Cristina Galafate

Updated Sunday, February 4, 2024-00:50

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Under the influence of a

psychologist mother

,

Ludovic Dujardin

(Lille, France, March 2, 1976) was always interested in the world of well-being. Despite having studied engineering - a more analytical profession - and working in San Francisco in Silicon Valley, he decided to abandon everything upon his return to Europe, in the midst of an existential crisis as he approached 40. "My job, my wife, my children, my hobbies... I felt overwhelmed. It was difficult to manage all the facets of my life as I would like."

So he immersed himself in meditation, with the intention of being more present in his body. "She did me so much good that I said, 'Hey, why not help people practice it in a simpler, less mystical way?'" she recalls. Her new purpose in life was translated into the

famous mindfulness app

Petit

BamBou

, after starting with a simple Facebook group.

It is available in

191 countries and six languages

.

11 million people

use it

. "It's my company number seven," he emphasizes, showing off the North American influence of entrepreneurship, where you have to fail several times until you find the key, without that being a stigma or failure. Of course, he clarifies, if he had started with this

app

it would be the first and last. "At 25 I had quite distant concerns: success, making more money...".

In the end, he reveals smiling, creating a meaningful project is what has brought him closest to happiness. Only with time do we understand that "

trying to be happy all the time can make us unhappy

," she proclaims. That's why when he's not well, he embraces that feeling. "It will pass... like moments of joy. Accept all emotions, we tend to focus, above all, on the bad. We should feel happy for the mere fact of being alive," he cries, smiling.

MUSIC AND CHENS

The CEO of the 'app', holding a copy of the new practical meditation book with illustrations...EM

It is curious, since its image resembles the

app

icon that is a few years younger. "I asked a cartoonist friend to make me a relaxed monk, to make him

look happy

, and he named him Petit Bambou." The next day, in the kitchen, there was the charcoal sheet on the table and his six-year-old daughter named it. "I thought, if a girl could remember it,

it was a good name

," she shares. He has never worked for goals and has abandoned Excel spreadsheets. "I'm not worried about the numbers. If someone asked me about next year, I wouldn't even know what to say."

The only thing it aims to do is help people in a fast-paced and stressful world. "Growth is not an objective, it is the consequence of doing our job well." In fact, he is not the usual prototype of a company CEO. "I like to cultivate nature, I have honeycombs, and

I enjoy taking care of my chickens

, but also playing with my bands while I have a few beers with them," he confesses. He comments on it in plural because he has two. In one he plays the bass and in another the guitar. "It takes up a lot of my time because we really have high expectations: we record our first album in two weeks," he says humorously.

He also makes clay sculptures. When he was a university student, rugby was his passion, but he had to give it up because of the contact. "I've broken too many bones and I look older," he laughs. Now, he prefers tennis and

riding his bicycle

, his means of getting to work. "I have a special interest in taking care of the planet and it is my way of contributing, in addition to walking everywhere I can." He dedicates at least an hour and a half a day to it.

AVOID PLANES

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When Myriam, his right-hand woman in Spain, suggested he come to Madrid to present

his first meditation book

,

Medita con Petit Bambou

, with a very practical and pedagogical approach, he was reluctant because he had to get on a plane. He is the third one she has caught in 10 years. "We tried to find an alternative by train but it was 16 hours and there was no night time." A consistency that he also applies when lowering his own revolutions. "I like to meditate at midday: it's the time that best fits my life, and sometimes at night to sleep better." Although he recommends anyone else to others. "My first recommendation is to try it or you will never know what it is," she defends.

For Dujardin, the

great challenge of today's society

is to create spaces of calm. "We should be able to distance ourselves a little more from our cell phones. We try to fill our lives with screens, information, objects... Serenity

is recapturing that space

to empty it again. With my children it is a continuous struggle, and I try to educate them in having a less dependent relationship with the phone, but this

app

is an example that technology can be made good use of," he says.

He also finds the maps very useful, some of that good information. Still, he sees us capable of doing wonderful things without being connected. "Mobile phones can be very useful, but they can also destroy your life.

There are people who work with these algorithms to capture and trap our attention

and occupy everything inside us for money, but it is meaningless. We have to be able to return to our freedom free will, instead of being zombies on TikTok," says the entrepreneur.

BENEFITS OF PRACTICE

He believes that meditation makes you more creative. "Without specific goals, you will surprise yourself as you experience the practice. Each person is different, but I encourage you to try five to 10 minutes a day. And don't blame yourself if you don't achieve it, it's not about adding more things to a long list ". He himself has left him on vacation if he changed his routine. "Don't beat yourself up for not finding the time. You'll probably come back again." He thinks it is for everyone, except for those who suffer from a mental disorder such as schizophrenia, where he recommends consulting a psychiatrist. You don't have to believe in anything either. "Meditation comes from Buddhism and it is natural to consider it somewhat mystical, but what we know as

mindfulness

has

scientific validation

in the United States."

It will not prevent or eliminate anxiety, he clarifies, but it opens a way to deal with negative emotions. "It's a resource that can help. If you have a boss who stresses you out, even if you meditate, he will be there with the same attitude as him, but you can develop inner resources that help you manage the feelings he generates in you." Nowadays, she criticizes her, people try to avoid her and that makes us worse. "If stress is sending you a message, listen to it! With meditation you will be able to look at it in a different way." There is also no key position, although he likes to position himself on a cushion. "It's best if you're comfortable." At Petit Bambou, he describes, they work with

expert instructors

to achieve those slow-paced auditory stories. The best thing about your daily life is reading user testimonials. "For me it is a great pride to have created a company in which people do not suffer when they come to work, because suffering is present in many companies and there is no pressure here."

The least good thing, although it is difficult to find something, is

"the loneliness of the boss."

"After a decade, the work is so great and fulfills me so much that, sometimes, it is difficult for me to stop and it takes away a lot of my energy, it overwhelms me. But the team has grown and I distribute skills to have a balance."