My guest on today's podcast has cracked the code on what kind of meditation works for all these goals, and for many more. Her name is Emily Fletcher, and Emily is the founder of  (use code BEN to save $50) and the creator of zivaONLINE, the world’s first online meditation training. Her mission is to make meditation attractive and accessible to people who are ready to up-level their performance and their lives. Recently featured in The New York Times, named top 100 women in wellness to watch and regarded as one of the leading experts in Vedic meditation, Emily has been invited by companies like Google, Barclays Bank, sweetgreen, & Viacom to help improve company performance through meditation. She began her ten years of training in Rishikesh, India and was inspired to teach after experiencing the profound physical and mental benefits meditation provided her during her 10-year career on Broadway, which included roles in Chicago, The Producers & A Chorus Line. Emily has been invited to speak at Harvard Business School, Bulletproof Biohacking Conference, Summit Series, A-Fest and The Omega Center. So far, she has taught over 5,100 people to become self-sufficient meditators with this game changing practice to take with them for life. is a new book by Emily. For the book, she specifically developed a novel meditation technique for working people with busy lives. Now, you can learn to recharge anywhere, anytime – at home or at your desk. All you need is a few minutes and a chair (no apps, incense, or finger cymbals required). But this is not just another meditation book. In it, Emily teaches a cool trifecta of Mindfulness, Meditation, and Manifesting to improve your personal and professional performance, clarity, health, and sleep. You learn how to cultivate Mindfulness through brief but powerful exercises that will help you stop wasting time stressing. Plus, you’ll get Manifesting tools to help you get crystal clear on your personal and professional goals for the future. I'm digging it (and I'm usually NOT a fan of woo-woo meditation books). . During our discussion, you'll discover: -How the Meditation Shame Spiral undermines efforts at meditation [7:25] Activity: "My brain is too crazy; my stress is special" Time: "I want to meditate, but I just don't have time" Broken promises to self; personal integrity No one has time to waste (return on investment) Stress is responsible for 90% of all doctor's visits Autonomic nervous system dysfunction is related to most disease You're not spending time; you're investing time meditating -Why meditation doesn't replace the importance of quality sleep [13:50] Chemical reactions in the brain to sleep and meditation are very different Nature doesn't allow the human body to be in deep relaxation physically and mentally at the same time Meditation is more relaxing, but is a different type of rest than sleep Curing insomnia is the #1 benefit that people report after starting meditation -Adaptation energy [16:30] Stressors vs. Demands affect your ability to adapt to circumstances When depleted of adaptation energy, you break (straw that breaks the camel's back) We act and react according to the baseline stress levels in our nervous system Meditation doesn't change or remove the stressors; it replenishes our adaptation energy Indicative of higher interplay between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems People are attracted to people who know how to to adapt (higher HRV) Chronic, staying stress is the killer -Whether or not committing to a meditation regimen creates more stress [22:45] If you become self-sufficient with meditation, you'll have more time in your day, and you'll lose dependency on toys, gadgets, etc. Your body will be functioning as it was designed to function -How the anatomical structure of the brain can change with meditation [26:00] Corpus callosum connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain It's proven that meditation thickens the corpus callosum (strength