The mindbodygreen Podcast

Latest Episodes:

43: Light Watkins On Making Meditation Accessible & Cultivating Inner Joy Feb 20, 2018

Show notes

Teacher and innovator Light Watkins has been revolutionizing the practice of meditation since 1998—and now, he's on a mission to make meditation an everyday practice, for everyone. As first a meditation practitioner and then apprentice to his Vedic Meditation teacher, Light has worked to deconstruct meditation and make the practice more accessible and sustainable.

He’s the instructor of the mindbodygreen classes A Meditation Expert's 14-day Guide and Meditation For Anxiety and founder of The Shine Movement, a global pop-up inspirational variety that spotlights the stories of everyday people. Light also takes his expertise on the road, traveling around the globe hosting workshops, panels, meditation trainings and retreats. His TED Talk, “Debunking the 5 Most Common Meditation Myths” further echoes his uplifting efforts to bring meditation into the public sphere, along with a focus on cultivating inner strength, as demonstrated with first book titled, The Inner Gym. And if that doesn’t seal the deal, Light is dedicated to using his platform to spread positivity and inspiration in all ways, including his daily inspirational email called The Daily Dose and his new book, Bliss More: How to Succeed in Meditation Without Really Trying.

In this episode, Light recounts his many career paths—from yoga instructor to model and board game entrepreneur—and life-changing realizations that ultimately led him to meditation. We discussed the transformative power of using mantras while meditating, the resurgence of meditation, and the importance of introducing the practice to pop culture. Plus, Light shares his insights on building a healthy inner life and owning the shift of dialogue around meditation from one of productivity to sustainability.

Whether you’re a bonafide meditation follower or a skeptic looking for more information, you won’t want to miss Light Watkins’s simple and refreshing real-life perspective on meditation as an art form, daily practice, and way of life.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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42: Algae, Probiotics & Mushrooms: The Founder Of Purely Elizabeth Shares What's Next In Breakfast Feb 13, 2018

Show notes

It all started with blueberry muffins. Elizabeth Stein made them to woo clients for her health and nutrition, not to start a business —- but everyone was obsessed with the combination of healthy ingredients and great flavor. Ever the brilliant entrepreneur, she recognized the demand and pivoted her business. Now, only a few short years later, Purely Elizabeth is a nationally renowned brand with granolas, instant oatmeals, and more—and plans to grow far beyond breakfast.

I sat down with Elizabeth to find out the secret to her mega-success and learned a lot more along the way. In this podcast, she shares the surprising country she derives inspiration from, her thoughts on "unicorn food," and what's next in healthy breakfast trends. She also shares the full story of how everyone's favorite granola came to be.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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40: Seth Kaufman, One Of The Most Powerful People In Food, Shares The Trends That Are Shaping The Way We Eat Jan 30, 2018

Show notes

Seth Kaufman knows about healthy food. As the head of PepsiCo's North American Nutrition division (whom we partnered with for our Next Great Nutritionist competition!), he's responsible for helping the mega-corporation make healthy options accessible and affordable for people all over the world. It's a weight he feels profoundly. "Talking about this idea of affordable nutrition, if we're not going to do it—with the scale that we have—who can?" he says.

In this podcast, we talk about PepsiCo North American Nutrition's "performance with purpose" agenda, their impact on the people they serve, the planet, and more. He also opens up about his personal wellness journey, including how he spent his childhood going in and out of the hospital and the sinus infections that carried into his 30s. When he was 36, he was finally diagnosed with "primary immune deficiency," which means his body doesn't make antibodies and can't fight infection. This kick-started a health journey that lasts to this day (you should hear how far he cycles daily!).

You'll also hear Seth's take on which food trends are on their way out and which are up and coming (his thoughts on apple cider vinegar and probiotics are FASCINATING). For business and health enthusiasts alike, this one is unmissable.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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39: Acclaimed Environmentalist Paul Hawken On Trump, Greenwashing & The Future Of Our Planet Jan 23, 2018

Show notes

Paul Hawken's expansive career as an environmentalist, best-selling author, and entrepreneur began with a case of greenwashing. Get the scoop on that story and so many more in this intimate podcast episode that spans from the civil rights movement into the present day and decades into the future.

