Emily Fletcher believes slowing down twice a day could actually help you get more done.
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She is convinced that "stress makes us stupid," and the practice of twice daily meditation can improve our lives - even our love lives.
On Valentine's Day, I found her spreading the word on the Lower East Side.
She got started early with a Daybreaker at Public Arts in Public Hotel. Loud music and energetic dancing gave way to quiet contemplation, courtesy of a woman who can calm down any crowd.
"It's about stressing less, so we can accomplish what we were put on this planet to accomplish," she said.
Watch Emily for a few minutes, and you'll want what she has -- an inner calm that comes from her practice.
"Meditation is giving your body rest that is five times deeper than sleep, so it's like taking a supercharged power nap but without the sleep hangover," she said. "So on the other side, you have more energy, more creativity."
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Her technique, which she calls Ziva Meditation, makes many aspects of our daily life better, which is why her new book is titled "Stress Less, Accomplish More."
"I wrote this book very much for the skeptical, for the pragmatist, for a mainstream audience that doesn't necessarily want to be a meditator," she said. "They just want a tool to help them perform at the top of their game."
Fletcher is a former Broadway actress who found her dream job was just too stressful.
"My dream turned into a nightmare," she said.
Her second act began when another actress suggested meditation.
"It cured my insomnia on the first day," she said. "I stopped going gray. I didn't get sick for eight and a half years, and I thought, why does everyone not do this?"
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Today, she uses her natural sparkle and her training as a performer to inspire others -- 15,000 students so far -- and now, many more, thanks to her book.
"The harsh reality is stress is making us stupid, sick, and slow," she said. "And when we meditate, we have this tool that allows us to get rid of this stress. And so I think, why are we suffering unnecessarily?"
When we first introduced you to Emily Fletcher a year and a half ago, I was one of those skeptics she talked about. But I decided to pay to take her class, and I found Ziva Meditation made my life better. It certainly has made me more productive.
In short, it worked splendidly for me.
For more information, visit ZivaMeditation.com
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