
Affectionately known as "America's #1 Success Coach," Jack Canfield is the originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and a leading authority in the areas of self-esteem, achievement motivation, and peak performance. [www.jackcanfield.com]

Arianna Huffington is the co-founder and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post and the author of twelve books. [www.huffingtonpost.com]

Seth Godin is a prominent author, blogger and speaker. [www.squidoo.com/linchpin]

Krishna Kaur is the founder of YOGA for Youth, a program that takes yoga, meditation, and stimulating discussions on the philosophy of yoga to urban youth. [www.yogaforyouth.org]

Norman Lear has enjoyed a long career in television and film. He is also a political and social activist and philanthropist. [www.normanlear.com]

Leilani Münter is a professional race car driver and an environmental activist who uses her voice in the number one spectator sport in America as a catalyst for change. [www.leilanimunter.com]

By going undercover to meet slaves and slaveholders, Kevin Bales exposed modern slavery's penetration into the global economy. He co-founded Free the Slaves, which has helped to liberate thousands of slaves. [www.freetheslaves.net]

Sophie Chiche, lifebyme.com founder and curator, enjoys asking deep questions and living a life of meaning. Today she's launching Shape House, an urban sweat lodge, a place to melt away fears and fat. [www.shapehousela.com]

Entrepreneur and writer Mastin Kipp founded TheDailyLove.com, which merges pop culture with inspiration, and co-founded The Love Yourself Company, an apparel company that has started a global self-esteem movement. [www.TheDailyLove.com]

Liz Phair is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. [www.lizphair.com]

Archbishop Desmond Tutu is Chairman of The Elders, a group of world leaders who address some of the world's most pressing problems. He works energetically for human-rights and in his ministry. [www.tutu.org]

Zainab Salbi is the founder and CEO of Women for Women International, a group dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. [www.womenforwomen.org]

Despite his physical challenges, Sean Stephenson has taken a stand for a quality of life that has inspired millions of people around the world. He's a professional speaker, psychotherapist, and author. [www.timetostand.com]

Kia Miller teaches Yoga at Yoga Works in Los Angeles, leads teacher trainings, and runs retreats and workshops on meditation, chakras, pranayam, and mantras, and other practices. [www.kiamiller.com]

Simon Mainwaring is an ex-Nike/Wieden creative, former Worldwide Creative Director at Motorola/Ogilvy, branding/advertising writer, author/speaker/blogger, Australian, idea geek. [www.simonmainwaring.com]

Shannon Bindler is a style editor, life coach, and the co-founder of Get Up Girl, an empowerment company that inspires women to shine. [www.getupgirl.com]

Grammy-nominated art director/designer/photographer Mathieu Bitton has designed over 450 CDs and movie posters. He's a renowned collector of and authority on black films and their soundtracks. [www.candytangerine.com]

Opus Reps founder and agent-producer Jorge Perez travels the world producing photo shoots with great photographers and celebrities. He's also very involved with Meals on Wheels in Los Angeles. www.opusreps.com
orgasm

My source of enjoyment is reality, being, spirituality, life. Of course, I enjoy a cup of coffee, too, and I enjoy teaching advanced relationship skills and extended orgasm techniques, but I find that my sense of enjoyment comes fundamentally from presence, from life itself, and is then funneled into other things. If there’s ever a blockage in that main line, all the things downstream don’t get fed.
I think I’ve known this intuitively my whole life, and I assume that everyone has had or does have an intuitive awareness of it, too. When I mention it in our teachings, people usually resonate with it.
During my difficult childhood, I certainly didn’t realize that I knew enjoyment comes fundamentally from presence, but had forgotten. I was lucky to have had a difficult childhood, because I ended up doing and exploring things like therapy, transformational courses, and Eastern religion. So I was re-reminded of what I’d forgotten, probably most palpably when living in a Zen monastery.
I was about 20 when I went to a monastery for a couple of weeks. The first day I was there, they woke me up at four in the morning. I sat in the meditation hall doing my best to meditate, but having a very difficult time. I was tired and literally falling asleep. We didn’t meditate for half an hour, but for about three hours! I was really suffering.
The next day, I went to see the head monk who manages the students. I told him about my experience and said I thought this wasn’t really for me. He asked me an interesting question: “Were you in the Zen meditation hall?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “Well, then everything you were doing was right.”
After that, I did a bunch of transformational courses in California. I started to focus on romantic relationships and sexuality and blend the two rather than keeping them separate. I was interested in women and I was interested in sex and life, but I was also interested in where all the enjoyment was coming from. I wanted to put it all together – selfishly at first, but then I wanted to offer what I learned to others.
The biggest differentiating factor in having a meaningful life is probably being lucky enough to come into contact with somebody who’s awake and aware. Then we’re much more likely to experience that for ourselves.
– Erwan Davon


Explore More Meaning
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shoeologist. meaning maven. ted x'ers.
Shannon Bindler describes her pal, Soph, as a bridge, connecting countless people. Sophie Chiche describes her pal, Shan-Shan, as the sunshine that enters the room. In December of 2012 they presented their TEDxMalibu talk. [Happy Parents of Children who Live Out Loud]
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