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. Have you ever been at
Speaker 1: a point in your life across roads when you're not
Speaker 1: sure what you should be doing, When you're trying to
Speaker 1: make a decision about a career change, or a life partner,
Speaker 1: or less lofty things like a business deal. You've carefully
Speaker 1: studied all the pros and cons, analyze the upsides and downsides,
Speaker 1: and then, perhaps an exhaustion or frustration, you just give
Speaker 1: up and you go with your gut. You're into issue.
Speaker 1: You listen to your inner voice. Of course you have,
Speaker 1: We all have well, that inner voice of yours is
Speaker 1: not some mystical, inexplicable, totally unreliable mechanism for making choices.
Speaker 1: In fact, according to an emerging new science using your
Speaker 1: intuition can be a highly effective tool for making good decisions,
Speaker 1: sometimes very quickly. This new science is so timely with
Speaker 1: the world increasingly chaotic and complex, reliance on linear rational
Speaker 1: decision making alone is proving less than reliable, and evidence
Speaker 1: points to more and more so called rational thinkers also
Speaker 1: going with their gut. In fact, several studies of the
Speaker 1: decision making process of top executives show that, yes, they
Speaker 1: do analyze mounds of data, but if the information is
Speaker 1: not conclusive, they'll rely on their intuition as a guide.
Speaker 1: Of course, people of using their intuition forever. But what's
Speaker 1: new here is something called the neurobiology of intuition, a
Speaker 1: science which helps satisfy the skeptics and gives confidence to
Speaker 1: those who find listening to their inner voice helpful. So
Speaker 1: here is the briefest of introductions to the key areas
Speaker 1: of your brain involved. I've even included a few Latin names. First,
Speaker 1: to be able to hear your inner voice, you need
Speaker 1: to be at least for that moment inner directed. The
Speaker 1: part of the brain that lights up during intuitive thinking
Speaker 1: is called the precuneus and is associated with self awareness. Second,
Speaker 1: intuitive decisions are based on past experiences. The part of
Speaker 1: the brain that lights up here is called the ventro
Speaker 1: medial prefrontal cortex, which is where you make decisions and
Speaker 1: where your brain stores positive feelings as well as painful
Speaker 1: emotions from the past. And finally, as we all know,
Speaker 1: the intuitive decision making process is fast, lightning fast. This
Speaker 1: part of your brain is called the cow Date nucleus,
Speaker 1: which is used for making quick automatic decisions. So there
Speaker 1: you have it self awareness, access to the emotions of
Speaker 1: past experiences, and the ability to make automatic decisions. That's
Speaker 1: your mini master class on intuition. So the next time
Speaker 1: anyone tries to call you crazy for following your gut,
Speaker 1: be sure to tell him about the ventrol medial prefrontal cortex.
Speaker 1: But seriously, the most important takeaway here is that you
Speaker 1: can strengthen the power of your own intuition. And for
Speaker 1: that there are many things you can do, but all
Speaker 1: the experts agree that the single most important one is
Speaker 1: to yes, stay calm, and for that you have to
Speaker 1: give your brain time to rest. Remember when I spoke
Speaker 1: a while ago about how creative ideas emerged from the
Speaker 1: resting brain, Well, we need that same quiet, non focused
Speaker 1: area of our brain in order to hear our quiet
Speaker 1: inner voice. My parting tip about intuition comes from Apple
Speaker 1: founder Steve Jobs. He says, quote, don't let the noise
Speaker 1: of others opinions drown out your inner voice. And most important,
Speaker 1: have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, which
Speaker 1: somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything
Speaker 1: else is secondary. All right, Let's end this time together
Speaker 1: doing something that I think should be a feature of
Speaker 1: our everyday life, and that's appreciation and gratitude. So let's
Speaker 1: take thirty seconds of quiet, thirty seconds to take a break,
Speaker 1: just take a moment. It turns out when we do that,
Speaker 1: it's good for our health as well. I'll be right back,
Speaker 1: all right. Thank you for joining me today. I hope
Speaker 1: you heard something that inspires, that uplifts you and that
Speaker 1: you can incorporate into your own life. This is Bob Roth.
Speaker 1: Stay calm, hey, all of you out there, I'd love
Speaker 1: to hear from you. You can send me your stories,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else on your mind. Just connect
Speaker 1: with me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram at meditation Bob.
Speaker 1: You can also send me an email at meditation Bob
Speaker 1: Roth at gmail dot com. I look forward to hearing
Speaker 1: from you five