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  I’m so privileged to have https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsy-parayil-pezard-887b4619/ (Betsy Parayil-Pezard) on this episode to discuss meditation. She was born in the USA to Indian parents and has been living in France for the past eighteen years. She has practiced different forms of mindfulness since 1998 and shares her vision of mindfulness in prisons, homeless shelters, and with CEOs.   You’ve recently written a book on “To meditate is to Rebel.” What inspired you to write this book?  [0:53] Meditation has helped Betsy in so many ways, so that was her first motivation. She wanted to write a book about mindfulness for French people because, having been living in France for so long, she began seeing the obstacles that French people have to mindfulness. Betsy says that the French often describe themselves as very rational, causing them to not be attracted to meditation. Betsy wanted to invite people to explore what meditation is from a rational perspective.   “I believe that there’s this awareness that we develop when we meditate that allows us to see our connection to other people and to the problems in society.”  Mindfulness has led Betsy to observe how we are all connected to each other. It sounds very cliché, but it’s actually very rational when you consider the idea that we are actually interconnected and, in a false way, our society separates us.   How does mindfulness make us more interconnected?  [3:58] Betsy sees that not knowing how other people are experiencing life keeps us from experiencing a part of ourselves. Betsy has brought people who are at the top of companies to a mindful-conscious dialogue with people who are in distress, and a lot of great awareness arises in both parties. In one party, there’s the feeling that “This person, who has everything that I would like to have in life, is not different from me.” On the side of the leader in a privileged situations, the person will often think “What do I need to be doing in my life that will serve other parts of the society?” Mindfulness has a series of 4 steps: Place your attention on your breadth You are distracted by something e.g. a though, a feeling or a sound You become aware of that distraction Place your attention on your breadth This is just a training or workout that brings a greater knowledge of how your mind works. Its actually a simple process. What challenges do people face in practicing mindfulness?  [5:47] Some of the most prominent reasons are: People often feel that this is not for them because they have a busy mind, they can’t sit still, they have too much stress, etc. That often comes from a misunderstanding of what mindfulness is. You don’t have to be less stressed to meditate. The performance culture of leaders makes sitting down difficult. It feels like sitting to meditate is something that takes us outside of our lives or outside our efforts to get results.   Why is mindfulness becoming such a basic leadership skill today?  [12:03] Betsy believes that the world is getting safer in some ways, but that there’s an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. There’s a feeling that there is no meaning. In Betsy’s vision, we will be more attracted to leaders who help us experience something other than fear. Leaders today will need to work on their own fear first.   Mindfulness is a way of confronting difficult emotions. When practicing mindfulness, Betsy learns to see the composition of her mind and then learns to operate from a place of stillness within herself as a leader.   “Mindfulness helps people to connect on a different level, Mindfulness creates meaning that people are looking for, and finally mindfulness creates an experience that people are looking for!”  Mindfulness helps you to listen better to yourself and others. It helps you to connect in a more profound way to yourself and others. This helps you