Speaker 1 (00:00):

<silence>

Moby (00:06):

Hi Bagel. Hi, Moby. Hi, Lindsay. Hi. So we are trying something a little bit different for our end of year episode. Okay. 2023 has been a stressful year. I mean, all years are stressful, but 2023, something about it. I don't know why. Like 2022 was stressful. 2021 was stressful. 2020,

Lindsay (00:27):

Remember 2020. Whoa.

Moby (00:28):

Boy, so much. All this, all these stressful years. But something about 2023 has felt like a weird level of stress. It

Lindsay (00:38):

Feels like a certain kind of like cumulation of collective cumulation, culmination. It feels like a culmination of collective stress. Like it's all just kind of like building and building and building. And there's, you know, people are getting angrier and scarier and, you know, I think that it's, we are all just building on stress. On stress, on stress.

Moby (01:02):

I completely agree. And I like culmination and cumulation because

Lindsay (01:06):

I think of like cumulative effect. Yeah. But I don't know if that's a word. If it's not, it should be. Yep.

Moby (01:11):

So, cumulate elimination <laugh>, and what seems to me like what's happened is the quality of stress, and maybe it's just me, but I don't know, is it's gotten weirder. Like, for example, 2020 was incredibly stressful 'cause covid happened. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Like, we had a global pandemic, and for almost everybody alive, that was completely unprecedented. But there, so it was this weirdness, but it was almost like we're in it together. Yeah. Like we're, we're, we're all dealing with the lockdowns, we're all dealing with illness, we're dealing with the economy collapsing. Like it was this sort of shared almost, I mean, granted there was a lot of schisms within that, but there was like a shared sense of solidarity. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> to an extent. We were all, many of us were experiencing the same thing at roughly the same time. But this year, I don't know why. Maybe I'm just overstating it, but it just, it felt strange. And this last month, especially for some reason personally, has been very stressful. So you and I had talked about doing this end of year episode, and originally you had a great idea. Would you mind sharing your great idea? Well,

Lindsay (02:18):

It came from a personal goal of mine. Okay. Which is, I,

Moby (02:23):

By the way, that sound, in case, that was me talking into a teacup, which I just realized is a really cool special effect. Ready? So,

Speaker 4 (02:31):

Lindsay, will you please tell us about your goal? Your special goal?

Lindsay (02:38):

For some reason, your voice has this like, deep, powerful timber when you talk into the teacup.

Speaker 4 (02:44):

Yes, it's true. Sorry, it's

Lindsay (02:45):

Dorothy. It's super Dorothy. Yeah. You're upsetting Bagel.

Moby (02:48):

I'll never do that again. Bagel um,

Lindsay (02:49):

Bagel iss. Like what the, um, I have this personal goal, which is I really want to learn how to dj. I have a bunch of friends that are great DJs. I love music so much. I love the idea of being able to manipulate music and, you know, do something maybe even fun, make people dance fun or funny

Moby (03:07):

To me, and play mashups and do all sorts

Lindsay (03:09):

Of stuff. Yep. So I was thinking, I wonder if I know anyone with any DJing experience, <laugh>. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And then I was like,

Moby (03:16):

You looked across the room and you saw <laugh>. I was gonna say middle aged bald guy, but I think I might even be too old to be middle aged anymore. I think I'm just an old person. I think

Lindsay (03:24):

When you're in your fifties, that's the middle, right? I think fifties counts as middle aged.

Moby (03:28):

Sure. I'll, I I thought like, I guess maybe like

Lindsay (03:31):

Once you go into

Moby (03:32):

Six was middle aged. Yeah. So I'm, I'm on the verge of no longer being middle-aged. But you looked across the room and you saw this currently middle-aged bald guy, and you thought, I know someone who can teach me how to dj.

Lindsay (03:46):

Yes. Just like they did in the olden times.

Moby (03:49):

<laugh> in the old <laugh>

Moby (03:51):

The olden times of, tell me again what 1997 <laugh> was like. So, yeah. So that was our original plan to end the year with a DJ lesson and a, you know, conversation about DJing and maybe even the DJ mix. But then we were talking more recently and I thought, you know what, this has been a stressful year. What if we end with a meditation? Which on one hand I'm hesitant to do that because like, I'm already an object of ridicule for a lot of people. And I feel like being like a vegan in Los Angeles, like doing meditation. Like, it's just like, I've just like squared the circle. I've just, I've just, you've

Lindsay (04:36):

Become a caricature

Moby (04:38):

Of yourself even more so. Yeah. Like, like I've taken, like, like I've completed my caricature this even like when Eminem dressed up like me in the music video where he had me beaten up, he dressed up as me as a meditator, like doing yoga and meditating. So maybe this is just, this was my destiny. If Eminem preordained it and foretold it, like I'm supposed to be a public meditator as determined 20 some odd years ago by Eminem. Thanks

Lindsay (05:05):

Eminem. Yeah. You know, I also thought back in the day he was predetermining. I, I, I had a real fear that someone would put anthrax on a tampon of mine because that's what he would threaten to do to people in his songs. Okay. In one song. And so it was a real fear of mine, like really having to double check those things.

