# Episode 163
**Summary:**
In Episode #163 Ari interviews his much-appreciated meditation teacher Mary Meckley of [Sip and Om](https://www.sipandom.com/). During the interview, Mary explains how her time working in corporate Japan led to her discovery of meditation, how that discovery led to a newfound love, and how that newfound love ultimately led to the birth of _Sip and Om_.
**Special Announcements:**
[Fuel the Fire]
Come watch Ari light-up the Drake Hotel in Chicago on Wednesday, August 5th as he delivers a rousing keynote speech for IPPA Business Excellence Conference: _Fuel the Fire_. This will be a great opportunity to watch Ari translate the lessons of Less Doing into terms business leaders can take to the bank.
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**Time Stamped Show Notes:**
- – 10:25 – Introduction of Mary Meckley of [Sip and Om](https://www.sipandom.com/meditation-for-productivity/)
- – 11:19 – Mary explains how she got into meditation
- – 14:19 – Meditation creates new neural pathways in the brain
- – 15:01 – Mary does not focus on one specific type of meditation
- – 15:40 – Use whatever techniques you need to get there – there being a place of calm and mindfulness
- – 16:17 – Have something to look forward to every day
- – 16:40 – Meditation is about slowing downs and becoming self-aware
- – 18:15 – How Mary lays out the weekly meditation schedule
- -19:00 – Get outside and connect with the world…with nature…with your environment
- – 20:26 – When one faces the elements everyday they become more capable of handling stress, anxiety, etc.
- – 22:45 – The most important thing in meditation is to allow yourself to _transition_…you can’t just sit down and turn it on
- – 25:20 – For most people, conducting a daily podcast would be a challenge but Mary enjoys it
- – 25:28 – Make your meditation rough around the edges
- – 26:23 – Consistency is important in meditative success
- – 26:55 – The people that become the _best _meditators – that get the most out of mediation – are those with high-energy
- – 28:16 – Mary’s sources of inspiration
- – 30:14 – The more you learn, the more you’re obligated to do something with that knowledge
- – 31:48 – [www.SimAndOm.com](www.SimAndOm.com)
**7 Key Points:**
- Find something to look forward to every single day.
- People need to adapt themselves to the seasons – to the outside world – rather than just create a false level of “comfort” all the time.
- Meditation needs to be rough around the edges.
- Become a master of transition.
- Consistent meditation has been proven to create new neural pathways in the brain.
- Everyone needs a source of inspiration, but that source need not be grandiose.
- Exposure to the natural world helps us better understand (and ultimately control) things like anxiety and stress.
**Resources Mentioned:**
- – [Sound Hound](http://www.soundhound.com/hound) – Actually it’s called Houndify but it’s awesome nonetheless—this is Siri on every PED imaginable
- – [AnalyzeCorp](http://analyzecorp.com/data-science-outsourcing) – An outsourcing service for data science
- – [IBS Test](http://www.medicaldaily.com/blood-test-certain-forms-irritable-bowel-syndrome-may-have-just-been-discovered-334596) – Medical daily article highlighting a _new _test designed to definitively identify the cause of IBS
- – [Diff Bot](https://www.diffbot.com/?ref=producthunt) – Automated website scraping complete with an API and other elegant features
- – [Slack’s Secret Sauce](https://medium.com/@awilkinson/slack-s-2-8-billi —
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