WEBVTT - Eliminating Stress

0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:06.760
<v Speaker 1>Stay Calm as a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome

0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:11.920
<v Speaker 1>to Stay Calm, your daily dose of calmness. I'm Bob Roth,

0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:14.520
<v Speaker 1>and I've been teaching people to meditate for fifty years,

0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:18.159
<v Speaker 1>helping them to stay calm under pressure, reboot and re

0:00:18.320 --> 0:00:22.319
<v Speaker 1>energize their lives, and basically be a happier, healthier version

0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.000
<v Speaker 1>of themselves. And now I want to help you do

0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:29.680
<v Speaker 1>the same. Ready, sit comfortably, take a few deep breaths,

0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:35.560
<v Speaker 1>and let's begin today's journey. You know how one day,

0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:37.519
<v Speaker 1>maybe you didn't sleep well, and you wake up a

0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:40.320
<v Speaker 1>bit cranky, and someone does something and it gets under

0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.880
<v Speaker 1>your skin. But the next day you slept better. Maybe

0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:47.040
<v Speaker 1>you got in some exercise and the same person does

0:00:47.080 --> 0:00:50.479
<v Speaker 1>the exact same thing, and this time you don't even notice.

0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:54.240
<v Speaker 1>No big deal, you think. So one day you're perceived

0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.320
<v Speaker 1>a behavior is annoying, and the next day you perceived

0:00:57.320 --> 0:01:01.600
<v Speaker 1>the exact same behavior as no big deal. What happened.

0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:05.760
<v Speaker 1>Your perception of the situation changed, so your response to

0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:11.440
<v Speaker 1>the situation changed. The American Psychological Association explains that when

0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:15.560
<v Speaker 1>someone perceives a situation to be challenging, threatening, or uncontrollable,

0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:19.959
<v Speaker 1>then the brain produces an excess of the stress hormone cortisol.

0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.560
<v Speaker 1>And when that happens, well, you get caught in the

0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:27.479
<v Speaker 1>middle of a vicious cycle of stress and cortisol. When

0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:31.120
<v Speaker 1>that continues to happen day after day, year after year,

0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:36.759
<v Speaker 1>then you can become chronically anxious, chronically depressed. You can

0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.680
<v Speaker 1>gain an unhealthy amount of weight, or you could get

0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:46.720
<v Speaker 1>high blood pressure or diabetes. So why do we get stressed? Well,

0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.840
<v Speaker 1>there are two factors involved in the process. One we

0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:52.480
<v Speaker 1>often have no control over, and the other we can

0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.559
<v Speaker 1>have a lot of control over. The first is called stressors.

0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:02.040
<v Speaker 1>These are the external situations thread its demands, challenges, pressures.

0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:05.600
<v Speaker 1>The stressor can be very big, such as a family

0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:09.720
<v Speaker 1>member who gets diagnosed with a serious illness, to something

0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.240
<v Speaker 1>smaller like you're trying to work from home but your

0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:15.960
<v Speaker 1>kids are squabbling and you can't focus, or you get

0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:18.560
<v Speaker 1>a snarky text message from someone who's supposed to be

0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.760
<v Speaker 1>a good friend. The second factor is called the stress response,

0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:26.640
<v Speaker 1>and that's how we respond to stressors. We're on a

0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:30.320
<v Speaker 1>good routine and feeling healthy and energetic, we handle the

0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:33.840
<v Speaker 1>news of a sick family member so much better. Same

0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.200
<v Speaker 1>with every other stressor that comes our way. But if

0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.080
<v Speaker 1>we're not sleeping well and could use a little TLC

0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.440
<v Speaker 1>and someone sends that snarky message or our kid acts

0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:47.919
<v Speaker 1>out well, then our brain sends a signal to the

0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:52.160
<v Speaker 1>adrenals to pump out cortisol because we're feeling under attack.

0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:56.800
<v Speaker 1>We are stressed, and how does that stress hit us?