Moby (05:22):

Wow.

Lindsay (05:23):

It was scary to me.

Moby (05:24):

I mean, it could be a bigger conversation about misogyny and popular culture <laugh> and how, how ubiquitous that is and how profitable it is for so many people. But maybe we,

Lindsay (05:38):

It's neither here nor there for the meditation conversation. Yeah.

Moby (05:40):

So, so next year, at some point, I promise I'll teach you how to dj Amazing. Using my old timey DJ equipment. I don't, like most people DJ with laptops. Now, I never learned how to do that. So I have a bunch of equipment like turntables, even tape decks and c DJs and mixers, and it's all physical. So I'll teach you how to DJ with all that stuff. But then you might have a skill that's like the equivalent of like learning how to like run a telex machine. Do

Lindsay (06:09):

You wanna know how I learned to type on a typewriter? Okay. And I feel like this is the musical version of a typewriter. It looks cooler, you know, it's a little steam punk, but I feel

Moby (06:19):

Like <laugh>, I feel like the idea that technology that's 10 years old is steam punk. I know <laugh>. So, okay. So in the new year we will do a DJ episode of Moby Pod. But for today, let's, let's have a meditation episode.

Lindsay (06:32):

I could really use it. Okay. I live a life that I think a lot of people would assume includes a lot of meditation. But I hate meditating. I hate it. It stresses me out. I become, which is probably, I've heard people say that like, if you fear meditation or you don't wanna meditate, that means you should be meditating that much more.

Moby (06:49):

So in a way, hearing you say that you hate meditation, I don't want you to suffer. But it actually makes me happy because that's a much easier, it's much easier to work with that. And what I mean by that is, if you said, oh, I meditate seven times a day, and I have reached transcendent levels of bliss and nirvana and insight, I'd be like, oh, well, maybe I'm not the right person to do this. But I will say, almost everybody I know wants to meditate. They want to have the benefits of meditation. They even will like, invest in all sorts of meditation, paraphernalia,

Lindsay (07:23):

Paraphernalia,

Moby (07:25):

<laugh>. Is it paraphernalia or paraphernalia? Like, I

Lindsay (07:27):

Think it's paraphernalia.

Moby (07:29):

Okay. So, you know, people will download apps and they'll buy little cushions and they'll buy fancy meditation timers and they will go on retreats. But almost everybody I know hates meditating and does everything in their power to avoid meditating. Yeah.

Lindsay (07:44):

I don't like it. Yeah. I do have an app called Insight Timer that is free and incredible, but I don't But you never use it. I don't like to use it. Yeah. I'll use it if I'm actually having like a panic. Panic or if I'm utterly distraught or if somebody wants to meditate with me. But here's something that I was thinking about. Oh, okay. The word meditate sometimes feels overwhelming to me. I heard someone recently describe it as just like sitting in silence and just not having stimulus or stimuli for some period of time is actually incredibly beneficial. And somebody just defining it as sitting in silence made me feel like it was a little more achievable. Do you know what I mean? Does that make sense? Yeah.

Moby (08:24):

So, so I have a dirty secret.

Lindsay (08:26):

Okay. I'm scared

Moby (08:27):

And I figure I'll, I'll reveal this in public. I've already, like, the world has ridiculed me. I am an object of derision for so many people. And now I'm just gonna add to that I have been an on again, off again meditation teacher for a pretty long time.

Lindsay (08:42):

What would you say that entails?

Moby (08:45):

<laugh>? So I was raised by hippies. Okay. And my mom used to try and get me to meditate with her when I was very young. And when you're, when you're nine years old and you wanna watch cartoons and throw rocks at the side of the house, like you don't wanna sit and meditate. But my mom was into all sorts of stuff. Like, um, the I Ching Krishna Murti tarot cards. Like she was, she was a new age hippie. Clearly I just wanted to be a punk rocker. I didn't wanna meditate. But then one of my oldest friends, Eddie, Eddie Stern, we knew each other from the punk rock world of New York. And he became a yoga teacher. And I started doing some yoga classes with him a long time ago. And at the end of the yoga classes, there'd be some meditation. And I thought to myself, huh, that's kind of interesting.

Moby (09:38):

I didn't keep doing the meditation, but that was sort of my introduction. And then as the nineties progressed, my panic attacks got worse and worse to the point where I was enrolled in a study at Columbia University, uh, of people with crippling chronic panic disorder. Hmm. Like, it was bad. And I tried everything. I tried medication. Um, I tried cognitive behavioral therapy, all of which works. But I also started meditating, not thinking, okay, I'm doing great and the meditation's gonna help me to do better. It was, the idea was, I am debilitated by panic attacks. I will try anything. And so I started doing a whole bunch of different types of meditation. I researched Zen meditation, some Native American meditative traditions, different Buddhist meditation traditions. Uh, I just, I would do anything. I would go to classes. And as time passed, I realized I'd learned sort of how to meditate.

