MF 15 – Interview with Michel Dion – Headspace Meditation Practitioner and Leadership Expert

MF 15 – Interview with Michel Dion – Headspace Meditation Practitioner and Leadership Expert

by | Apr 6, 2015 | Change, General, Health Benefits of Meditation, meditation, Podcast, sleep, Work

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Michel Dion is a CPA and PMP who spent his life in the business world.  He has developed a website on project management, called Project-Aria.  The name of the website is a mix between his interest for music and project management.  He likes to live life fully and passionately.  Yet, someone he discovered meditation and the power of the discipline in all dimensions of his life.

Michel also recently published a book called Leadership Toolbox for Project Managers.  In the book, he has included the importance of self-awareness and development of the leader as a person as part of leadership skills.
This is a summary (not a full transcript) of the interview

In this podcast we have a conversation about how Michel Dion:

  • Got started meditating because of too many thoughts and not sleeping much anymore at night.
  • Michel became an “accidental meditator“.
  • He is great at solving problems, but it started affecting his family life. He started seeing his friends get burned out by overwork, as well as develop depression. Now in his early 40’s, he couldn’t bounce back from the lack of sleep as much as when he was young.
  • He was attracted to start meditating after watching a BBC documentary, Michael Mosley’s Horizon: The Truth About Personality (BBC Two) in which  Mosley tries mindfulness meditation based on scientific findings about our personalities. And see if he could influence his more pessimistic and insomnia prone personality. He wanted to see if he could change his brain less anxious. They found that the right side of his brain was more active than the left side, which also created an imbalance. A combination of cognitive training and mindfulness training was used to help him change his brain. See, “Can Science Explain Why I’m a Pessimist?“
  • Michel was inspired by these findings, and also wanted to learn this meditation, so he got the Headspace app by Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk.
  • He needed to start with guided meditation. Very useful, otherwise he would have felt lost. He doesn’t consider himself spiritual.
  • He also noticed more and more projects as he grew in his career, and he was never in the moment any longer. He’d be at work, as well as with his wife, and always thinking either about work or other things. He couldn’t be present any longer. Starting to lose focus.

As a result of a regular meditation practice:

  • He found that the meditation helped him be more productive at work.
  • Better and more real connection with his wife and kids.
  • He found this important enough, that he mentioned meditation, requirement for self-awareness as a leader in the beginning of his book on Business, Project Management, and Leadership, rather than an afterthought. Taking care of yourself.

At the time of this interview..

He still practices regularly using head-space, listens to podcasts (this one, and Tara Brach’s Podcast), and reads about meditation.

  • Michel is learning how to meditate without the assistance of guided meditation, or apps. He plans on adding unguided meditation to his practice.
  • Michel had to unlearn some preconceived notions and pressures about what meditation is supposed to be like. Typical misconceptions propagated:
    • “You can stop all thoughts!”
    • “Real meditators are always 100% peaceful and happy!” (as though they are no longer human!)

“Multi-Tasking”

Michel was a great “multi-tasker” at one time, but learned that this wasn’t working very well.

  • He would do other tasks while “listening” to his wife. After realizing this error, he now has a deeper connection and conversation.
  • Another challenge he has is with long-distance running. At some point his mind is, “no longer in the moment”. It’s not physical pain that’s the problem after 2 hours of running, but his mind. He is going to read the book by “conscious runner” Lisa Hamilton (former guest on this podcast).

How his meditation affects his work, and leadership role?

Very much, as a leader you can be agitated, “do, do, do, more, more!” But people are more likely to follow a leader that is calm. Then a leader that is helps give their team confidence of success. Comfort zone does not mean it’s easy. You get greater results with a team with greater self-awareness.

Authenticity and honesty are often lacking in leadership.

In business you can master something. Michel studied classical music when he was younger and you can master that as well. He feels it’s different with meditation, you can’t say you have 100% self awareness. You can do this for 30 years and you will still discover something, so it’s never completed. There is a level of being comfortable in the unknown.

Michel talks about developing more knowledge of the self, which is part of executive leadership development program. Meditation and modern science is bringing it to the western world from a different angle.

We discuss how meditation is sexy or trendy, and the potential issue if the leadership and executives don’t practice meditation themselves, and use it to squeeze more productivity out of employees, or put them into smaller cubicles to save money, without thinking of the triple bottom line.

Michel talks about the blind spot of leadership, the privilege and rank of leadership, and the problem if you just have false relationships around you.  It’s his job to create a relationship where the employees feel comfortable talking with him.

  • Why it’s a problem to be over identified with your job (and Michel sees this more in older generations).
  • It’s better to have a life also outside of work.
  • Why it’s not always the best if someone is 100 % dedicated to their work life, doing 60-80 hours a week. You don’t have as much motivation to be efficient, if you’re just making work for yourself, “looking busy”.
  • The mind needs some break
  • If you invest all your thoughts into one thing, the day it succeeds, you’re extremely happy, if it does not succeed, everything is crashing.
  • The intensity of reactions at work, are like for a nuclear plant, small problems are turned into big dramas. It’s not like your two kids are dead!
  • It’s rare that someone will crash their career over an intellectual issue, it’s more the emotional side of life.
  • If you want to maximize you need to have an authentic holistic view of human.
  • We talk about too much drama when there is an issue at work, taking our titles and roles too seriously.
  • Michel talks about an example of a stressed out employee who was thinking she needed to spend the night fixing things, and he just told her to go home and watch a movie, and sleep on it. Sure enough, the next day, the employee came in refreshed and was able to solve the problem easily.

