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: I want to talk today about kids, about our kids,
Speaker 1: our grandchildren, about the stress as they're under and about
Speaker 1: how this whole idea of this podcast of how to
Speaker 1: Stay Calm, it's not just some sort of hippie dippy
Speaker 1: sort of thing and oh I'm going to stay calm
Speaker 1: when things are tough, but this is actually a requirement
Speaker 1: and necessity I think to navigate today and the future,
Speaker 1: particularly for our children. So when we talk about calm,
Speaker 1: I'm not just talking about Oh, I'm just take a
Speaker 1: few breaths and now I feel relaxed and chilled for
Speaker 1: thirty seconds before I get cut off in traffic. We
Speaker 1: talk about accessing a level of calm deep within all
Speaker 1: of us that can actually transform our lives. So I
Speaker 1: run a foundation, the David Lynch Foundation, that brings transcendental meditation,
Speaker 1: which is a simple meditation technique to inter city school kids.
Speaker 1: We've taught about a million kids to meditate all over
Speaker 1: the world, but this one particular school, and it's about
Speaker 1: ten years ago, and I have never forgotten this experience.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm sharing it with you. The school begins
Speaker 1: and ends each day with ten minutes of quiet, and
Speaker 1: the kids have a choice. They can either met tape,
Speaker 1: they could sit quietly and read. They could even take
Speaker 1: a nap. And in this one school, they had a
Speaker 1: rule because they wanted to teach the kid's discipline, that
Speaker 1: the kids had to be seated in their chair at
Speaker 1: t when the bell rang. If they were late, then
Speaker 1: they would have to meditate out in the hallway. And
Speaker 1: the kids like to be together, so I've got a
Speaker 1: phone call his teacher. I'll call him Mr Woodson, And
Speaker 1: he called me up. He was quite moved, and he
Speaker 1: said he wanted to tell me the story about this
Speaker 1: little girl named Charlene. They had started the meditation at
Speaker 1: at about Charlene comes rushing in the door loud, plunks
Speaker 1: herself down on a chair, drops her books on the floor,
Speaker 1: and starts to meditate. So Mr. Woodson was sort of torn.
Speaker 1: Does he just let her go for it or should
Speaker 1: he raise the point? And he decided to make a
Speaker 1: point of it, so he whispered that she was going
Speaker 1: to have to step outside because she was late. She
Speaker 1: stood up and Mr. Woodson noticed that Charlene had read
Speaker 1: paint splattered all over the left side of her sweatshirt.
Speaker 1: So they stepped outside and Mr. Woodson said to Charlene,
Speaker 1: and you're also going to have to call your mother
Speaker 1: because she's going to have to bring some clean clothes.
Speaker 1: So Charlene starts to cry. And here's the story. It
Speaker 1: wasn't red paint. Charlene had been standing next to her
Speaker 1: uncle at a bus stop waiting to come to school.
Speaker 1: There was a drive by shooting, and that was her
Speaker 1: uncle's blood Charlene ran, you know where she wanted to
Speaker 1: run to school. She wanted to meditate with the kids.
Speaker 1: Isn't that interesting The schools which have become breeding grounds
Speaker 1: of violence and bullying, with quiet time become a safe haven.
Speaker 1: I tell you that story because we're in danger of
Speaker 1: losing a generation. I believe it. Number two cause of
Speaker 1: death among teenagers today is suicide. The reality is it's
Speaker 1: a stressful world, but we don't have to be victims.
Speaker 1: Our own children and grand children are anxious such pressure
Speaker 1: for schools, social media, and they can't process it, not
Speaker 1: developed enough. Every day, I'm going to offer a tip
Speaker 1: that we can do to contribute towards a substantial calm,
Speaker 1: a transformative calm, an inner peace that can help us
Speaker 1: navigate our lives. One of the first things I want
Speaker 1: to talk about is something as universal as sleep. One
Speaker 1: third of the population has issues with sleep, sleep, insomnia,
Speaker 1: and children now getting worse. So here's one little tip
Speaker 1: that you can give for yourself and your child. And
Speaker 1: it seems simplistic. We want our bedroom to be cooler.
Speaker 1: When our room is hot, we don't sleep as well.
Speaker 1: Why because our biological rhythm are circadian rhythm. The body
Speaker 1: as we near sleep, starts to cool down, is preparing
Speaker 1: to go to sleep. If the room is warm, we're restless.
Speaker 1: It disrupts that circadian rhythm. So temperature should be between
Speaker 1: sixty and seventy degrees in your bedroom. You can do
Speaker 1: that with a fan, a quiet fan, air conditioner. If
Speaker 1: it's safe, windows open, light, covers simple. The bedroom should
Speaker 1: be like the cool dark cave. All right, let's end
Speaker 1: this time together doing something that I think should be
Speaker 1: a feature of our everyday life, and that's appreciation and gratitude.
Speaker 1: So let's take thirty seconds of quiet, thirty seconds to
Speaker 1: take a break, just take a moment. It turns out
Speaker 1: when we do that, it's good for our health as well.
Speaker 1: I'll be right back, all right. Thank you for joining.
Speaker 1: This is Bob Roth. Keep calm, Thanks for listening today.
Speaker 1: I hope you heard something that inspires, that uplifts you
Speaker 1: and that you can incorporate into your own life. Until
Speaker 1: next time, remember, meditate, be kind, and be true to yourself. 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.