Moby (10:39):

And I learned some tricks about meditating. 'cause I'm not a professional meditation teacher. Like I've never been paid for it. I would never charge for it. And a lot of people who teach meditation, they get paid for it. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, which is sometimes great, but it maybe also gives them a different perspective on getting people to meditate. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And I'm looking at it from the point of view that I hated meditating, but I needed to do it to try and get my brain to not be so crazy. So can I give you a couple of little premeditate thoughts slash pointers? Sure. First, there's only one goal of meditation to benefit you. That's it. There is no, I mean, maybe one could argue you could be of service to others if you achieve more calm. But first and foremost, the goal of meditation is for you to benefit.

Moby (11:38):

Whether it's you, Lindsay, you Bagel, whoever's listening is, this is about you. You don't need to impress anyone. You don't need to do a good job. Like, there's, there's no criteria. The only criteria is, are you able to get some benefit from it? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And so as a result, there's no, there's no room for self-criticism, which is hard. 'cause all of us are very good at self-criticism. But meditation is supposed to be about you. Just no matter what happens, even if you hate it, even if you don't wanna do it, even if your mind wanders like crazy, it doesn't matter. You're not trying to impress anyone. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. You're not trying to, you know, you're not trying to get anywhere except for maybe having a little peace around yourself. Criticism, like bringing a little gentleness to the self-criticism of saying like, oh, I've got my eyes closed.

Moby (12:33):

I'm meditating. Why am I beating myself up? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Which for some people could be an opportunity for more self-criticism. That's the first thing is like, it's, you're not trying to, there's not like these ancient traditions that you have to do perfectly. It's not religion, it's not medicine, it's not, it's simply what is going to benefit you right now during the course of the meditation. And so, like any idea that like, oh, you're supposed to do it perfectly, or you're supposed to impress the other meditators or your teacher, or God or whatever. It's like all that throw out the window. This is just a time to create some calm and benefits for yourself.

Lindsay (13:21):

Amazing. A little treat, a little fill your own cup.

Moby (13:24):

Yeah. The second part is basically the idea that no matter what happens during the meditation, it's okay if your mind wanders, that's fine. If you get bored, that's fine. If you're annoyed, that's fine. If you're angry, if you're sad, anything that happens is fine. Even if, if you do a 20 minute meditation and for 19 of those minutes, your mind is wandering, it's fine. There's no wrong way to meditate. In some traditions, there is, like, if you're, you know, doing zen meditation at some freezing cold monastery in a mountain in Japan, and you start to fall asleep, you get hit with a stick. That's interesting. I don't necessarily want to do that.

Lindsay (14:13):

That sounds kind of fun.

Moby (14:14):

<laugh>. I mean, they're supposed to just tap you, but I think they go kind of extreme. And sometimes they'll actually beat people with sticks.

Lindsay (14:21):

Okay. That's a lot. So, but I wouldn't mind a little stick tap. Yeah. It's keep me on the, keep me on the path.

Moby (14:26):

And if you fall asleep, you fall asleep. No big deal. Like there's no, there's no way to self criticize and there's no way to do it wrong. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And if you keep that in mind, there shouldn't, there shouldn't be room for hating meditation. And if you hate it, don't do it. Or if you hate it, find, there's so many types of meditation. I mean, there's transcendental meditation, which is a very, very, the, the basics of tmm are very rudimentary. You know, you're given a mantra and you repeat it for 20 minutes. That's it. You can evolve from there. But zen meditation is very, very basic. If it, ana, there's so many different types of meditation. If you don't like the one you're doing, either stick with it until you do like it or try something else. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, I've both learned and taught and done so many types of meditation.

Moby (15:17):

I think of it like exercise. Like if someone said to you, the only way to get in shape is canoeing, you'd be like, yeah, canoeing iss fine. Nothing wrong with I like a good canoeing. But you also like walking and tennis and yoga. And I mean, like, or if someone said, there's only one type of fruit you're allowed to eat, you're only allowed to eat strawberries. You'd be like, what about grapes? Grapes are really nice. I like oranges, apples like, meditations like that. They're so many, they're all fine. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. They're all good. And the only criteria, as I mentioned before, to repeat myself, is it's supposed to benefit you. Any, any thoughts? Bagel or Lindsay?

Lindsay (15:56):

Yeah. I mean, I feel like that really covers it. My, my thing that happens to me is that when I start meditating, I feel so unbelievably jittery, restless, anxious. Like desperate to get out of it. Desperate for it to be over. Desperate to look at my phone or pay attention to Bagel or do some long, like, do anything. Like just sitting still is so stressful to me. Which is why I don't do it. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Because the stress of being in that space of silence is so intense for me.

Moby (16:29):

So do you know, just if, if you had to guess like the percentage of people who probably have the same response,

Lindsay (16:37):

A 90. Yes.

