Ins and Outs of Meditation

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Neal Baer has plenty of reasons to take a break and engage in some deep, balanced breathing.

The 55-year-old physician and Hollywood showrunner splits time between producing TV shows and a multitude of other pursuits, such as guest lecturing at universities, overseeing a tech incubator and practicing medicine.

His first big gig in the entertainment business was writing for “ER” while attending Harvard Medical School in the 1990s.

He’s currently executive producer of “Under the Dome,” an adaptation of a 2009 Stephen King novel about a small town that exists in an enclosure. The series began shooting in recent weeks and will air on CBS.

Even when faced with nerve-racking situations on set, Baer said he’s found a new way to balance his chakras. He recently decided to take up meditation, at the recommendation of his wife, Gerrie Smith.

The Westside resident now starts each day with about a half-hour of meditation and also frequents a weekly class in Los Feliz focused on breathing and other new-age techniques.

On the phone from Wilmington, N.C., where “Under the Dome” is shooting, Baer said he’s finding plenty of chances to put his new skills into practice on and off the set.

“You kind of learn to not be so reactive to all the crises,” he said. “There are a lot of times to take three breaths.”

Father’s Footsteps

More than a decade ago, Craig Stevens asked his son a common question: What would you like to be when you grow up?

Without hesitation, the boy, Tyler, replied, “I’d like to go into business with you, Dad.”

So Stevens, a senior vice president at real estate brokerage Colliers International’s downtown L.A. office, with a self-reported puffed-out chest, said he reflected on what a great impression he must be making on his son.

“So I asked him why. And he said, ‘Dad, you don’t seem to work that hard and make a lot of money,’” Stevens, 68, said with a laugh.

While many kids would have moved on to a new dream over the years, Tyler has followed through and joined his father’s real estate team two years ago. But the job isn’t what he thought it was as a kid.

“I wasn’t really aware of just how much work it is,” Tyler, 26, said. “You never leave your work at the office.”

Today, the two said their family relationship has benefited their work.

“We are able to say things to each other that might go beyond a normal business relationship,” Tyler said. “But we don’t let our work-and-family relationship get in the way of anything.”

Staff reporters Jonathan Polakoff and Jacquelyn Ryan contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Editor Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

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