0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:02.160
<v Speaker 1>According to science, in so many to bilitating ways. First,

0:03:02.280 --> 0:03:06.040
<v Speaker 1>on a muscular level, our body tenses up. We can

0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:10.239
<v Speaker 1>get attention headache where our jaws tightened up, or stomach

0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:16.720
<v Speaker 1>knots up, or we get back pain our blood vessels constrict. Second, again,

0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:21.000
<v Speaker 1>our adrenal glands pump out cortisol. Yes, we all need

0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.640
<v Speaker 1>some cortisol to get through the day, But the big

0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:26.799
<v Speaker 1>problem these days is that the adrenals produced way too

0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.799
<v Speaker 1>much of it, and now we're getting anxious, jumpy, irritable.

0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:35.280
<v Speaker 1>A lot too much cortisol compromises the immune system. That's

0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:39.360
<v Speaker 1>why we get sick more often when we're stressed. Cortisol

0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:43.080
<v Speaker 1>also floods the memory center of the brain, the hippocampus.

0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:45.800
<v Speaker 1>That's why we forget where we put the keys, forget

0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.080
<v Speaker 1>answers to questions on an exam, forget important people we're

0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:53.360
<v Speaker 1>supposed to call, and finally the amigdali in the brain

0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:56.520
<v Speaker 1>gets hyper aroused, and now we're in a fight or

0:03:56.560 --> 0:04:02.000
<v Speaker 1>flight mode and we overreact to everything. It can take

0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:05.320
<v Speaker 1>hours for a spike in cortisol to come down for

0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.480
<v Speaker 1>us to stop feeling upset and get back to normal.

0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.040
<v Speaker 1>So what can we do to address this all too

0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:16.680
<v Speaker 1>familiar situation. Ultimately, the best thing we can do to

0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:21.760
<v Speaker 1>reduce cortisol is to give our body very, very deep rest,

0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:28.400
<v Speaker 1>and that's where meditation comes in, because during the transcending process,

0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:32.640
<v Speaker 1>your body experiences a state of RESTful alertness, and during

0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:38.039
<v Speaker 1>this deep relaxation there is a thirty to reduction in

0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.680
<v Speaker 1>cortisol levels, and that is a far greater reduction in

0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.440
<v Speaker 1>cortisol than anything you can get from a good night's

0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:49.240
<v Speaker 1>sleep or even physical exercise. But still some people say, yeah,

0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:53.240
<v Speaker 1>meditation is good, I just don't have the time. Well,

0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:57.240
<v Speaker 1>consider this. There are one thousand, four hundred and forty

0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.359
<v Speaker 1>minutes in a day. Now consider how much time we

0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:04.320
<v Speaker 1>waste messing around with social media or just being easily

0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:08.960
<v Speaker 1>distracted and not using our time wisely. So if we

0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.120
<v Speaker 1>think we don't have a few minutes to meditate and

0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.640
<v Speaker 1>do a little self care for our brain. Then we

0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:18.160
<v Speaker 1>may need to reevaluate the priorities of our day, and

0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:21.680
<v Speaker 1>we may even want to consider re evaluating the priorities

0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:26.039
<v Speaker 1>of our life. I leave you with this quote, anonymously

0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:31.240
<v Speaker 1>written but so appropriate. Stop trying to calm the storm.

0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:43.280
<v Speaker 1>Calm yourself and the storm will pass, all right. Thank

0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:46.240
<v Speaker 1>you for joining me today. I hope you heard something

0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:50.120
<v Speaker 1>that inspires, that uplifts you and that you can incorporate

0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:58.279
<v Speaker 1>into your own life. This is Bob Roth. Stay calm. Hey,

0:05:58.320 --> 0:05:59.920
<v Speaker 1>all of you out there, I'd love to hear from you.

0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:03.560
<v Speaker 1>Can send me your stories, your questions, or anything else

0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:07.080
<v Speaker 1>on your mind. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:11.960
<v Speaker 1>or Instagram at meditation Bob. You can also send me

0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:16.560
<v Speaker 1>an email at meditation Bob Roth at gmail dot com.

0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.080
<v Speaker 1>I look forward to hearing from you.