Moby (16:38):

Definitely. Between 90 and a hundred percent <laugh>. Yeah. Everyone feels that way. Everyone wants to check their phone. Everyone wants to watch something on tv. Everyone wants to go jump up and make some toast or something like, mm.

Lindsay (16:52):

Toast.

Moby (16:53):

Everybody wants to do that. <laugh>. The difference is finding something where you can observe that feeling and you sort of slowly let it pass. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And if it doesn't pass, it doesn't pass. It's no big deal. The worst thing would be to criticize yourself for having that reaction. Right.

Lindsay (17:11):

Yeah. I don't have any criticism around it. 'cause to me it feels like the most natural thing. Like Yeah, this is annoying. Yeah. <laugh>, the,

Moby (17:17):

You know, and, and so the meditation we're gonna do today,

Lindsay (17:20):

Is it guided, I do like a guided meditation. It's where someone's like, now you're walking through rose bushes,

Moby (17:25):

<laugh>, you're walking through rose bushes and you're being attacked by hoards of wasps and, and

Lindsay (17:32):

You don't care 'cause you're meditating. Yeah. And

Moby (17:34):

You've got thorns in your eyeballs. But everything is fine. <laugh> because you're, you've reached a state of transcendent bliss. Yeah. <laugh>. So the meditation we're gonna do is, you've heard the expression, the overused expression that's probably in like every new Agey magazine or home Decor magazine or everything is mindfulness. So mindfulness is one of those words like surrealism or zen, which had a very specific meaning when it was first coined that has gone on to mean basically nothing. Yeah. You know, like surrealism. 'cause I was, I was obsessed with the original surrealists. Like when someone looks at something that's weird and they're like, that's so surreal. It's like, no, actually surrealism is a term invented by Andre Britton to talk about going beneath consciousness.

Lindsay (18:22):

Didn't know that sir. Or so I just thought it was like elephants with long legs.

Moby (18:26):

Yeah. Elephants with long legs. It's basically all of the surreal techniques. I'm going a little off subject, but all of the techniques of like automatic writing, collage painting, it was enabling the artist, the writer, and the viewer to transcend everyday reality. So they weren't making weird for the sake of weird, they were making weird as, because they had just learned about psychotherapy. They just learned about Freud. They had just learned about the subconscious. So this was a way of transcending that and, and connecting with it. So that's my little sidebar about how terms like zen people are like zen is supposed to be, oh, it's calm. It's like, you mean getting hit by a stick while you're meditating is calm? Like that's a zen tradition. They even have names for the stick. I can't remember it, but

Lindsay (19:16):

I can imagine a certain type. I'm really into the stick hitting. Okay. For some reason I'll look into that

Moby (19:21):

Later. Later. Maybe for meditation part two, we can just hire someone to come and hit you with a stick. <laugh>

Lindsay (19:25):

Doesn't fun. I don't, I don think you'd have to pay somebody. I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people who'd like to do it for free. Aw,

Moby (19:29):

No. Everyone likes you. Well, okay, so, ah, boy. I'm rambling on like a caffeinated lunatic 'cause I am <laugh> that. So, okay. So this, it's gonna be a basic mindfulness meditation. And what I would really like to say is, as I mentioned, if your mind wanders fine, it everybody's mind wanders. If you're annoyed and tired, everybody gets annoyed and tired. If you get sad, that's okay. It's like, just sort of stick with it. And if you hate it and never wanna do it again, then you hate it and never do it again. Like it's no big deal. But maybe this is just an opportunity. It's the end of the year. A lot of people are dealing with stress. This is just an opportunity for like, relax for what's gonna be about 15 or 20 minutes.

Lindsay (20:19):

Okay. Great. Um, one request.

Moby (20:22):

Yes ma'am.

Lindsay (20:23):

I am. Just don't make me cry.

Moby (20:26):

Well, I wouldn't make you cry. Okay. If you do have emotions then you have emotions. Okay. Uh, I don't know how to prevent that except for maybe I could put on a clown costume. <laugh>. And then the only emotion you'd be having is hilarity

Lindsay (20:41):

And concern. Yeah. <laugh> real concern.

Moby (20:44):

So, oh, the other thing, two other things. One, I'm gonna play some new ambient music while we're meditating.

Lindsay (20:52):

Okay. Is this gonna be one of those guided meditations where you're like, now you're descending into a basement and now not that you're on a beach. Okay.

Moby (21:00):

That's more hypnosis. Um, which is great. I'm all fair. I love that.

Lindsay (21:04):

I got hypnotized the other day and boy did I like it. Yeah. I just wanna stay hypnotized. Yeah.

Moby (21:08):

I love a, I love a good hypnotism. Me too. The other thing which is profoundly important is don't listen to this in your car. Oh yeah. While you're

Lindsay (21:17):

Driving. If you're driving, listen to this later. Just pit pause and come back when you're home. Yeah.

Moby (21:21):

If you're doing surgery, if you are,

Lindsay (21:24):

Can't imagine people listening to Moby Pod while they're doing

Moby (21:27):

<laugh>. If you're checking the welds on a spaceship. If you're doing anything that requires focus and being awake, maybe don't listen to this. 'cause there's a chance you might fall asleep.

