OM062: 95 Year Old Yogi On The Joys of Life, Death, & Meditation

By penetrating very deeply the present moment, the past and future fall away, and you become free. Fear is the demon that prevents us from letting go of the past and the future, that in turn, keeps us from spontaneously plunging into the present. ~ Joe Gifford

A 95 Year Old Yogi

Do you fear death? Does the promise and mystery of life have to fade with our youth? We’ve all inherited so many of ideas about what old age looks like. Those ideas color our view of life. But are you ready to have your assumptions overturned?

In this episode of the OneMind Podcast, we interview the ever-inspiring Joseph Gifford. He’s 95 years old and he radiates more vitality than most people half his age.

Joe is a former professional dancer. Today, he teaches symphony orchestra conductors and actors how to tap into their essence as they perform. According to Joe’s website:

Joseph Gifford is a respected and honored teacher who has worked with conductors, singers, and instrumentalists for over thirty years. He brings to his students the possibility of going beyond personal boundaries, to grow into new pathways that lead to the deeper and wider dimensions of the timeless world of music.

As one of his students said, “Working with Joe Gifford can be a life-changing as well as music-changing experience. His workshops offer a supportive, challenging and expansive environment, which encourages an exploration of the very essence of music itself.”

A Creative Passion for Life and Meditation

In 1973, Joe started down the path of meditation when he encountered the work of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who founded Transcendental Meditation. He’s been meditating ever since. In the process, Joe became a teacher of The Radiance Technique/Authentic Reiki and his meditation practice has evolved with different teachers and influences.

It’s uplifting and poignant to hear Joe’s passion for meditation and the mystery of life. From Joe’s perspective, the same inspired intelligence that radiates through Rembrandt’s paintings and Beethoven’s symphonies runs through our veins too. He works to help his students access that native intelligence.

I invited Joe on to the show because I wanted you to benefit from listening to someone who has lived and loved as long as he has. And I think you’ll appreciate what a enormous role meditation has played in shaping his creative passion for life.

In this episode of the OneMind Podcast, Joe Gifford and I explore:

• The evolution of Joe’s meditation practice over the last 42 years
• Why he no longer fears death
• The influences on his spiritual development in Transcendental Meditation, Reiki, and Evolutionary Enlightenment.
• How meditation helps you to let go of stress and open your heart
• How meditation helps you to see other people clearly
• How meditation infuses his work coaching young actors and professional orchestra conductors and why he encourages them to meditate
• Why it’s so important to “not know” in the midst of your creative work
• The universal energy that connects great artists like Beethoven and Rembrandt to you and me
• How the emptiness you discover in meditation becomes fullness of being
• Joe’s secrets to a long and happy life

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