Speaker 1: Stay Calm as 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. Dusty was a member of
Speaker 1: the U. S. Army for twenty years. The last fourteen
Speaker 1: of those years were spent as a U. S. Army
Speaker 1: Airborne Ranger in the Airborne Division, which meant he was
Speaker 1: a member of an elite infantry fighting force that specialized
Speaker 1: in raids deep inside enemy territory. He was doing what
Speaker 1: he was trained to do, doing what he believed in,
Speaker 1: and he did it well, but it came at a
Speaker 1: massive price. When he left the military, he suffered from
Speaker 1: what doctors at the local v A hospital would call
Speaker 1: PTSD post traumatic stress disorder. Twice divorced, battling alcoholism, depressed,
Speaker 1: with no family and no real job, Dusty was hurtling
Speaker 1: across Florida on his motorcycle one day, headed nowhere when
Speaker 1: he stopped at a bar for something to eat and drink.
Speaker 1: It was then that something miraculous happened. He went to
Speaker 1: put a quarter in a jukebox, but without his glasses,
Speaker 1: he couldn't read the tiny text of the music offerings.
Speaker 1: He looked across the barroom floor and spotted a woman
Speaker 1: sitting by herself. Mustering up some courage, he walked over
Speaker 1: to her and asked for her assistance. There was something
Speaker 1: special about her, something genuine. She wasn't like anyone Dusty
Speaker 1: had ever met. They ended up exchanging phone numbers. Dusty
Speaker 1: opened up a bit about his experiences growing up with
Speaker 1: an Alcoho Hallock father, his experiences in the army. They
Speaker 1: went on a few dates. Then Charlone said something Dusty
Speaker 1: never in a million years expected to hear. I'm going
Speaker 1: to give you a gift, she said, and it's totally
Speaker 1: your choice if you want to accept it. But if
Speaker 1: you don't, I can't continue to see you. You've got
Speaker 1: some serious issues you need to address, and I can't
Speaker 1: do it for you. The gift Charlyne was offering Dusty
Speaker 1: was the opportunity to learn to meditate. Now, I'm going
Speaker 1: to interrupt my story here to say that when Dusty
Speaker 1: told me this, even I thought it was a bit much.
Speaker 1: Army ranger with PTSD meets a woman in a bar
Speaker 1: who tells him he needs to learn to meditate. Come on,
Speaker 1: I mean, I know meditation is going mainstream, but this
Speaker 1: was a little much. Charlton said she'd been meditating since
Speaker 1: she was four years old. It had changed her life.
Speaker 1: Dusty pushed back. At least inside alcohol was his choice
Speaker 1: of meditation, not some mantra. But he was really drawn
Speaker 1: to Charlyne, really loved her. He mustered up all the
Speaker 1: courage he could and rode two hours on his motorcycle
Speaker 1: to the nearest teacher of transcendental meditation in Florida, doubting
Speaker 1: his decision all the way, but he did it. His
Speaker 1: first meditation was so profoundly relaxing, so incredibly peaceful, that
Speaker 1: he went home and slept for twelve straight hours. Now
Speaker 1: this was a guy who only managed to sleep a
Speaker 1: few hours total in a week. Dusty meditated regularly twenty
Speaker 1: minutes twice a day every day, sometimes with Charlyne, but
Speaker 1: often on his own. His life began to turn around.
Speaker 1: He slept better, stopped abusing alcohol and drugs, started exercising,
Speaker 1: started connecting with old friends. He thought about the future
Speaker 1: for the first time, and who knows how long and
Speaker 1: something else happened that would change his life again. He
Speaker 1: attended a reunion of his eighty second Airborne Ranger Division.
Speaker 1: He saw some of his old buddies for the first
Speaker 1: time in years. It mainly saw how many of his
Speaker 1: old buddies were not there, how many had taken their
Speaker 1: own lives, mustered up some more courage, got up and
Speaker 1: spoke about his new life, about meditation, about his future. Afterwards,
Speaker 1: many of his buddies said, can you teach me to meditate?
Speaker 1: Dusty wasn't trained as a transcendental meditation teacher, but he
Speaker 1: vowed to himself that that's what he would do with
Speaker 1: his life, trained to be a meditation teacher and bring
Speaker 1: it to his fellow vets men and women who were
Speaker 1: suffering so much. But we're falling hard to the cracks.
Speaker 1: He knew meditation was not the only tool of vet
Speaker 1: would need to heal the hidden wounds of war, but
Speaker 1: it was a necessary one, and he wanted to be
Speaker 1: the one to lead the charge. Now I'm going to
Speaker 1: have to pause here, but in my next podcast, I'm
Speaker 1: going to tell you the rest of my story about Dusty,
Speaker 1: former U. S. Army Airborne ranger and now TM teacher,
Speaker 1: and how he's bringing meditation and other healing tools to
Speaker 1: thousands and thousands of veterans and their families. It's one
Speaker 1: of the most inspiring stories I've ever heard. But for now,
Speaker 1: I want to share with you my health tip of
Speaker 1: the day. It's something I learned from Dusty. If you're
Speaker 1: going through a challenging time something we're all facing during
Speaker 1: this coronavirus, and if you feel things are spinning out
Speaker 1: of control, then one piece of advice from all the experts,
Speaker 1: including Dusty himself, is to hold on to something you
Speaker 1: can control. In this case, hold onto your routine. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's as simple but as profound as that. Set a
Speaker 1: bedtime and hold to it, and set a time to
Speaker 1: get out of bed in the morning, and hold to it.
Speaker 1: Eat at a set time, follow the clock. They call
Speaker 1: it self regulation. 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 else as well. I'll be right
Speaker 1: back all right. Thank you for joining. This is Bob Roth.
Speaker 1: Keep calm, Thanks for listening today. I hope you heard
Speaker 1: something that inspires, that uplifts you and that you can
Speaker 1: incorporate into your own life. Until next time, remember, meditate,
Speaker 1: be kind, and be true to yourself. Hey, all of
Speaker 1: you out there, I'd love to hear from you. You
Speaker 1: can send me your stories, your questions, or anything else
Speaker 1: 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.