Lindsay (21:40):

Ooh, what if I fall asleep? Yeah.

Moby (21:41):

And definitely also, you wanna keep your eyes closed. So that's also a good reason not to listen to this while you're driving.

Lindsay (21:46):

Yeah. Uh, so, you know, just, uh, come back to this later. It'll always be there for you. Yeah.

Moby (21:51):

Okay. So do we think we're ready to start

Lindsay (21:55):

To tate

Moby (21:56):

To <laugh>? So I've once with meditating and I had this idea, and I don't know if etymologically or linguistically this makes any sense. You were talking about how the word meditate is a big, scary, strange word. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. I thought of a little medium-sized potato. Like a medium. Tater,

Lindsay (22:14):

You cut Tater-Time. Yeah.

Moby (22:15):

Me. So like, I just thought it is like, it's, it's not meditating. It's like it's Tater-Time. I

Lindsay (22:20):

Really like Tater-Time. Okay. Tater-Time is actually the most appealing approach I've ever heard. Okay. I can't wait for Tater-Time. <laugh>.

Moby (22:28):

<laugh>

Lindsay (22:29):

<laugh>.

Moby (22:40):

Okay. So you ready?

Lindsay (22:41):

Well, uh, sure I'm ready as I'll ever be.

Moby (22:45):

Um, the other thing I'll say two other things is whatever comes up, just acknowledge it. You can just look at it. You, you don't have to hold onto it. You don't have to push it away. Even if it's really unpleasant, just sort of be like, well, there it, there's something unpleasant. You can even call it unpleasant. You can even say, I hate this. You can say I'm bored. You can, if your mind wanders, whatever happens, it's okay. It's one of the few times in life where like, you can't do this wrong. Great. The other thing I'm gonna say is no experience is necessary. Like, you don't need to be a good expert meditator. I think one of the best qualities in meditation is actually what the new age hippies would call beginner's mind. Where you sort of come at everything fresh, fresh and new. So, okay. So you ready? Well,

Lindsay (23:33):

Yeah, I think

Moby (23:34):

So. Okay. So I'm gonna turn on some nice quiet, pretty ambient music. And we're gonna, you and me and Bagel, and hopefully everyone listening if they want to. We're gonna meditate. If you also just wanna listen to me teaching the meditation and ridicule me publicly or privately, by all means, if that makes you happy, God bless. Do that. Great. Okay. Ready? Yeah. Okay. I'm nervous. Really?

Moby (23:59):

Not surprised in you. The first step, you just close your eyes. Okay. So just take a minute to just sit with your eyes closed. Sort of notice that your breathing is even slowing down, just the tiniest little bit from where it was, I don't know, a minute ago. And just notice your breathing in the most basic way. Notice how it makes your chest expand and contract. Notice how it makes your shoulders rise up and then they fall back down. You can even notice the way the air feels moving through your nostrils. You are not trying to breathe deeper. You're not trying to breathe differently. Just simply noticing any sensation around the breathing. You're not even trying to look for any complicated insights. Just simply noticing, giving yourself this time to hopefully just relax a little bit. Just notice the breathing shoulders going up and down. You don't have to do anything else. Just simply noticing any physical sensation while you're breathing. And if your mind wanders, that's fine. Don't worry about it. If you get bored, that's okay. Just simply in a very lighthearted way, come back to noticing any sensation around breathing. Even if the sensations are very basic,

Moby (27:00):

Shoulders go up, my shoulders come down, chest and stomach expand, and then they contract. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, just any physical sensations around breathing. And now, even though your eyes are closed, just simply notice any light that you can see with your eyes. Even just noticing that there is light coming through your eyelids, just noticing the light, whether it's kind of brown or gray or green, not really trying to define it. And obviously because your eyelids are closed, you can't really see anything. Just noticing the light again with your eyelids closed, you're just noticing that there's light. Not looking for insights, not looking for any great realizations, just simply noticing the light. And if you notice any patterns with your eyelids closed, you can just simply notice them. Sometimes when our eyes are closed, we see patterns, little blobs that almost look phosphorescent or not. So even though your eyes are closed, whatever you see, just simply be aware of it and notice it. You're not judging it. You're just simply being aware that you can see light. Now, draw your attention to your body and to keep it simple, we'll start with our feet.

