Speaker 1: Stay Calm as a production of I Heart Radio. Hi.
Speaker 1: I'm Bob Roth, and I've been teaching people to meditate
Speaker 1: for fifty years, helping them to stay calm under pressure,
Speaker 1: reboot and re energize their lives, and basically be a happier,
Speaker 1: healthier version of themselves. And now I want to help
Speaker 1: you do the same. Welcome to Stay Calm, your daily
Speaker 1: dose of calmness. Every weekday morning, I'll share a meditation story,
Speaker 1: offer a simple practical tip about how you or a
Speaker 1: loved one can stay a bit calmer in your life,
Speaker 1: and then we'll end each episode together with a moment
Speaker 1: of gratitude. My hope is that I can share what
Speaker 1: I know to anyone who needs it. Ready, sit comfortably,
Speaker 1: take a few deep breaths, and let's begin today's journey.
Speaker 1: It's tough being an adult these days, but it's so
Speaker 1: much tougher being a kid. Kids don't have the cognitive
Speaker 1: capacity to deal with such intense levels of stress and anxiety.
Speaker 1: If a child doesn't have a strong family or a
Speaker 1: community support system, very tough for that kid to survive.
Speaker 1: And even when they have that support system, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of problems. Got me thinking about a young man
Speaker 1: named Teddy. Teddy was twelve years old. I had taught
Speaker 1: his mom to meditate because she had serious anxiety issues
Speaker 1: and it helped her a lot, so she thought, well,
Speaker 1: maybe it will help my son. Teddy was diagnosed with
Speaker 1: something called twice exceptional. To e Teddy was exceptionally intelligent verbally.
Speaker 1: When he was ten years old, published a book and
Speaker 1: won a national poetry competition. But twice exceptional also means
Speaker 1: exceptionally anxious, depressed. A week or so before Joanna brought
Speaker 1: Teddy and for me to teach him to meditate, Teddy
Speaker 1: had sent a letter to his parents saying he didn't
Speaker 1: think there was any reason for him to live anymore,
Speaker 1: that nobody would miss him. One of the problems with
Speaker 1: twice exceptional kids is that there's an uneven brain development.
Speaker 1: One part of the brain for cognitive capacity hugely developed,
Speaker 1: and yet other areas of the brain slow development. And
Speaker 1: that's what breeds that insecurity, that self doubt. I taught
Speaker 1: Teddy to meditate, and he just took to it, and
Speaker 1: right from the beginning he meditated fifteen minutes in the
Speaker 1: morning and fifteen minutes in the afternoon regularly. Now, let's
Speaker 1: fast forward to today. Teddy sent me an email quote.
Speaker 1: Up until my first experience with transcendental meditation, the only
Speaker 1: rest I knew was sleep. Then I learned to meditate,
Speaker 1: and after a few minutes of closing my eyes and
Speaker 1: repeating my mantra, something that I thought was too simple
Speaker 1: to actually work, it hit me the sensation that has
Speaker 1: been dubbed transcending. It wasn't like falling asleep, but rather
Speaker 1: it was like waking up to a well of untapped
Speaker 1: strength and energy, only it didn't require any effort. Although
Speaker 1: the feeling is indescribable, the results I have experienced are
Speaker 1: very real. I'm not nearly as tired as before. I
Speaker 1: feel like I could tackle anything and emerge victorious. This
Speaker 1: isn't some pill or drug that wears off. It's a
Speaker 1: lifelong tool. The takeaway here is why did Teddy learn
Speaker 1: to meditate? Because his mother learned to meditate, and Teddy
Speaker 1: saw an example that his mother was taking time out
Speaker 1: of her busy schedule and taking care of herself, and
Speaker 1: Teddy saw her being calmer and happier. So my message
Speaker 1: to parents and grandparents is we have to practice what
Speaker 1: we preach if we want our children to be healthy, happy, successful,
Speaker 1: to not overreact to small things. We have to be
Speaker 1: a model of that. We have to be on a
Speaker 1: good routine, go to bed on time, eat well, manage
Speaker 1: our stress. We do all those things, is our child
Speaker 1: going to notice? Doesn't matter because your child is taking
Speaker 1: it in learning. And I can't tell you the number
Speaker 1: of times that young people, young adults have told me
Speaker 1: when they learned to meditate. You know, my mom or
Speaker 1: my dad or my parents meditated, and I really wasn't
Speaker 1: interested in it as a kid, but it put the
Speaker 1: thought in the back of my mind, and I'm really
Speaker 1: glad I learned. I'm going to leave you with a
Speaker 1: wonderful quote from the great doctor, humanitarian and Nobel Peace
Speaker 1: Prize winner Albert Schweitzer. At times are light goes out
Speaker 1: and is rekindled by a spark from another person, each
Speaker 1: of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of
Speaker 1: those who have lighted the flame within us. All right,
Speaker 1: let's end this time together doing something that I think
Speaker 1: would be a feature of our everyday life, and that's
Speaker 1: appreciation and gratitude. So let's take thirty seconds of quiet,
Speaker 1: thirty seconds to take a break, Just take a moment
Speaker 1: it turns out when we do that, it's good for
Speaker 1: our health as well. I'll be right back all right.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining. This is Bob Roth. Keep calm.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening today. I hope you heard something that inspires,
Speaker 1: that uplifts you and that you can incorporate into your
Speaker 1: own life. Until next time, remember, meditate, be kind, and
Speaker 1: be true to yourself. Hey, all of you out there,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your stories, your questions, or anything else on your mind.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at
Speaker 1: meditation Bob. You can also send me an email at
Speaker 1: meditation Bob Roth at gmail dot com. I look forward
Speaker 1: to hearing from you.