Episode 10: The Life-Changing Power of Meditation, with Patricia Karpas

Patricia is the co-founder of Meditation Studio, the 5-star app that Apple named one of its’ top 10 of the year. She is also the host of the popular podcast, Untangle, Meditation Studio’s original podcast that shares stories from experts, thought leaders and ‘real people’ about how meditation and mindfulness practices change us.  

A New York-native and former media executive at CNBC, NBC and AOL, Patricia is passionate about health and wellness and deeply committed to having a positive impact on the world.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• 1:44 – How Patricia starts her day.
• 3:40 – Why she wishes gratitude for those around her.
• 4:45 – Her comparison of the word “meditation” is why it is like the word “sport”
• 5:50 – Why she stopped journaling regularly, and the story of getting rid of all the journals she wrote in over the years.
• 16:00 – Patricia and Rob discuss the effects of divorce on children.
• 18:00 – How meditation could be useful for the children of divorced parents.
• 18:48 – Patricia shares an example from one of her guests on Untangle, Dina Kaplan, on how she would optimize for popularity.
• 22:30 – Patricia talks about writing her parents a letter explaining that she was going to drop out of college and stay in Greece (they didn’t agree!).
• 28:58 – Patricia’s experience as part of the team that started CNBC.
• 29:51- How the book, Wishcraft, helped her chart her vision.
• 32:58 – Why it’s important to let people in your life know the impact they had or are having on you.
• 35:35 – The “high flying” days of big budgets in the media business.
• 39:15 – What it was like to be a woman executive.
• 41:20 – When and why she decided that meditation might be useful in her life.
• 45:40 – Why she felt like a closet meditator when she first started her practice and how meditation has become more mainstream today.
• 51:45 – How she started incorporating meditation into her everyday life.
• 53:00 – Why, early in her career, she felt the need to be right and how she approaches that now.
• 54:05 – Patricia discusses the philosophy of why we get “hooked” in life and how to recognize it.
• 56:20 – How to handle a “command and control” type boss. She read the book about Marines and Military Management to help.
• 1:01:20 – Patricia discusses her partnership with Cyd Crouse and how her podcast, Untangle, came about.
• 1:03:42 – How Patricia and Cyd were able to acquire Meditation Studio App.
• 1:05:47 – What it was like when they found out that Meditation Studio App was chosen by Apple as one of the top 10 apps in the Apple App Store – and how perfect the timing was.
• 1:08:57 – The day-to-day impact on her mood when she would look at download numbers from the App.
• 1:12:00 – How her meditation practice helped, and the wisdom she learned from Jerry Colona, a former Venture Capitalist and now the founder and CEO ofReboot.IO, Inc., because of the thought-provoking question he asked her.
• 1:18:38 – How she prepares for her podcast guests.
• 1:20:00 – How the practice and principles of mindfulness training can be helpful with the craziness of our lives.
• 1:24:00 – Why she was nervous interviewing Congressman Tim Ryan from Youngstown, Ohio.
• 1:30:00 – Patricia shows us the Muse wearable meditation headset.
• 1:33:00 – Meditation, performance, and athletes.
• 1:34:14 – Patricia discusses why “negative thoughts are like velcro”.
• 1:38:16 – How come it’s hard to move on from “things that happen in life.”
• 1:39:00 – What the acronym RAIN, developed by Tara Brach, means.
• 1:41:08 – Patricia wonders, “how hard do you have to work on your work and personal relationships?”
• 1:43:49 – What life is like for her post-acquisition.
• 1:46:31 – Advice Patricia would give to a young woman, and shares some wisdom of a friend, Fran Hauser who wrote The Myth of the Nice Girl.
• 1:48:02 – Patricia discusses the Leadership section of Meditation Studio App (and why it could be called “authentic leadership”).
• 1:48:52 – Mess up in your 20’s and don’t feel like you need to rush into “life” – Kristin Neff, who discusses self-compassion and Sharon Salzberg about Real Love.
• 1:51:14 – Patricia shares the amazing story about Semira, a wonderful girl from Ethiopia.

Ways to contact Patricia:  

• Website: www.meditationstudioapp.com
• Website: https://choosemuse.com/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/meditationstudioapp
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-karpas-2b9873/
• Patricia’s “Untangle” Podcast on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/untangle-the-podcast-from-meditation-studio/id1073460738?mt=2