Moby (30:45):

And while we're noticing the body, if you notice any discomfort or an itch or any stress, try to just observe it and let it go. But if you need to move, by all means move. If you need to scratch an itch, feel free to scratch an itch or just notice it and notice how it tends to pass on its own. So notice your feet, whether they're barefoot in socks and shoes, just simply noticing how they feel. Then we notice our legs, how they feel, probably wrapped in some sort of fabric, sweatpants, pants, bathrobe, not looking for big insights. We're just simply noticing how your legs feel, the front and the back, and how the back of your thighs feel pressed against the chair. And also, while we're doing this meditation, if there are any strange sounds, outside, dogs barking, sirens, anything, just simply notice them. Don't try to push them away. Don't try to reject them. Just simply acknowledge that they're there. The world can be a noisy place. And meditation doesn't require complete silence. So let's come back to our body, noticing our back. If there's any strain, try and let it go. When you exhale,

Moby (33:28):

Or again, feel free to move, if you need to notice your shoulders, you can notice your arms and your hands. And again, there's no way to do this wrong. We're not looking for big insights, we're just simply being aware of these physical sensations. Notice your neck, your scalp. Notice the skin on your face and the muscles behind the skin. Just simply noticing. Notice your throat, your chest. Notice how the parts of your body that are exposed to air feel differently than the parts that have clothes on them. Just simply observing and noticing. And lastly, bring your attention to your stomach. And when you exhale, try to soften your stomach, feeling your stomach pull back towards your spine when you exhale. We sometimes hold a lot of tension and defensiveness in our stomachs. So when you exhale, just try to let it soften and relax. Now bring your attention to what you're hearing, the obvious sound of my voice and the ambient music playing. But any other sounds you might hear your breathing, the sound of your fabric moving and rustling, even your stomach, gurgling, or any sounds that are coming from outside. Just simply drawing attention to these sounds,

Moby (37:28):

Not judging them, not holding onto them or rejecting them. Just simply noticing everything that you hear. Even if you hear something annoying or that you don't like, can just simply acknowledge it. You don't have to like it or dislike it, just simply notice it. And remember, there's no way to do this wrong. If your mind wanders, that's okay. If you're bored or annoyed, that's also okay. You simply can't do this wrong. And now bring your attention to whatever emotion you might be feeling or emotions, happy, sad, bored, annoyed, joyful, depressed. Just simply drawing attention to it. And even if it's a difficult emotion, you're just simply noticing it, not running away from it, just simply observing however you might be feeling. And now, try to bring your attention to whatever space you're in, the air, the light, the walls with your eyes closed, to simply expand your awareness and to simply try to be aware of the space that you're in. How the gravity is pulling you down, how the air molecules are surrounding you and touching your skin. Just simple awareness of the space that you're in. Now let's bring our attention back to our breathing thing. And as we near the end of the meditation, feel free to let yourself move around a little bit. Maybe stretch your hands, stretch your jaw, and in your own time when you feel comfortable, feel free to open your eyes. Most importantly, is Bagel sleeping? No. No. Is Bagel very relaxed? Oh, yes. <laugh>. Okay. So Lynn's and Bagel. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. How was that?

Lindsay (43:12):

Oh man, I got sleepy

Moby (43:16):

<laugh>.

Lindsay (43:17):

I was very like, um, the hypnagogic state where suddenly it's like you're entering into like, you're like wacky, dreamy type of like, what is that? Why is that Raccoon microwaving my dinner? Or like that I know <laugh>, um, <laugh>,

Moby (43:36):

Hypnagogic state is, yeah, I love that expression. Me too. Um, in case you don't know what hypnagogic is, it's the space between sleep and wakefulness. So

Lindsay (43:46):

That's, it's one of my favorite places to be.

Moby (43:48):

It's very psychedelic. Yeah.

Lindsay (43:49):

Because it's like hallucinating.

Moby (43:50):

Yeah. You see raccoons for free working microwave, <laugh>.

Lindsay (43:54):

Yeah.

Moby (43:54):

So apart from, well, I guess so any other thoughts? Was that, 'cause you said before doing this that you hate meditation and you get bored with meditation. Was that, did you hate this or were you bored?

Lindsay (44:05):

I wouldn't say I was bored. I was having a really fun time hallucinating without any drugs. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. There was a point where, where I kind of like did a little boop. Great. Um,

Moby (44:16):

You needed that. I mean, it's like if you fall asleep during meditation, clearly you'd need some sleep. If, if, if your mind wanders, then your mind wanders, it's fine. Like you're supposed to it. Like if you can get to a place of being relaxed and sleeping, nothing wrong with that. Some people would say, there is something wrong with that. I'm like, but in, in these topsy-turvy modern times people are so stressed they rarely find or uh, uh, have the opportunity to relax. And I, I was talking to an acupuncturist once and he was basically saying, he's like, you know, when people go to bed, they sometimes pass out. And that's not a good sign. That just means they're so exhausted. Their body just, they, they don't drift off to sleep. They just pass out immediately. That's

Lindsay (45:02):

What I always do

Moby (45:03):

Because there's 'cause we're so stressed and so like agitated when during our waking hours that our body's just like, I'm done. And it just shuts off. Wow.

Lindsay (45:11):

That's not good.

Moby (45:12):

I mean, it, it's better than staying awake all the time.

Lindsay (45:16):

It may also be a product of anemia.

Moby (45:18):

Is that what you have now? Mm-Hmm.

Lindsay (45:19):

<affirmative>. Okay. That's my new illness.

