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. Sometimes when we feel particularly overwhelmed,
Speaker 1: told in a million different directions, unsure about our uncertain future,
Speaker 1: and our type a logical problem solving mind seems to
Speaker 1: be more than a bit foggy. Well, sometimes the best
Speaker 1: thing we can do to fix things is to do nothing,
Speaker 1: even just for a few minutes. And as you know,
Speaker 1: I regularly talk about the research that backs up the
Speaker 1: very real benefits to our brain, our mind, and our
Speaker 1: body from taking a break from the constant pushing, pushing,
Speaker 1: pushing of life. Today, I want to set aside the
Speaker 1: science and instead I want to ask you if you
Speaker 1: can to stop what you're doing for just a few
Speaker 1: minutes and sit back and listen to some really beautiful
Speaker 1: thoughts from some really wise poets and other thinkers, both
Speaker 1: modern and ancient. Their words give voice to the need
Speaker 1: to get away from it all and just be still.
Speaker 1: These next five minutes will be our upside for taking
Speaker 1: this downtime. The great author and essayist Pico Iyer, in
Speaker 1: his book The Art of Stillness, says it best. In
Speaker 1: an age of speed, I began to think nothing could
Speaker 1: be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction,
Speaker 1: nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention, And in
Speaker 1: an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than
Speaker 1: sitting still. Loud Sue, the great ancient Chinese philosopher and writer, said,
Speaker 1: to the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.
Speaker 1: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart said, the music is not in the notes,
Speaker 1: but in the silence between. And if we needed any
Speaker 1: additional convincing, Isaiah commands be still and know that I
Speaker 1: am God. But what do we do? What kind of
Speaker 1: break can we take when nothing seems to be going
Speaker 1: right for us, when the winds do not seem to
Speaker 1: be in our favor, when we seem to be fighting
Speaker 1: an uphill battle. Listen to the advice of John O'Donohue,
Speaker 1: Catholic priest, poet and visionary. This is the time to
Speaker 1: be slow, lie low to the wall until the bitter
Speaker 1: weather passes. Try as best you can not to let
Speaker 1: the wire brush of doubt scrape from your heart all
Speaker 1: sense of yourself and your hesitant light. If you remain generous,
Speaker 1: time will come good, and you will find your feet
Speaker 1: again on fresh pastures of promise, where the air will
Speaker 1: be kind and blushed. With beginning, Wendell Berry and his
Speaker 1: famous poem The Peace of Wild Things writes, when despair
Speaker 1: for the world grows in me, and I wakened the
Speaker 1: night at the least sound and fear of what my
Speaker 1: life and my children's lives, maybe I go and I
Speaker 1: lie down with the wood drake rests in his beauty
Speaker 1: on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come
Speaker 1: into the peace of wild things who do not tax
Speaker 1: their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the
Speaker 1: press sense of still water, and I feel above me
Speaker 1: the day blind stars waiting with their light. For a time,
Speaker 1: I rest in the grace of the world and am free.
Speaker 1: And this from the great German philosopher, playwright and author
Speaker 1: Gerta who seeks transcendence, how yearns the solitary soul to
Speaker 1: melt into the boundless hole and find itself again in peace.
Speaker 1: The blind desire, the impatient will, the restless thoughts and
Speaker 1: plans are still we yield ourselves and waken bliss. And Finally,
Speaker 1: no matter how challenging these times may be for us,
Speaker 1: or how dark the night, nothing lasts forever. As Khalil
Speaker 1: Gabron writes in the Prophet, at the heart of every
Speaker 1: winter there is a quivering spring, and behind the veil
Speaker 1: of each night there is a smiling dawn. All right,
Speaker 1: let's end this time together doing something that I think
Speaker 1: should 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 me today. I hope you heard
Speaker 1: something that inspires that uplifts you and that you can
Speaker 1: incorporate into your own life. This is Bob Roth. Stay calm, Hey,
Speaker 1: all of you out there, I'd love to hear from
Speaker 1: you You can send me your stories, your questions, or
Speaker 1: anything 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