WEBVTT - Meditation Heals Trauma

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<v Speaker 1>Stay Calm is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome to Stay Calm,

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<v Speaker 1>your daily dose of calmness. I'm Bob Roth, and I've

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<v Speaker 1>been teaching people to meditate for fifty years, helping them

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<v Speaker 1>to stay calm under pressure, reboot and re energize their lives,

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<v Speaker 1>and basically be a happier, healthier version of themselves. And

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<v Speaker 1>now I want to help you do the same. Ready,

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<v Speaker 1>sit comfortably, take a few deep breaths, and let's begin

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<v Speaker 1>today's journey. I want to tell you a story about

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<v Speaker 1>a middle school student, I'll call him Joey, who learned

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<v Speaker 1>to meditate as part of a stress reducing quiet time

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<v Speaker 1>program that we offer for free to students and teachers

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<v Speaker 1>in tough urban schools. Joey came from a broken home

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<v Speaker 1>and had a well established reputation as the school bully.

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<v Speaker 1>But when he heard he could learn transcendental meditation and

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<v Speaker 1>practice it as part of his regular school day, he

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<v Speaker 1>got genuinely intrigued. He said he wanted to give it

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<v Speaker 1>a try. After a week or so of meditating, his

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<v Speaker 1>teacher asked him how the practice was going. Joey thought

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<v Speaker 1>for a moment, smiled just a bit, and said, I

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<v Speaker 1>used to walk down the hall and if someone bumped

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<v Speaker 1>into me, I get so angry. I just hit him. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>since I'm doing the meditation, when I walk down the

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<v Speaker 1>hall and someone bumps into me, I stop and I

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<v Speaker 1>think to myself, do I want to hit him? As

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<v Speaker 1>funny and as perhaps inconsequential as that story may sound,

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<v Speaker 1>it is in fact extremely significant. Why Because no one

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<v Speaker 1>told Joey during his meditation course that hitting someone was

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<v Speaker 1>bad and that he shouldn't do it. No one told

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<v Speaker 1>him how to behave But that pause that Joey experienced,

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<v Speaker 1>that momentary, split second pause between being hit and hitting back,

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<v Speaker 1>can be the difference between a non event that passes

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<v Speaker 1>unnoticed in the course of a school day, or something

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<v Speaker 1>that triggers a violent outburst that can escalate into who

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<v Speaker 1>knows what damage. How many men and women are in

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<v Speaker 1>prison today because they didn't have that split second pause

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<v Speaker 1>before blind rage took over. What caused that pause in

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<v Speaker 1>Joey's behavior, His brain did. Research shows that meditation helped

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<v Speaker 1>to calm his brain helped to heal the trauma. There

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<v Speaker 1>are two key parts of your brain that dictate so

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<v Speaker 1>much of what we experience in the course of a day.

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<v Speaker 1>The first is called the amygdala. This is two small

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<v Speaker 1>almond shaped clusters of brain cells that sit towards the

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<v Speaker 1>base of the brain. They process strong emotions like fear

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<v Speaker 1>and pleasure. When you feel threatened and afraid, the amigdala

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<v Speaker 1>kicks in instantaneously, activating what scientists call the fight or

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<v Speaker 1>flight response. Signals are sent to other parts of your

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<v Speaker 1>brain to release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline and

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<v Speaker 1>prepare your body literally for battle or else to run

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<v Speaker 1>for your life. The second key player is the prefrontal

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<v Speaker 1>cortex of your brain. This is about the size of

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<v Speaker 1>a clenched fist and is located right behind your forehead.

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<v Speaker 1>This part of the brain runs decision making, planning, judgment,

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<v Speaker 1>ethical thinking, even your sense of self. This is your

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<v Speaker 1>rational filter against impulsive decisions. I like to call this

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<v Speaker 1>the grown up part of your brain that's in use

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<v Speaker 1>when you're not flying off the handle at the slightest

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<v Speaker 1>provocation under ordinary conditions, which means unless you're being chased

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<v Speaker 1>by a lion or under attack in a combat zone,

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<v Speaker 1>the amigala should take a back seat to pretty much

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<v Speaker 1>everything in your life, and the prefrontal cortex should run

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<v Speaker 1>the show, except these days, that's not the case really

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<v Speaker 1>for most of us. Why because stress, the daily, irritating,

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<v Speaker 1>aggravating stresses of life, can take your prefrontal cortex offline.

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<v Speaker 1>Think about it. Does a stressed person make good decisions,

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<v Speaker 1>have good judgment, plan well, have a good sense of self.

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<v Speaker 1>When that kid would bump into Joey in the days

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<v Speaker 1>before he started meditating, Joey's amigla would light up like

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<v Speaker 1>fireworks and activate the fight or flight response. But Joey's

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<v Speaker 1>ten or fifteen minutes of meditation at the beginning of

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<v Speaker 1>the school day had a spillover effect. It kept his

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<v Speaker 1>prefinneal cortex is grown up part of the brain, connected

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<v Speaker 1>and online. He was able to pause, even for a moment,

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<v Speaker 1>to make a rational decision whether or not to hit

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<v Speaker 1>the guy back. So here's my health tip of the day.

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<v Speaker 1>Breathe when things get intense. Doctors say that's the moment

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<v Speaker 1>to remember to breathe in slowly and evenly through your

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<v Speaker 1>nose to fill up your lungs and bring the air

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<v Speaker 1>up into your brain and into your head. Then hold

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<v Speaker 1>it for a second and then let all the air

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<v Speaker 1>out slowly through your lips, and then hold that for

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<v Speaker 1>a second, in and out, in and out, do that

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<v Speaker 1>a few times. When you breathe them through your nose

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<v Speaker 1>rather than anxiously gulping air through your mouth, you are

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<v Speaker 1>bringing oxygen up into your brain and that will help

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<v Speaker 1>calm your amignalant for a moment, and that calm can

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<v Speaker 1>help give your prefrontal cortex the split second it needs

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<v Speaker 1>to take back control of the moment and maybe even

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<v Speaker 1>your life. All right, let's end this time together doing

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<v Speaker 1>something that I think should be a feature of our

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<v Speaker 1>everyday life, and that's appreciation and gratitude. So let's take

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<v Speaker 1>thirty seconds of quiet, thirty seconds to take a break,

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<v Speaker 1>just take a moment. It turns out when we do that,

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<v Speaker 1>it's good for our health as well. I'll be right back,

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<v Speaker 1>all right. Thank you for joining me today. I hope

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<v Speaker 1>you heard something that inspires, that uplifts you and that

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<v Speaker 1>you can incorporate into your own life. This is Bob Roth.

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<v Speaker 1>Stay calm, hey, all of you out there, I'd love

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<v Speaker 1>to hear from you. You can send me your stories,

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<v Speaker 1>your questions, or anything else on your mind. Just connect

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<v Speaker 1>with me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at meditation Bob.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also send me an email at meditationbobrothat gmail

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. I look forward to hearing from you, oh,