Hawken's expansive resume as founder of health food mecca Erewhon and lifestyle brand Smith & Hawken, author of a dozen books, and prolific public speaker and activist is only part of what makes him so fascinating. Hawken's outlook on the future of our planet is unlike any other, and the way he speaks about the people fighting climate change from the front lines can make even the most pessimistic of us more hopeful. His most recent project, Drawdown, spotlights 100 of the more substantive solutions to global warming to date and outlines ways for all of us to move them along.

The mbg Lifetime Achievement Award winner and revitalize 2017 fan favorite sees climate change as the problem of our time—and says that you play a role in solving it. Find out how to get started with this inspiring conversation.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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38: JJ Virgin On Burning Fat, Healing After Her Son's Accident & Why Weight Loss Isn't About Calories Jan 16, 2018

Show notes

JJ Virgin is, without a doubt, one of the biggest names in health and wellness. She's a certified nutrition specialist and health and fitness instructor, has had numerous books hit the best-seller list, and leads a new class at mindbodygreen called Boost Your Metabolism.

Raised on Pop-Tarts and Cap'n Crunch, she went rogue and visited a health food store at the early age of 12, which sparked her interest in health and nutrition. Virgin never looked back and has since dedicated her life to helping people break through weight loss resistance and maintain their healthiest weight—all the way from Jazzercise and low-fat diets to HIIT workouts and eating to balance blood sugar and insulin levels.

In this episode of the mbg podcast, JJ opened up about a tragic hit-and-run accident that left her 15-year-old son in critical condition. It was a long healing process, physically and emotionally, and she shared the things that kept her family moving forward, now stronger than ever.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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36: ABC News Anchor Dan Harris On How To Be Your Own Guru & Make Meditation A Habit Jan 02, 2018

Show notes

Some of us know what it's like to reach a moment of reckoning—a low point in life when we know that something has to change, and there's nowhere to go but up. For Dan Harris, this moment occurred on live television in front of 5 million people.

It took a panic attack reading the news on Good Morning America to make the journalist and anchor realize he needed to address his anxiety. After years of searching, Harris found his savior in meditation. But ever a skeptic at heart, Harris had to first cut through a lot of what he perceived to be flowery language and woo-woo jargon that diluted the practice's power in order to home in on his own brand of simple, straightforward mindfulness meditation. In the process, he wrote a book, 10% Happier, which went on to become a No. 1 New York Times best-seller, a practical meditation guide for the modern day.

In this podcast episode, Harris—who first shared his story with mbg on the 2014 revitalize stage—dives into the genesis of his legendary first book, and his latest one, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. Along the way, he gets real about his rock-bottom moment, his first foray into mindfulness, and the tips that have helped him meditate every day for the past nine years. He also speaks candidly about the "gurus" of today and why you don't need to shell out for a silent meditation retreat or travel to an ashram to harness all of meditation's truly life-changing benefits. If you're a skeptic, or just someone who has trouble quieting the mind regularly, you're going to want to give it a listen.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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35: Norma Kamali - How She Always Stays Ahead Of The Curve & The Superfood That Makes Her Skin Glow Dec 26, 2017

Show notes

Norma Kamali is 72 and has been an ageless wellness queen since she was born. Her mother juiced, educated herself on supplements, and introduced Kamali to healthful foods at a very young age. Although she rebelled at first, wellness became a part of her DNA, and her company's.

Back in 2001, Kamali opened her wellness cafe uptown in New York City in response to the September 11 attacks—she was way ahead of the wellness curve. Since then, she's written a book called Facing East, started a campaign called Stop Objectification to empower women who have been subject to misconduct, and has continued to run her namesake fashion brand.

Kamali is a true renaissance woman. Her endeavors are more relevant now than perhaps ever before, and she's a living, breathing example of our You. We. All. mission to empower the planet. Listen to her interview to learn about her No. 1 wellness priority (hint: it's not food), the routine that makes her skin look youthful and glowy, and the sage advice she'd give her younger self.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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34: Dan Buettner—The World's Leading Happiness Expert—On The Recipe For Lifelong Joy Dec 19, 2017

Show notes

What makes for a healthy, happy human?

