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The Tim Ferriss Show

#505: Elizabeth Lesser on Building Omega Institute, ADD (Authenticity Deficit Disorder), and Seeking The Emotion of Illumination

The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss: Bestselling Author, Human Guinea Pig

Tools Of Titans, Lifestyle Design, Business, Tim Ferriss, Timothy Ferriss Show, Startups, Longform Interviews, Productivity, The 4-hour Workweek, Timothy Ferriss, Tim Ferris, The Tim Ferriss Show, Entrepreneurship

4.6 • 17.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2021

⏱️ 106 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Elizabeth Lesser on Building Omega Institute, ADD (Authenticity Deficit Disorder), and Seeking The Emotion of Illumination | Brought to you by Tonal smart home gym, Laird Superfood clean, plant-based creamers, and Allform premium, modular furniture. More on all three below.

Elizabeth Lesser (@ElizabethLesser) is a bestselling author and the co-founder of Omega Institute, the renowned conference and retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. Elizabeth’s first book, The Seeker’s Guide, chronicles her years at Omega and distills lessons learned into a potent guide for growth and healing. Her New York Times bestselling book, Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow, has sold almost 500,000 copies and has been translated into 20 languages. Her third book, Marrowchronicles the journey Elizabeth and her younger sister went through when Elizabeth was the donor for her sister’s bone marrow transplant. Her newest book, Cassandra Speaks: When Women Are the Storytellers, the Human Story Changes, reveals how humanity has outgrown its origin tales and hero myths. Elizabeth has given two popular TED talks and is one of Oprah Winfrey’s Supersoul 100, a collection of a hundred leaders who are using their voices and talent to elevate humanity.

She co-founded Omega Institute in 1977 — a time when a variety of fresh ideas were sprouting in American culture. Since then, the Institute has been at the forefront of holistic education, offering workshops and conferences in integrative medicine, meditation and yoga, cross-cultural arts and creativity, ecumenical spirituality, and social change. Each year close to 30,000 people participate in Omega’s programs on its campus, and more than a million people visit its website for online learning.

Please enjoy!

This episode is brought to you by Laird SuperfoodFounded by big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton and volleyball champion Gabby Reece, Laird Superfood promises to deliver high-impact fuel to help you get through your busiest days. Laird Superfood offers a line of plant-based products designed to optimize your daily rituals from sunrise to sunset.

My two favorite products are their Turmeric Superfood Creamer and Unsweetened Superfood Creamer. I put one of them in practically everything. Both can really optimize your daily coffee or tea ritual, and a $10 bag will last you a long time. For a limited time, Laird Superfood is offering you guys 20% off your order when you use code TIM20 at checkout. Check out lairdsuperfood.com/Tim to see my favorite products and learn more.

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This episode is also brought to you by TonalTonal is the world’s most intelligent home gym and personal trainer. It is precision engineered and designed to be the world’s most advanced strength studio. Tonal uses breakthrough technology—like adaptive digital weights and A.I. learning—together with the best experts in resistance training so you get stronger, faster. Every program is personalized to your body using A.I., and smart features check your form in real time, just like a personal trainer.

Try Tonal, the world’s smartest home gym, for 30 days in your home, and if you don’t love it, you can return it for a full refund. Visit Tonal.com for $100 off their smart accessories when you use promo code TIM21 at checkout.

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This episode is also brought to you by AllformIf you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about Helix Sleep mattresses, which I’ve been using since 2017. They just launched a new company called Allform, and they’re making premium, customizable sofas and chairs shipped right to your door—at a fraction of the cost of traditional stores. You can pick your fabric (and they’re all spill, stain, and scratch resistant), the sofa color, the color of the legs, and the sofa size and shape to make sure it’s perfect for you and your home.

Allform arrives in just 3–7 days, and you can assemble it yourself in a few minutes—no tools needed. To find your perfect sofa, check out Allform.com/Tim. Allform is offering 20% off all orders to you, my dear listeners, at Allform.com/Tim.

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Past guests on The Tim Ferriss Show include Jerry Seinfeld, Hugh Jackman, Dr. Jane Goodall, LeBron James, Kevin Hart, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, Esther Perel, Elizabeth Gilbert, Terry Crews, Sia, Yuval Noah Harari, Malcolm Gladwell, Madeleine Albright, Cheryl Strayed, Jim Collins, Mary Karr, Maria Popova, Sam Harris, Michael Phelps, Bob Iger, Edward Norton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Strauss, Ken Burns, Maria Sharapova, Marc Andreessen, Neil Gaiman, Neil de Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid Hoffman, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Rick Rubin, Dr. Vivek Murthy, Darren Aronofsky, and many more.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

This episode is brought to you by Tonal, that's T-O-N-A-L. Tonal is the world's most intelligent home gym and personal trainer.

0:07.3

That's the tagline from their website, folks, so it gives you the one sentence summary.

0:11.3

By eliminating traditional metal weights, Tonal can deliver 200 pounds of resistance in a device smaller than a flat screen TV.

0:18.4

It mounts right on your wall with no floor space required.

0:21.6

I've had one for a few months now after a number of close friends recommended Tonal to me,

0:26.6

and it allows me to do things that I would normally need a huge gym for, like cable, chop and lift,

0:33.0

or rotational exercises, and it allows me to do other things that are nearly impossible otherwise,

0:38.8

like eccentric loading, which I'll talk about again later.

0:41.9

Tonal is precision engineered and designed to be the world's most advanced strength studio and personal trainer.

0:47.2

It uses breakthrough technology, like adaptive digital weights, and AI learning together with the best experts in resistance training,

0:54.1

so you can get stronger faster. One of my friends who used to be a competitive skier,

0:58.5

very high level competitive skier, has doubled his strength in many exercises over a period of months.

1:03.7

So what are these adaptive digital weights? Tonal's patented digital weight system makes thousands of calculations a second to deliver you a smooth weightlifting experience

1:12.4

using their advanced electronic motor technology.

1:15.2

And a lot of the buttons are built right into the handles themselves, into the grips.

1:19.6

So you don't need to move around, and it is extremely easy to use.

1:24.2

Tonal lets you adjust the weight in one pound increments, and you can do it on the fly,

1:28.2

something that was never possible with traditional dumbbells.

1:31.0

It's easy to dial weights up and down with just the touch of a button.

1:34.6

Tonal also has built in dynamic weight modes, like chains, eccentric, and their patent-pending smart flex technology.

1:41.4

So you can experiment with more ways to get stronger faster without the hassle of extra equipment like chains and bands.

1:47.2

The eccentric, which I mentioned, means that you can set a mode that allows you to say,

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