This week on Creativity, Spirituality & Making a Buck, Eve Lewis Prieto of Headspace joins David Nichtern for a conversation on merging ancient meditation techniques with modern technology.

Evelyn Lewis Prieto is a mindfulness and meditation teacher, and Director of Meditation at Headspace. She has studied under the guidance of Andy Puddicombe and David Nichtern. She is a graduate of the Dharma Moon Meditation Teacher Training program and is passionate about blending these ancient traditions with modern science. She has experienced first-hand the value these practices can have, even in the darkest of times, which is what inspired her to also train as an MBSR teacher. As Director of Meditation for Headspace, Eve is responsible for growing the community of teachers, building out the meditation curriculum, and is herself one of the teachers in the app.

From Anxiety to a Mindful Headspace

Welcoming mindfulness and meditation teacher, Eve Lewis Prieto, to the Creativity, Spirituality, and Making a Buck podcast, David invites her to share how her journey brought her to become Director of Meditation and teacher for Headspace – a cutting-edge mindfulness and meditation app. Offering some backstory, Eve shares how when she was working in advertising, she got into meditation to help alleviate her anxiety, stress, and acute suffering.

“Awareness and compassion is like the light of the sun and the warmth of the sun combined. They can be viewed as separate, but if you think about the light and clarity you get from the sun, it comes with a warmth, and that’s the compassion.” – Eve Lewis Prieto

Digital Mindfulness // Boundaries & Technology (15:15)

Speaking to the onslaught of news and trauma we take in through media, Eve and David discuss the pressing need of mindfulness and meditation to keep up with the cutting edge of digital technology. From here, David asks the question about Headspace and the nuances of meditating with your smartphone and Eve shares how we can set healthy boundaries with technology. David  shares his experience with contemporary Tibetan Buddhist Rinpoches and their relationship with the internet.

“When I’m using [Headspace] this is something that’s actually helping me. Most of the time I have this hate relationship with my phone—I don’t want to be on it, but when I’m using it for my practice it has a really useful purpose.” – Eve Lewis Prieto

Buddhism & Suffering // Motivation & Intention (33:33)

Digging into the truths of suffering, David offers Buddhist insight into how we can create a more harmonious situation in our lives, and invites Eve to share how she makes this reality possible through her ongoing work at Headspace. Bringing the episode home, they talk about motivation, intention, and how our personal practice impacts the world.

“The practices, techniques, and tools in Headspace are all rooted in that [Buddhist] lineage, which has been passed down over millennia. Our content is deeply woven with the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path—of course in a secular way.” – Eve Lewis Prieto