Episode 7: How Do We Create Mindful Societies? - Jay Vidyarthi, A Mindful Society
We often think about meditation and mindfulness as an individual pursuit, but in this episode of the Deep Change Podcast, Jay Vidyarthi talks about why it matters to think on a societal level and some of the efforts he's been making to bring about that kind of change. We also talk about his thoughts and insights as he led the Muse headband user experience team as well as the future challenges and opportunities of neurotech going forward. Check it out!
Check out A Mindful Society here:
Jay is an award-winning experience designer for products that enhance mindfulness and well-being. He led the user experience team that launched the Muse headband, a neurofeedback meditation assistant that uses EEG to deepen your meditation practice. He’s published multiple academic papers on technologies for mindfulness. He established the annual “Mindful Society” conference, which takes place every year in Toronto. In addition to that, he founded a new government innovation office and has been featured in top tier publications and media including Forbes, Fast Company, VICE, Inside Design, and CBC
If this weren’t enough, he’s also an accomplished musician and has played in hundreds of musical concerts.
But that’s just the outside story. The inside story is that he’s been practicing mindfulness for over 10 years, cementing his daily practice through meditation habits and regular extended retreats – including 2 months of intensive training in a monastic setting. If you’ve ever met Jay, you can feel the power of his mindfulness practice in his kind and light-hearted presence. This is a guy who’s deeply concerned about our culture of distraction in today’s attention economy, and he’s dedicated his life to helping us all be more focused, more kind, and more mindful.