Speaker 1: Stay Calm is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome
Speaker 1: to Stay Calm, your daily dose of calmness. I'm Bob Roth,
Speaker 1: and I've been teaching people to meditate for fifty years,
Speaker 1: helping them to stay calm under pressure, reboot and re
Speaker 1: energize their lives, and basically be a happier, healthier version
Speaker 1: of themselves. And now I want to help you do
Speaker 1: the same. Ready, sit comfortably, take a few deep breaths,
Speaker 1: and let's begin today's journey. Feeling lonely, You're not alone.
Speaker 1: These can be very tough times. So many of us
Speaker 1: love connecting with people. We thrive on human connection. Before
Speaker 1: the coronavirus pandemic, we go out, go to restaurants, stores,
Speaker 1: or favorite corner coffee shop, our favorite bakery. We'd see
Speaker 1: people we love, people who love us. Gave us a
Speaker 1: power of connection. The longing meaning now not so much.
Speaker 1: Mother Teresa once said that people feel more pain from
Speaker 1: loneliness than they do from hunger. Actually, we're in the
Speaker 1: midst of a major loneliness epidemic. Before coronavirus. A study
Speaker 1: in eighteen by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that sixty
Speaker 1: million Americans said that they are often are always lonely
Speaker 1: or felt socially isolated, and of people older than the
Speaker 1: age of sixty felt lonely. We don't like to be alone.
Speaker 1: We're social creatures, so what can we do well? Many
Speaker 1: sociologists say the problem is we put too much value
Speaker 1: on individualism, too much value on material success for our
Speaker 1: self worth, that we undervalue relationships. They say we need
Speaker 1: to reprioritize and put people at the top of everything,
Speaker 1: and the way we run our businesses, educate our young.
Speaker 1: He'll are sick. That's fortunately, there's stuff we can do
Speaker 1: right now. According to the former U s Surgeon General
Speaker 1: Viveck Morty, it's all about connection. He says, quote, building
Speaker 1: a more connected life is ultimately grounded in the small
Speaker 1: things we do. It doesn't require a wholesale and version
Speaker 1: of our life. There are small steps we can take
Speaker 1: so we find much deeper connection and fulfillment. One of
Speaker 1: the greatest gifts we can give to ourselves is to
Speaker 1: give to other people, and that is the gift of
Speaker 1: our full attention. We're used to thinking that the way
Speaker 1: to deal with the problem is to voice and enact
Speaker 1: a solution, but there's also great healing to be found
Speaker 1: in just listening deeply to someone and it's one of
Speaker 1: the most powerful things we can ever do. Another thing
Speaker 1: we can do, he says, is calling a friend to
Speaker 1: see how they're doing, checking on a neighbor who might
Speaker 1: be older to make sure that they have groceries, face
Speaker 1: timing with your grandchildren for ten or fifteen minutes so
Speaker 1: that their parents have time to sit and breathe. But
Speaker 1: we also know there are times when we are alone
Speaker 1: that we don't feel lost and lonely, but instead we
Speaker 1: feel inspired, energized, empowered. The deepest connection is to connect
Speaker 1: with yourself during meditation. No one can take that away
Speaker 1: from you. It's safe, peaceful, sublime, restorative, loyal, and it's
Speaker 1: deep within you at all times. You just need to
Speaker 1: take the time to make the connection. My health tip
Speaker 1: of the day, whether or not you feel lonely, you
Speaker 1: may know someone who does. Call them. That's it today.
Speaker 1: Now call or zoom a family member or friend, someone
Speaker 1: you're thinking about, someone you may be a little concerned about,
Speaker 1: or maybe just someone who makes you happy. You can
Speaker 1: make a difference and you'll feel a whole lot better.
Speaker 1: And regarding making a difference, I want to end with
Speaker 1: this story as told by Lauren Easley, who was an
Speaker 1: American anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer. I love
Speaker 1: this story, Easley wrote. One day a man was walking
Speaker 1: along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something
Speaker 1: up and gently throwing it into the ocean. Approaching the boy,
Speaker 1: he asked, what are you doing. The youth replied, throwing
Speaker 1: starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and
Speaker 1: the tide is going out. If I don't throw them back,
Speaker 1: they'll die. Son, The man said, don't you realize that
Speaker 1: there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish.
Speaker 1: You can't make a difference. After listening politely, the boy
Speaker 1: bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it back
Speaker 1: into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said,
Speaker 1: I made a difference for that one. All right. Thank
Speaker 1: you for joining me today. I hope you heard something
Speaker 1: that inspires that uplifts you and that you can incorporate
Speaker 1: into your own life. This is Bob Roth. Stay calm, hey,
Speaker 1: all of you out there, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your stories, your questions, or anything
Speaker 1: else on your mind. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: or Instagram at meditation Bob. You can also send me
Speaker 1: an email at meditation Bob Roth at gmail dot com.
Speaker 1: I look forward to hearing from you.