rocket50 Member Stories featuring Molly Davis

For this edition of the rocket50 Member Stories, we are pleased to highlight rocket50 member, Molly Davis.  

We caught up with Molly, the founder of Rainmaker, a boutique Silicon Valley marketing and communications firm. 

What is your age, and what do you like most about your age?

60, I have more wisdom, compassion, and a greater sense of what really matters.

What did you learn about yourself now that you didn't realize when you were younger?

I have a deeper appreciation for how different we all are. What drives us. What we long for. The struggles we’ve faced. How we experience the world. These forces differ a lot more than I ever realized within each of us.

Did transitioning into your 50s change your perspective on your work life? How?

I focus less on financial returns and more on finding professional experiences that satisfy me creatively or that support issues that I care about. I also prioritize the chance to collaborate with people I really enjoy and feel inspired by.

After your experience working with some of the biggest tech corporates of our time, what made you feel it’s time to write a new chapter and become a Yogi?

Yoga has sustained me for many years. It’s only recently that I decided to become a certified Kundalini yoga teacher. I don’t plan to teach. The motivation was to deepen my practice and better understand what I was experiencing.  

My work with technology companies continues through my company, Rainmaker. I still love working with innovators and thought leaders, whether they are with a tech giant or a fledgling startup. And I do believe my yoga practice helps set the stage for more creativity, insights, and ideas.

What are you most looking forward to in the next five years? What are you still looking to accomplish?

I’d like to produce another documentary film. I executive produced Something Ventured, a feature documentary about the original venture capitalists in Silicon Valley which premiered at South by Southwest and streamed on all the major platforms. I loved the experience of working with artistic people to tell a great story. It was also incredible to participate in 130 hours of interviews with industry giants like Gordon Moore (founder of Intel), Mike Markkula (original investor in Apple), Sandy Lerner (co-founder of Cisco), and others. Listening to these pioneers was a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity.

Share 2-3 tips (from a Yogi’s perspective) to stay calm in the EOY rush.

Sure, here are three ideas – from the easiest to the most ambitious.

Balance the mind and relieve stress with alternate nostril breathing

This is a simple breath technique you can do for 3-31 minutes to lower your heart rate and improve brain function. It’s easy to learn and you can do it anywhere without anyone noticing.

Instructions:

• Sit cross-legged on the floor (or in a chair if you prefer)
• Use your right thumb to close the right nostril
• Inhale through the left nostril, completely filling your lungs
• Switch your hand position to block the left nostril with your right pinky or ring finger
• Exhale through the right nostril
• Stay there and inhale through the right nostril
• Switch, blocking the right nostril with your thumb again
• Exhale through the left nostril
• Inhale through the left nostril
• Continue, switching sides after every inhale

Reset your nervous system with Stretch Pose

This challenging one-minute yoga pose is known for its calming and rejuvenating effect. It’s a pose that many dread, but no one disputes how great it feels once you are done.

 Instructions:

• Lie on your back
• Raise your head and your heels 6 inches off the ground
• Place your arms above your thighs with the palms facing down (not touching the legs)—or if that is too challenging, place your hands down under your sacrum
• Begin Breath of Fire
  • To learn Breath of Fire: Start by panting audibly with your tongue out. Once you have a rhythm, close your mouth and take the same breath through the nose
  • You will feel a pulsing sensation at the belly
• Continue the pose for 60 seconds
• At any point, you can rest one foot on the ground or place a hand behind your neck to get you to the finish line
• Rest and enjoy

Commit to a 40-day meditation practice

Throughout the centuries, yogis have encouraged 40-day meditations to cultivate discipline. It’s amazing how different an experience can vary over the course of those 40 days. For your meditation, you can opt to sit quietly in a traditional silent meditation. Or you can try a moving or chanting meditation. There are meditations supporting all kinds of goals at www.3ho.org.

Perhaps the most well-known is Kirtan Kriya. This 11-minute meditation has been much studied and is said not only to relieve stress but to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. If you want to do it with music, which I recommend, you can find a beautiful track for it here.

Love reading rocket50 Member Stories? Check out more below:
Purvi Shah
Sabrina Sourjah
Nancy Paris
Molly Davis
Stephen Strauss