Cool People, Cute Pets Feature
Meet Lodro Rinzler he is a meditation teacher and prolific author with seven books on meditation to his credit. He is also the co-founder of MNDFL meditation studios in New York City. Two of his books, “Walk Like a Buddha” and “The Buddha Walks into the Office“, won Independent Publisher Book Awards!
Lodro has taught meditation for over twenty years in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and travels frequently for his books, having spoken across the world at conferences, universities, and locations as diverse as Google, Harvard University and the Obama White House.
Named one of 50 Innovators Shaping the Future of Wellness by SONIMA, Rinzler’s work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Good Morning America, CBS, and NBC. We are so excited that he took the time to talk ago us about his fur family.
Q: Tell us a little about your pets, how did they come into your life?
A: Gosh. I’ve always had pets in my life since I was a small child. Right now my wife Adreanna and I have two dogs – Winnie and June – and two cats – Bieber and James.
We are severely outnumbered.
All of them came from local shelters over the last twelve years and get along relatively well.
Q: What is something your pets cannot live without?
A: Not to wax philosophical but I think our pets are like all other creatures, human and otherwise: they really need understanding and affection.
Part of that for our pets is the love language of quality time. The cats have moments in the evening when they know they can get us alone and take advantage of that. Winnie, our older dog, goes to work with Adreanna each day while June, our puppy, comes with me. Granted, we all work from home but they take their time in the office very seriously and will happily log the long hours as they feel very included. This has prompted me to launch a feature on my personal Instagram account detailing the work of June Rinzler Consulting LLC (she’s not very productive but she does look good doing it).
June Rinzler of June Rinzler consulting LLC is hard at work
Q: How do your pets affect your life on a day-to-day basis? What have they taught you about mindfulness?
A: The interesting thing about pets is that they demand your attention. Not unlike a small child, they will pop up and exhibit an urgent need, even if the need is to try and lick your face. Whenever we are presented with an opportunity like this we have a choice: we can move away from it and return to whatever seemingly important thing we were doing or we can shift our attention momentarily and be fully present with the interruption.
Often with us, the pets just want a moment of connection. To be fully present with them, even for 15 seconds, can be heart-opening for all parties concerned.
-Lodro rinzler
Q: Tips for first-time authors or business owners?
A: The Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche once said on the topic of meditation that it’s best not to start but if you do, you have to go all the way. The same can be said for taking on a new business or writing a book. If you are serious about it, be serious about it; history does not remember half-measures.
Q: How did you get started on your life’s work?
A: I was born and raised Buddhist and I began teaching meditation when I was still at university. So there wasn’t a lot of vacillation in, for example, me dabbling in accounting for a period of time.
That said, there was a moment that feels relevant to this question: back in 2015 I was at a crossroads with my work. I took a stack of 8 1/2 x 11 pieces of paper and in big print wrote out every miscellaneous gig I was working on. At that time I was writing for a woman’s magazine, some wellness sites, running a non-profit, considering starting MNDFL, a meditation studio in New York City, and more.
When I put all the paper up on a wall and sat with it, I noticed that there was an intention and throughline for much of the work: I taught meditation as a way to help people. Once I identified that key statement, I began taking down every piece of paper that did not align with that intention. Granted, that meant I was giving up some pretty steady sources of income and taking a leap of cobbling together meditation work full-time, but from that moment on I was clear about what work I wanted to do and which I would have to politely decline. The intention, some eight years later, remains the same.
Q: What would you tell people about starting out with mindfulness?
A: Work with a live human being to learn the ins and outs and have the support you need as you get going. There are a million apps out there – and some of them are great – but if you’re serious about launching a practice, having a live human to connect to really helps.
Otherwise, it’s a bit like trying to learn Spanish or violin from a YouTube channel; it’s effective to a point but without a human-to-human connection you may not even know what you’re missing or not getting right. Launching a meditation practice is not easy – it takes time – and having someone in your corner helping you out makes a world of difference.
*Kaylee here just want to pop in here and tell you I second this. I frequented Mndfl studio in NYC, did a work-study program at their facility, and took the teacher training at Mndfl which helped me learn and deepen my practice. Highly recommend following checking out Lodro and Adreanna different courses and offerings that they post about on their Instagrams frequently.
Q: How has mindfulness changed your life?
A: This is a hard one – I started meditating when I was six years old so I don’t feel like I had a life without it. I do know that it supports me in navigating my stressful life in a way where I am not often held by stress. This is a subtle thing: stressful things happen as part of life. Do we have to overthink them and lose sleep worrying about them? Not necessarily, thanks to meditation.
Most importantly it provides me the ability to be present long enough to experience simple pleasures, such as time with the animals.
Q: What drives and inspires you?
A: Helping people.
Q: Which of your current projects are you most excited about?
A: A few years back I brought most of my meditation teaching online and it’s allowed me to work with thousands of people from across the globe. We’ve built an incredible online community of people supporting one another in meditation and Buddhist study.
I know it’s something we mainly take for granted these days, but the ability to be in dialogue with people in Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, and elsewhere, practicing meditation together is sort of incredible.
Thank you so much Lodro, Winnie, Bieber, James, and LLC owner June for taking the time to talk with the Augie and Bone community. We look forward to seeing your continued work.