Moby (45:21):

<laugh> new self-diagnosis. Yeah. <laugh>. And for everyone. I hope that wasn't too weird and I hope that maybe you found some calm and that it wasn't an excruciating meditation practice.

Lindsay (45:32):

I gotta say you have very good soothing meditation voice.

Moby (45:35):

Thank you,

Lindsay (45:36):

<laugh>. Wow. See you did it <laugh>. No, it really is very, like, you're very good at that. I thought, I thought it was great.

Moby (45:42):

Like I said, my embarrassing admission that I've been kind of a meditation teacher on and off for a long time, it shows. Um, but also one of my goals as a meditation teacher is to never be exceptionally good at it and never to do it professionally. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, you know, I just wanted, I like doing it for myself and I like doing it for friends and other people. Uh, especially because I feel like I have the ability to maybe draw attention to some of the shortcomings or some of the, the stumbling blocks that people sometimes have around meditation.

Lindsay (46:16):

Yeah, I think so. It's just like, do it. Just sit, do it and you'll get better at it over time and maybe you'll even grow to like it.

Moby (46:22):

And if you don't get better at it, that's fine. Just do it for five minutes. Do it for three minutes. Do it for a minute. Like, close your eyes and just be aware of what's going on around you. And also that was a very specific type of meditation called vipassana. That's like, that's my, of my version of, vipassana mindfulness meditation. Okay. And one of the things it does is it activates our prefrontal cerebral cortex.

Lindsay (46:48):

Whoa. Is that why that raccoon was making me dinner? Is that, that cortex?

Moby (46:51):

The i that, that, I don't know what cortex, the raccoon, the, the raccoon little chef hat is <laugh>. But it's the idea that it, it sort of deactivates the amygdala. It deactivates, you know, like it reduces cortisol because you're just being aware of things. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And what the brain learns, I believe, is that if it ha if the brain can pay attention to mundane stuff and neutral stuff, it sends a message to the rest of the brain that everything's okay. Mm-Hmm. 'cause clearly, like if you're being, if your house is on fire, if you're being attacked by wolverines, your brain thinks, oh no, this is terrible. I have to focus on the thing that's attacking. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, I have, have to focus on the, the panic and the problem. This meditation is sort of a way of saying everything's okay. It might even be boring, but your brain's like, boring is way better than catastrophe. Right. So that's why it start, that's why it's all just like you're noticing, you're just being observant. That's the mindfulness part. You're supposed to bring mindfulness to things and it's just being aware of what's going on. And the brain's like, oh, I guess if we have the time and energy to just simply notice stuff,

Lindsay (48:05):

Then we're not, you know, the bear isn't coming into the cave to chase

Moby (48:10):

Us. Yeah. Wolverines are not trying to eat your face. Yeah. So that was our meditation. I hope it was okay. I

Lindsay (48:19):

Really liked it.

Moby (48:20):

Okay, great. Uh, so I guess that means it's time for us to wish each other and Bagel and everyone listening and watching a very, very happy new year. Yeah.

Lindsay (48:34):

Happy New Year, Moby and Bagel and everyone listening. You know what's interesting is that our very first Moby pod was in January of 2023. So

Moby (48:44):

It's only been a year. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> not even a year.

Lindsay (48:47):

I know

Moby (48:48):

Wowser.

Lindsay (48:49):

I know. So that's a nice thing to celebrate a year of Moby Pod. But also, um, we have so many more exciting things coming in 2024 with the podcasts. So that's a very, that's something forward.

Moby (49:02):

We're gonna write more songs, we're gonna have more fact battles. We're gonna interview lots of odd interesting vegans and other people. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So, you know, one thing I would like to share that I've been trying to teach myself apart from the ability to transcend time and space and fly at will. Sure. Sure. One of the things I'm really becoming increasingly aware of is how much energy I give media. Mm. You know,

Lindsay (49:32):

News, social,

Moby (49:33):

Ev everything, even like basically everything on my phone or every, you know, everything on cable news. And I have recognized over time, and I hope that this isn't, well maybe this is just me, but like so much of who I am can be hijacked by media or opinions and especially media and opinions that I can't control. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> opinions of people I've never met. And I'm, one of my goals for 2024 is to no longer let myself be emotionally, intellectually hijacked by information I can do nothing about or opinions of people I've never met

Lindsay (50:20):

Or opinions of people.

Moby (50:22):

Yeah. I mean, just recognizing like there's no benefit in letting ourselves feel bad if, if we don't have to. And I know that might sound like sort of like some new age hippie cliche, but I guess for me it's so easy to feel bad, it's so easy to like turn on the news or like check CNN or look at social media and just find stuff that's gonna make me either feel inadequate or angry or bad about myself. And the end result is just anger and stress

Lindsay (50:57):

And fear. I feel like every time I turn on the news, it sends me into a spiral of actual fear. Yeah. In my brain, what equates to actual fear.