Dan Buettner, author, athlete, and National Geographic explorer, has traversed the world searching far and wide for the answer—and he's found it. His book, The Blue Zones, identifies the five areas of the world where people live the longest and are healthiest, snagging the secrets to longevity along the way. (Hint: Nurturing your personal relationships, eating a plant-based diet, and sleeping eight—yes, eight—hours a night all play a role.)

His latest project, The Blue Zones of Happiness, goes a step further to look into the pockets of the world that have the happiest people. In this extremely candid podcast episode, he spills the extent to which money buys fulfillment, the most joyous age, and what you can do to become the happiest version of yourself every day, no matter where you live. Along the way, he shares whether exercise, coffee, and social media are helping or harming our moods, and his insights will definitely surprise you.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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33: Green Beauty, Big Tech & The Future Of Athleisure: mbg Founders Discuss 2018 Wellness Trends Dec 15, 2017

Show notes

This special edition episode is a reflection on mindbodygreen's 2018 wellness trends! Every year in December, we release a report of our biggest trends and predictions for next year, and this time we have a sneak peek into the thought process behind the trends with our founder and CEO, Jason Wachob, along with co-founder and chief brand officer, Colleen Wachob.

"It is a really exciting time to be in wellness," Jason said, as he reflected on mbg's track record for setting and predicting trends. In 2015, we were one of the first to call out supplement startups and telomeres as a trend. Two years ago in 2016, we accurately predicted guac would become a healthy staple, wellness tourism would go mainstream, and foretold the wellness world's now long-standing obsession with succulents. Last year, we reported that women's spaces and circles would grow, and from a food standpoint, we pegged personalized nutrition, medicinal mushrooms, and ketosis as wellness trends too.

In this special, abbreviated episode, Jason and Colleen discuss four of our biggest and buzziest trends this year, and they're asking the questions no one else wants to ask: Will technology be the next tobacco? And when will we as consumers start to move the needle for big tech, the same way we did this year with big food? Healthy food startups are being acquired left and right—they discuss why that's a really good thing.

In that vein, accessibility in wellness is another trending theme that resonates strongly with mindbodygreen's new mission. Breathwork will join meditation as a practice people use anytime, anywhere to change their energy. Similar to big food, green beauty is experiencing a surge of financial interest, acquisitions, and support from big-box retailers, who are stocking naturals now more than ever.

And a question: Where will athleisure and boutique fitness go? They both are becoming more diverse and less exclusive, with at-home workouts like FlyWheel's new stationary bike and Peloton's rumored treadmill. Tune in to hear their points of view and get a behind-the-scenes look at the thinking behind these trends.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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32: GT Dave: The King Of Kombucha On Narcissism, The Healing Powers Of Nature & Why Kombucha Chose Him Dec 12, 2017

Show notes

GT Dave is the founder of the world's most successful kombucha company, GT's Kombucha. A native Californian, he was born a vegetarian and raised by two very holistic parents who always looked at life—and more importantly, health—from a holistic perspective.

His journey with kombucha began in 1994 as a teenager when his parents starting making and drinking it regularly. Not long after, his mother—who was healthy and active—was diagnosed with breast cancer. When weeks later her doctors downgraded her tumor diagnosis from cancerous to precancerous, they asked what she was doing differently in her diet. The answer was kombucha. Still, he had no idea that just a few years later he would be bottling 60 to 100 bottles in his house every morning before driving them to local stores in a van.

Through the course of his career, which is far from over, GT has made kombucha a staple in every health food store and all great wellness regimes. He brought this now wildly popular probiotic drink into the mainstream. His journey was not without its challenges, from family tragedies to a learning how to run a business to the time when all his products were taken off the shelves over concerns about its potential trace alcohol content. GT opened up about his spirituality and why he feels like he and his brand grew up together. We discussed narcissism, why we need to be authentic in a social media world, and how he balances purpose and profit as an entrepreneur. His definition of success is making an effort to be the best he can be and to give love and spread love. You won't want to miss this one.

To contact Jason with comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

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