When do you have your sitting meditation during the day?

  • He seems to meditate best when his mind is tired.
  • He also likes long distance hiking, he likes how nature calms him. We talk a little bit about nature-deficit disorder.
  • He puts his device on airplane mode to keep from getting distracted. When it’s on, the mind stops checking. He finds that better than a technology fast or rejection.

His book is for folks leadership, the most powerful powerful part of leadership is to lead yourself first, before leading others.

Never have only your career as defining who you are.

Michel would feel more lonely without technology, to find other like-minded persons. That is an example of where technology supports personal growth.

Resources

These are the bighorn sheep mentioned. I’m still uploading the video, will be here tomorrow.

BigHorn family on Indianhead 013 Small

Mindfulness Bell – Listening to the Sound of the Bell

by | May 13, 2014 | Breathing, Health Benefits of Meditation, meditation, Walking Meditation

A Mindfulness Bell sound is a wonderful mindfulness aid. Repeated throughout your day, this sound can be a great way to stop and pay attention and be present for one’s life. There are many shapes and forms of bell sounds  available online. I’ll put some options in the bottom of this post. Bells and gong sounds tend to be used, rather than say a loud clang sound, because of the bell’s prolonged sound, which is attention getting, and pleasant as well, reasons to stop and pay attention.

In the west we may be more likely used to church bells, which can reach far, due to them being up high in a clock tower.  Here too, this sound can be used as an opportunity to stop briefly what you’re doing just to listen and experience the present moment. In Buddhist culture, a bell or gong is more typically used.

Practicing breathing with the sound of the mindfulness bell

That said, I think many of us in the west do tend to tune the sounds out, so some conscious effort and intention is needed in order to benefit from the invitation of the bells. When you hear the sound of the bell, try to focus on taking 3-10 breaths. Not forced, but just conscious breaths. Letting the belly expand on the in breath, and empty out on the out breath. To get the most out of this mini meditation, it is best to stop whatever you’re doing, and simply stand, or sit without getting distracted. Try doing this for a minute or so, or whenever the sound fades away. Just 10 relaxing breaths can help us feel energized again and feel refreshed.

Using a mindfulness bell in front of a computer

If listening to the mindfulness bell when working at a computer, it may be of help to close your eyes for the duration of the meditation. Eyes tire of watching a computer screen all day, so small breaks for the eyes can be very beneficial. It is also a great opportunity to do a body scan, or check to make sure you are sitting in the best posture. Especially for folks working on a computer, it is helpful to pay attention to the neck and head. They have a tendency to lean forward into the screen over time. So another good reason to use a mindfulness bell, is that you can check your posture and make sure your shoulders are not tightening up from repetitive actions. When typing on your keyboard, the arms should ideally be relaxed, so that the shoulders are not going up, which creates tensions.

Using a mindfulness bell when doing other things

If you’re using a mindfulness bell when going about business in the house, or elsewhere, then a good approach when hearing the bell sound would be to take a mini break, and stop. This doesn’t have to be conspicuous if in a public place, you can simply stop to look around and take 3 deep and conscious breaths. Here too, you have an opportunity to check for internal posture, are you upright and are your shoulders relaxed? What was the breathing like right as the bell sounded? If the breathing was shallow, that is all the more reason to take a time-out and let the breathing return to a relaxed natural state. It is totally normal that our breathing goes out of whack in the busy type of world and times we live on, so there is no need to get discouraged when the breathing is found to be shallow and tight. It is just a reminder that we do need to take care of our breathing regularly. And if a mindfulness bell help with this, than that is one more great aid in this mindfulness practice.

Below is a list of some options  for mindfulness bells.

YouTube Mindfulness Bells

Mindfulness Apps

Since these Apps will change over time, describing them below would quickly become inaccurate information. Some are very simple, a random bell (or through specified interval) or buzzer throughout the day. Some have added guided meditations and instructions, visualizations, and even added videos or podcasts.  My recommendation would be to check each of these Apps out first, read their description and revision information, and if possible try the free version. Also, check the reviews and ratings when you find the App in iTunes or the Google Android Play store. The ratings will quickly tell you what features people like, what’s missing, and whether it is an App you wish to purchase. Note that the Apps below are in quotations, as that is the actual name of each Mindfulness or Meditation App.

Android and iPhone

  • “Meditation Mindfulness Timer”
  • “Mindfulness Bell”
  • “Meditation Helper”
  • “Walking Meditations” (iPhone)
  • “Insight Timer” (Amazon)
  • “Quiet Time” (iPhone)
  • “The Mindfulness App” (Android and iPhone)
  • “Simply Being” (Android and iPhone)
  • “Headspace” (Android and iPhone)
  • “Meditate” (Android and iPhone)
  • “Mindfulness Meditation” (Android and iPhone)
  • “Calm” (Currently iPhone only)
  • “Breathe2Relax” (Android and iPhone)
  • “Buddhist Meditation Trainer” (Currently Android only)
  • “Omvana” (Currently iPhone only)
  • “Take a Break!” (Android and iPhone)
  • “Buddhify” (Currently iPhone only)
  • “Smiling Mind”(Currently iPhone only)
  • “Simply Being” (Currently iPhone only)

There are a number of physical meditation timers as well that you can use as mindfulness timers (See here) as well. Hope this helps, and I’d love to here in the comments below if you use an App or mindfulness aid that helps you!