Moby (51:08):

And, and that's, and I'm not even criticizing the media for that, but that's what they do intentionally. Like if they, if their news report was, oh, let's go talk to Joanna who's in a field with some trees and, uh, she's out there looking at flowers like they would go to business in one second. Like, it's the idea of like keeping us angry, keeping us agitated. And I'm not criticizing them for that, but I'm saying one of my goals for 2024 is to recognize I have the ability to not pay attention. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, you know,

Lindsay (51:46):

Or to not let it affect you in that way to kind of keep your side of the street clean where Yeah. The news media can do whatever they want. Yep. It's none of my business what they do, but I'm going to make sure that I keep my sense of composure and calm and drive to create what I wanna create and show up for the people that I wanna show up for. And that's all I really need to do.

Moby (52:08):

Yeah. And the same goes for social media as well, <laugh>. Like, and one of the hardest things for me is to recognize when I'm being hijacked by media. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> whether it's news media, whether it's social media, whether it's entertainment media, when basically my sense of self and my wellbeing are being like agitated or really compromised by stuff that's going on outside of me. And so, yeah. Sorry to keep repeating myself, but that is one of my resolutions is to try and be increasingly aware of that and also recognize we don't have to pay attention, you know, if everything we pay attention to just makes us sad, angry, depressed, what have you. Like we can be informed, we can be aware, we can work to make the world a better place, but we don't have to live in a state of constant fear and anger and agitation.

Lindsay (53:06):

Yeah.

Moby (53:07):

Um, do you have a 2024 resolution?

Lindsay (53:11):

Um, yeah, I, my 2024 resolution is to, Hmm, how do I put this?

Moby (53:21):

I also have a second one, but I Okay. <laugh>, I wanna hear your first one first to,

Lindsay (53:26):

Um, not let people, places or things who I know how they're going to act get upset when they do the thing that I know they're going to do.

Moby (53:38):

It's like an ESOPs fable.

Lindsay (53:40):

Yes. To not be mad at the, at the scorpion for stinging me the frog. Yeah. <laugh>. Um, uh, I'm <laugh>, I'm just a little frog who wants to help somebody across the river. Yeah.

Moby (53:55):

It's like, hey scorpion, you're not gonna sting me. And then the scorpion stings you and scorpion's like, what do you expect? I'm a scorpion.

Lindsay (54:01):

So my goal is to a not put myself in the position to allow the scorpion to, you know, sting

Moby (54:09):

Your little frog back.

Lindsay (54:10):

Yeah, exactly. To not give the scorpion the opportunity, but if for some reason that scorpion weasel its way in there to not be so deeply affected by their terrible nightmare murder stings.

Moby (54:23):

That sounds great. And to

Lindsay (54:25):

It's a tall order

Moby (54:26):

As they say an Al-Anon like no is a complete sentence. Yeah. Like if the scorpion's getting ready to sting you, you can just be like, oh, scorpion. Yeah. Even if you're mad at me, I'm just gonna say no. Yeah.

Lindsay (54:38):

Because I know what you're gonna do. Yeah. If I say yes or if I waffle, you're gonna sting me and I am going to get really sad and maybe die in the river.

Moby (54:48):

And maybe it's because I'm a little hungry, but you also just said waffle and now I want to go eat waffles.

Lindsay (54:54):

I'm so hungry. I was so afraid during that meditation that my stomach was gonna growl really, really loud

Moby (54:59):

<laugh>. Okay, so it's time to go get waffles. <laugh> nice vegan waffles with vegan maple syrup. Um, my is it all

Lindsay (55:06):

Syrup vegan?

Moby (55:07):

No. They sometimes in commercial, some commercial syrup, they put pig fat in it. Ew. What? I know. I know, I know, I know. We don't even wanna talk about it. Uh, but my ongoing forever resolution for every year for the remainder of my life is to do more that I can, to help animals and to enable, you know, the end of this current status quo that involves a trillion animals being killed every year by and for humans. That is my forever, daily, new Year's. Every minute, every waking minute resolution. That's my resolution. I

Lindsay (55:41):

Really love that. And same.

Moby (55:43):

So I hope everyone out there is able to find some peace and calm and happiness. And I hope that y'all have wonderful 2020 fours and that you're healthy and happy. And thank you for joining us in our first year of Bizarre Random Moby Pod.

Lindsay (56:03):

Yeah, thanks everybody. And I'd also like to thank Jonathan Nesvadba for editing this podcast. And I would also like to thank our dear friends at Human Content for their love guidance and skills with many Z's that get this, uh, podcast out into the

Moby (56:24):

World and have a wonderful New Year's Eve. If you celebrate that sort of thing, I will be asleep by 9:00 PM because I'm old and that's when I go to bed. So we will see you in 2024. I guess that's everything. I think that's everything. Yeah. Happy New Year. I hope you Happy New Year. Enjoyed the meditation. And if you want to ridicule me for being a bald, vegan, old meditation teacher, by all means, if that makes you happy, ridicule away because

Lindsay (56:49):

He's not paying attention anyway.

Moby (56:51):

<laugh>.