Bradley Raider is a teacher, award-winning filmmaker, and entrepreneur who is fascinated by consciousness expansion. Today on the EO Podcast, Bradley discusses the importance of meditation for entrepreneurs to improve their creativity, productivity, and stress-levels. Tune-in to learn how Bradley discovered meditation, worked as an apprentice and began to teach – all while still having the time to release his film “Kensho at the Bedfellow.”

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 00:30 – Why is meditation important for entrepreneurs?
• 00:40 – It helps improve creativity and adaptability, which reduces stress, increases productivity, and allows you to be a calm and efficient leader
• 01:10 – Bradley practices Vedic meditation, which he has been doing for 11 years and teaching for 5
• 01:35 – He taught 40 people how to meditate at the EO Alchemy event
• 01:46 – Why should someone make meditation a habit?
• 01:50 – For the health benefits: normalization of sleeping patterns, reduction of heart disease risk, lower blood pressure, and mood
• 02:15 – Stress can exacerbate (if not cause) illness; meditation helps settle everything down so deep stress can unwind from the system
• 03:00 – Meditation reduces stress boosts immunity and is anti-aging
• 03:10 – The word “mindfulness”
• 03:11 – The general word has become a “catch-all”
• 03:18 – “Mindfulness meditation” is specific and, in ways, opposite of Vedic meditation; Vedic meditation doesn’t require focus, or effort because it is considered a self-transcending technique
• 03:55 – In Vedic meditation, you are recommended to sit in a chair with your back supported and there is no breathing or pose instructions
• 04:35 – Vedic meditation is counterintuitive to what people think meditation is
• 04:46 – Why 2x/day?
• 04:46 – It is the minimal, optimal prescription; the least amount of times for the maximum benefit
• 05:10 – 20 minutes twice a day is the recommended amount
• 05:25 – How to start your day with meditation; before you do anything in the AM, meditate to prime the body for progress and dynamic action
• 05:56 – For the second session, settle down and saturate yourself in creativity and esoteric ideas; reinvigorate and recognize, re-enlighten and refresh
• 07:02 – Why is everyone fighting against meditation?
• 07:20 – Bradley thinks the exact opposite; he believes that more people are drawn to yoga than ever before
• 07:32 – 11 years ago it was still a bit unusual, now it is common
• 08:08 – What if someone believes they don’t have time to meditate?
• 08:24 – There is an efficiency increase when you meditate, so you are more productive and therefore create the time to meditate that you didn’t know you had
• 08:55 – Top leaders in the world meditate, if they have time, so do you!
• 09:30 – How Bradley got into meditation
• 09:38 – He was in LA, 29, and going through an existential crisis; his therapist suggested meditation and ignored this advice until a friend took him to a lecture about meditation
• 10:30 – He learned the next day in a four-session course; he learned what was possible and continued meditating from then forward
• 10:50 – His energy, sleeping, relationships, creativity, stress level, and happiness improved
• 11:15 –He was a filmmaker and actor, and ran a feeder company on the side; 5 years into it he was able to work beneath his teacher as an apprentice
• 11:40 – For two years he organized courses and lectures; he realized that he should teach
• 12:10 – The formal teacher training ended with a 3-month retreat in Bali; he was certified in 2012 and in 2013 he taught meditation while working on his film’s release
• 13:04 – Bradley’s film “Kensho at the Bedfellow”
• 13:10 – “Kensho” is a Zen-Buddhist term that means awakening
• 13:18 – “Bedfellow” is a fictional hotel in Tribeca; the film is an existential drama about a man looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places
• 13:33 – Bradley’s been working on the film for a long time; on a micro-budget they shot for 25 days in NYC in 2013, and another 4 days in Los Angeles that spring
• 14:05 – He had kids, animals, and special effects; so many people and locations were required to produce the film
• 14:15 – The film explores consciousness-expansion, fulfillment, life purpose
• 14:30 – They started playing in film festivals last year; the film won a couple best feature film awards around the country
• 14:39 – The film was screened at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York and will launch on iTunes soon
• 15:42 – How to find out more about the film and meditation
• 15:49 – Bradley’s company: MDT8
• 16:06 – The film’s website
• 16:30 – If you are looking for a meditation teacher, there is a large network of teachers all over the world 

Key Points:

1. Meditation is important for entrepreneurs because it increases creativity and adaptability while decreasing stress and illness.
2. Everyone has time to meditate; it increases productivity so you are more efficient with your time.
3. Vedic meditation is different from other types of meditation; 20 minutes 2 times a day is the minimal, optimal prescription.

Resources Mentioned:

• Entrepreneur's Organization – The EO Network
• Bradley’s Company – MDT8
• Brandley’s Film Website– “Kensho at the Bedfellow” and on iTunes

You can listen to our other podcasts and more episodes of EO Wonder here!