Davidji is an internationally recognized stress-management expert, corporate trainer, meditation teacher, and author of a number of critically acclaimed and Bestselling books

In December 2015, Davidji was named a Trailblazer in Yoga & Ayurveda by Spirituality & Health Magazine (http://spiritualityhealth.com/100trailblazers).

Early this year, I discovered Davidji through a meditation app and was instantly take by his voice, which has been dubbed the ‘velvet voice of stillness’. I’ve been listening to some of his guided meditations ever since.

So when Davidji agreed to come onto the 1% Better podcast to talk about his how journey, from corporate world to a life of purpose, fulfilment and happiness, I was more than delighted. We recorded it over skype and video and I could see Davidji was in a much more lush surroundings on the west coast of the US than I was as you can hear the birds signing!

Some of the key topics we cover during the conversation are summarized below. It’s certainly one of my favourite shows as I can relate in many ways to his journey.

I hope you enjoy the show. A breakdown of what we talk about with timings detailed below.

Timings & Topics:

1min – The velvet voice of stillness and how this came to be
2min – Earliest Memory – the divine principle of rebirth – keep dying to the past, reinventing ourselves is key. Davidji’s Mother dying at an early age. Getting the book Ulysses by James Joyce. Advise to keep journeying.
4min – Growing up & early formed values? – grew up in New York. Effort & Focus drilled into him from birth. Always been driven and had a vision. Not necessarily seeking money but wanting to be the best version of himself.
6min - Started to question his purpose & reason for being. 9/11 was a big impact on his view of the world. In the wake of this, everything Davidji believed turned out not to be true. He started to question the purpose? What will be his legacy? What is this all about?
10min – Was there a first tool or first step?
•Started to meditate in College – getting hit with a bamboo stick when a though came in!
•Over the years, practiced different forms of meditation, some lasting longer than others!
•More in corporate world, the practice then dropped away.
14min – Corporate world 20 years ago to now?
•Mindfulness in general, not just in work, has come a long way in 10 years
•Example of Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs all meditate
•Working with the Dublin Gardaí (police force) last year
17mins – Deciding to leave the Corporate World & becoming the COO at Deepak’s Centre
•Left the Job and went to Oxford England with Deepak Chopra and learned meditation techniques – he realized after a few days meditation, he felt joy and lightness for the first time in years.
•Then headed to India in search of the guru and answers
•Went to Deepak in California and approached him about becoming part of the centre leveraging his business skills
•Every day, he them became a teacher of meditation and working in the centre’s business
•Finding the blend here and working in the centre for 10 years.
•In 2012, Davidji decided to move out on his own and start on a new journey with these skills
25min – Quid Pro Quo & The Perfect Job
•An energetic exchange in every relationship is key
•Be willing to serve at a certain level and be ready to receive it back
27min – Intuition & Big Picture?
•Our ability to take a step back and realize it’s not all about the step right now!
•Meditation helps you connect with stillness and see how the bigger picture fits into
•Daily meditation has helped Davidji see the world coming at him in slow motion
31min – The Sweet-spot, the space between our thoughts & the Gap
•You are not your thoughts
•We have 60-80000 thoughts per day!
•We are not our physical body
•Then who are we? We are the space between our thoughts – this is the place we can then truly find peace – This is the key!
•When you meditate, the more you get into the gap
•Cultivating our ability to witness – accessing beyond space and time!
•When you come back into the real world, you bring a small bit of this back
•Our next words and thoughts are just that little bit more reflective
•Bringing more purpose and stillness into the moment
38min – Ego comes up & how you can control this?
•Look at your ego – a sense of self
•That moment you have the impulse to respond – this will give you time back
•Do you have the patience to wait until the mud settles? – Lao Su?
41min – 21-day meditation technique and challenge with Steve Covey
•How this took off and grew
•Years later how this took another turn
•Making 21 days into the 40-day challenge
•The 40 days of transformation program for the last 5 years
45min – Does meditation work for everyone?
•Anyone can meditation and you can do it anywhere
•Be more mindful doing activities
•Pattern interruptions will help you be a better version of yourself
49min – Yoga Chitta Vritti Nirodha
•Explaining a mantra
•You will still have thoughts
•Oneness is the progressive quieting the fluctuations of the mind!

50min – Book recommendations
•Man’s search for meaning – Victor E. Frankl
oWe can’t avoid suffering but we can choose how we want to cope with it!
•Sacred Powers – Davidji
•The Mothman Prophecy with Richard Gere
•Steven Covey – 7 Habits of Highly successful people


1% Better Takeaways:
•Keep journeying
•Practice what you chose every day! Everything needs a daily practice
•Taking a 21-day challenge & a 40 day challenge

Connect with Davidji:
•www.davidji.com