MindBodySpace

Take just five minutes for this relaxing body scan to feel safe and connected with unconditional love for your baby. For alll of you beautiful moms out there, I remember how special those nine months were. May you be well, may you be happy. I remember my pregnancies so clearly. It was exhilarating and stressful at the same time! I was inspired by my interview with Mark Krassner, Founder of Expectful App to record a meditation for all of you beautiful and strong moms out there!

"As my health, happiness, relationships, and professional life improved significantly, I recalled my mother’s struggles with anxiety and depression when she was raising me, and I wondered if meditation might be an especially great tool for new moms."

Mark Krassner is the founder and CEO of Expectful, the meditation app for fertility, pregnancy, and parenthood. Since its founding, Expectful has partnered with several universities to conduct research on the relationship between a mother’s mind and her baby’s health.

Mark talks to me about why he, a single young man, who doesn’t have kids of his own, became passionate about how meditation could benefit a mother and her unborn child. We discuss how he came to his own meditation practice in his 20’s and how it pivoted his career from an entrepreneur into a social entrepreneur.

"As my health, happiness, relationships, and professional life improved significantly, I recalled my mother’s struggles with anxiety and depression when she was raising me, and I wondered if meditation might be an especially great tool for new moms."

Mark dug into research papers and found the harmful effects of maternal anxiety and depression on the baby. He also found evidence that meditation could help with fertility, pregnancy, and maternal health. Mark wanted to transform the lives of parents and the next generation so he put together a team and created meditations.

For more information on Expectful App, extended 14 day trial, resources, and free meditations CLICK HERE

Can PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, be measured and stopped in its tracks? Dr. Perusini, with her company, Neurovation Labs, is looking to do just that!

Listen to this fascinating conversation with Jennifer to find out how this innovative approach works and what adversities in her own life led her to become a neuroscientist and mentor for other women in STEM.

Jennifer is a neuroscientist and an entrepreneur. She is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Neurovation Labs pioneering in PTSD diagnosis and treatment. Her doctoral work led to a groundbreaking discovery that there is a physiological component to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which could mean that the disorder can be measured and treated.

Dr. Perusini earned her B.A. in Neuroscience & Behavior at Barnard College, Columbia University, and her Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship, on aging and Alzheimer’s disease, at Columbia University in the Departments of Psychiatry and Integrative Neuroscience.

Neurovation Labs, Inc.: www.neurovationlabs.com

PTSD Recovery Foundation (the new non-profit): www.ptsdrecoveryfdn.org

Women in Learning (my other non-profit): www.womeninlearning.com

Press release on military contracts- link here.

Dr. Perusini was honored to receive Barnard's Young Alumna Awardee for 2020. Due to COVID the live event was cancelled and this is her video talking about her path as a neuroscientist and her advice for young women wanting to go into science. Link here.

This short, but powerful meditation will help you see yourself already achieving your goals. Our brains are powerful in that we "see" and create stories in our minds before anything happens in our lives. This is the intention that activates our behavior to move toward our goals.

The practice ends with a beautiful bell. 

Use anytime, anywhere, to elicit your relaxation response and to get extra clear motivation on your goals and performance.

In today's episode, I speak with Kayla Mack. She's an amazing teenager with a passion for dance. You might have seen her on world of dance where she lit up the stage and impressed JLo and made it to the finals.

Kayla's won many competitions including the HOPE award at YAGP, one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world.  She also starred as Clara at Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

We talk about her experience shooting a now gone viral “Teen Ballerina's Daily Routine 1 Week Before a Show | Teen Vogue”, and the process and details about winning her place on The World of Dance.

We talk about what keeps her going through the grueling schedule of being a pre-professional dancer at an advanced level, and how so many mentors have helped her along the way including her teacher, Kelly Burke from the Westchester Dance Academy.

She talks to me about her amazingly supportive family and circle of friends.

What really impresses me about Kayla is her natural resilient voice that she uses with herself to cheer herself on, and her insane work habits. Talk about grit to persevere and the courage to try things she’s often scared to do!

I can see why so many people have mentored Kayla because she has the qualities of curiosity, eagerness to learn, and cheerfulness that any teacher or mentor would want to be around.

Kayla is also an incredibly grateful person who truly feels a bond with all the teachers and friends who have helped her along the way.

This was recorded during quarantine and there were audio issues which I was able to rescue with new software. Find out more about Kayla and links to all her videos and website HERE!

Thursdays your questions are answered right.  Email [email protected] to ask questions for me or my guests.

Marc Lesser is CEO of ZBA, a speaker, facilitator, workshop leader, and executive coach. He co-created Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute at Google with Chade Meng Tan and Mirabai Bush.

Go to Episode 47 to hear our full conversation.

Marc has written four books, his latest: Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons from Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen

Sign up for Marc's weekly online meditations open to all. More information HERE

Marc Lesser is a coach, grandfather, CEO of ZBA Associates, and the Author of four books. The most recently published book is Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons from Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen.

Marc asks, "What could your work, and your life, look like if you knew how to stay focused yet flexible, if you got more of the right things done, and if you were helping to create a more peaceful world at the same time?"

Marc shares tips on managing uncertainty and understanding that it is a constant truth in life and that as long as we don't resist it, we can be in harmony with not knowing anything with certainty.

We discuss his journey of finding zen in college, 10 years at a monastery, becoming an entrepreneur, and finally coming full circle by merging his zen roots with the business of bringing mindfulness into the corporate world.

Marc has taught his 7-step proven method to leaders at Google, Genentech, SAP, Facebook, and dozens of other Fortune 500 companies for over 20 years. Marc along with Chade-Meng Tan and Mirabai Bush develop the world-renowned Search Inside Yourself (SIY) program within Google – a mindfulness-based emotional intelligence training for leaders which teaches the art of integrating mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and business savvy for creating great corporate cultures and a better world.

Today's leaders are challenged with a complexity that can lead to stress and burnout. A mindful leader, according to Marc Lesser, Author, speaker, Zen teacher, "maybe one of THE most important competencies in business today if leaders are to move beyond fear, anxiety, nagging self-doubt, and the feeling of constant overwhelm."

"All of us are leaders in one way or another. Marc Lesser applies the power of mindfulness and compassion to guiding and bringing the best out of others." Rick Hanson, Ph.D

Connecting to what we deeply love can help us through the mundane or challenging times. I recorded this meditation to help us connect to our deep core values everyday.  

 We don't have to wait for a special occasion, illness or a landmark in our life to know and reflect on what really matters to us. In fact connecting daily with what is most important to us, will help us to make the tiniest everyday decisions; like putting our phones down to look at our loved ones when they talk to us, to big decisions like who we marry or where we decide to live. 

This is for couch potatoes and for athletes alike. Learn to walk with your breath to elicit your Relaxation Response, the opposite of your stress response. 

Focusing on the rhythm of breath to walk is a meditation to help you take your mind off the news for just 10-30 minutes and to increase your attention neuronal connections.

Questions or Topic Suggestions? Please email 

[email protected] 

I love hearing from you!

Founder of Purpose Blue, best selling author and meditation teacher Laurie Cameron guides us through a special meditation on uncertainty. Mindfulness can help us take action on things we can control and accept things we can't control. This stress reliever can help heal us down to the cellular level by changing the baseline response of our nervous system to stressful thoughts.