, or emotions, or thoughts. That’s not what meditation does. What it does do is help us interact with those things in a healthier way. We can make choices about them instead of being overwhelmed by them.

Show notes:

1. All music in this episode by Rui Faustino.
   1. Toothbrush Meditations
2. Osho meditations
3. Homeostasis – Allows the human body to maintain a stable internal environment in response to changes in external conditions.
4. Meditation triggers – Something that happens in your life, preferably three times per day, that reminds you to practice meditating.
5. Quotes:
   1. Meditation is a way to focus on something.
   2. It’s like building a muscle. It gets stronger and stronger. You’ll notice over time that you are able to relax more deeply as you practice. I recommend that you practice three times a day.
   3. George Kao said, “There’s the confidence of learning a skill and knowing how to do it, and then there’s the confidence of just going out and doing it.”
   4. Meditation is hands down the most powerful thing I do for personal development. Nothing else comes close.