Fredrik Eklund. I recently interviewed Fredrik Eklund, power broker and co-star of Bravo's Million Dollar Listing New York, for the Observer in advance of the release of the paperback version of Fredrik's book and the fifth season of the reality show (see the Observer story here). We covered his first real estate deal, stopping his nail-biting habit and which MDLNY co-star he likes better. We also talked about his meditation practice, but there wasn't enough room in the paper to include all of the questions. So, I'm sharing that part of the interview here (with Fredrik's permission). Enjoy!
You quit drinking Diet Coke. How did you do that?
I actually did have one. We were in Turks and Caicos two weekends ago. It was Saturday and I was by the swimming pool at the Aman Resort, if you've ever been there, it's heaven. I actually had a glass and the ice was crackling and the sun was shining.
You quit drinking Diet Coke. How did you do that?
I actually did have one. We were in Turks and Caicos two weekends ago. It was Saturday and I was by the swimming pool at the Aman Resort, if you've ever been there, it's heaven. I actually had a glass and the ice was crackling and the sun was shining.
That sounds like it was a special occasion. How much were you drinking at your high point?
I was like one can a day. It wasn't really anything crazy. [The ceasing of drinking] Diet Coke started when I started meditating, which I'm still trying to be better at. If you're in a meditative, healthy mindset, I would say, you're not drawn to soda.
You're a Vedic meditator, as am I.
I'm a beginner, I guess you could say, and I am realizing how much I have in front of me. At the same time, I feel like it's incredible what it can do to us if we just keep on doing it.
When did you learn to meditate?
In October 2014. [Théo Burkhard] came here to New York and we did one hour every night together, in our apartment, me, [husband] Derek [Kaplan] and Théo, for like four or five nights in a row. So then, Christmas that year, we were in Hawaii for holiday and there I had a breakthrough. Because there, by myself, you know you're in Hawaii and it's green paradise, I did meditate a lot. Like, a lot.
And what was the breakthrough?
Well that's very personal. It's just to me, it was that moment when I realized that this was just the tip of the iceberg and I just have a lot of very interesting work in front of me when it comes to myself.
And what about Derek, is he meditating?
Yeah. He does it too. We don't do it together and we don't do it in a specific program like in the morning. Sometimes when we're on holiday, we do it together. It's very nice. Well I come home and I say, "How's your day? Did you meditate?" And he's like "Yes... no." And we kind of like check in with one another.
Are you doing it twice daily as prescribed?
I don't. I don't. So it's a constant sort of struggle, feeling guilty, but you know, when I do do it and I do it several consecutive days in a row, there's a very big difference. [I] live in this sort of informational storm, hurricane I should say, in what I do for work--the thousands of emails and you know we have over 150 listings at every given time, which brings me to 150 sellers or developers at any given time. And then we have projects in the future that are not on our website yet. I often see my job as like keeping all these Excel files open in a program, does that make sense? They're constantly running the totals and the equations. Therefore, [it's great] to step away from, or beneath or above it, however you want to explain it in meditation, and just shut that off, dis-identify yourself from that, because you're not that. It's what you do, it's not you. That's very important for me. I see a very big change. People who know me before and after say that I am much calmer. And I'm actually more present, maybe? I can sit here and hopefully have a conversation with you.
You seem different to me.
Oh good. You should write that.
I was like one can a day. It wasn't really anything crazy. [The ceasing of drinking] Diet Coke started when I started meditating, which I'm still trying to be better at. If you're in a meditative, healthy mindset, I would say, you're not drawn to soda.
You're a Vedic meditator, as am I.
I'm a beginner, I guess you could say, and I am realizing how much I have in front of me. At the same time, I feel like it's incredible what it can do to us if we just keep on doing it.
When did you learn to meditate?
In October 2014. [Théo Burkhard] came here to New York and we did one hour every night together, in our apartment, me, [husband] Derek [Kaplan] and Théo, for like four or five nights in a row. So then, Christmas that year, we were in Hawaii for holiday and there I had a breakthrough. Because there, by myself, you know you're in Hawaii and it's green paradise, I did meditate a lot. Like, a lot.
And what was the breakthrough?
Well that's very personal. It's just to me, it was that moment when I realized that this was just the tip of the iceberg and I just have a lot of very interesting work in front of me when it comes to myself.
And what about Derek, is he meditating?
Yeah. He does it too. We don't do it together and we don't do it in a specific program like in the morning. Sometimes when we're on holiday, we do it together. It's very nice. Well I come home and I say, "How's your day? Did you meditate?" And he's like "Yes... no." And we kind of like check in with one another.
Are you doing it twice daily as prescribed?
I don't. I don't. So it's a constant sort of struggle, feeling guilty, but you know, when I do do it and I do it several consecutive days in a row, there's a very big difference. [I] live in this sort of informational storm, hurricane I should say, in what I do for work--the thousands of emails and you know we have over 150 listings at every given time, which brings me to 150 sellers or developers at any given time. And then we have projects in the future that are not on our website yet. I often see my job as like keeping all these Excel files open in a program, does that make sense? They're constantly running the totals and the equations. Therefore, [it's great] to step away from, or beneath or above it, however you want to explain it in meditation, and just shut that off, dis-identify yourself from that, because you're not that. It's what you do, it's not you. That's very important for me. I see a very big change. People who know me before and after say that I am much calmer. And I'm actually more present, maybe? I can sit here and hopefully have a conversation with you.
You seem different to me.
Oh good. You should write that.
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