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. Hazel is six years old
Speaker 1: and her sister April is four. They're the daughters of
Speaker 1: my nephew Michael and his wife Rachel. When I see
Speaker 1: Hazel in April over zoom or and photos, looking so
Speaker 1: happy and excited and young, it makes me feel very happy.
Speaker 1: But afterwards I find myself thinking, what's their world going
Speaker 1: to be like in twenty years? What about next year?
Speaker 1: Before the coronavirus hit, I had lunch with the deans
Speaker 1: of two top East Coast universities. They were obviously very
Speaker 1: concerned about the future, but their focus wasn't so much
Speaker 1: on children at this time, but more on the eighteen
Speaker 1: year old kid who's entering college with the prospect of
Speaker 1: a very cloudy future at best. Now, I'm not here
Speaker 1: to recount the grim statistics of what may lie ahead
Speaker 1: for that student. Rather, I want to share with you
Speaker 1: the good news of what these educators believe is a solution.
Speaker 1: And I tell you this because I think their ideas
Speaker 1: are profoundly relevant to each of us today. One dean
Speaker 1: said that for too long, colleges and universities have marginalized
Speaker 1: mental health issues among students. If kids were having difficulties
Speaker 1: with alcohol or anxiety, well, then in between classes or
Speaker 1: whenever they could find the time, they could make an
Speaker 1: appointment and meet with a counselor or a therapist. Where
Speaker 1: Else they could take a yoga class or sit in
Speaker 1: on a mindfulness session, and then when they were done
Speaker 1: and theoretically feeling better, they would head back into the
Speaker 1: fray of classes and studying and papers and exams. Well,
Speaker 1: the deans admitted that approach has not worked at all.
Speaker 1: Their new approach is to develop a new core course
Speaker 1: on peak performance that students would start the first day
Speaker 1: they set foot on campus. The course would be fully
Speaker 1: accredited and would provide them with a menu of tools
Speaker 1: to help them navigate the inevitable changes in stresses, both
Speaker 1: academic and social, as well as help them to develop
Speaker 1: their optimum health and harness their maximum creative potential. The
Speaker 1: course would provide opportunities to learn evidence based meditation, yoga,
Speaker 1: and exercise, as well as tips on how to sleep
Speaker 1: better and eat well and other things. But here's the point.
Speaker 1: This course would not be an elective. It would be
Speaker 1: central to all the other courses offered by the college,
Speaker 1: and it wouldn't just be for that first year, but
Speaker 1: throughout their entire college life. The conversation got me thinking
Speaker 1: that all of us could use a core course for
Speaker 1: peak performance in life. The courses would be different, but
Speaker 1: they would be for everyone, from children like Hazel in
Speaker 1: April all the way up to our most senior of citizens.
Speaker 1: Because life is full of changes and stresses, constant, inevitable,
Speaker 1: unstoppable changes, changes in our health and how we look
Speaker 1: in our career, in our relationships, partnerships dissolve, and kids
Speaker 1: grow up and leave home. To navigate this change requires
Speaker 1: a steadfast inner stability, a ton of energy, really infinite
Speaker 1: patience and resilience, deep inner happiness, and yes, calm. That
Speaker 1: means we all need a core course for peak performance.
Speaker 1: I so appreciate the time we have spent together during
Speaker 1: this first season of Stay Calm. I hope you feel
Speaker 1: empowered to develop your own core course for life, and
Speaker 1: if you do, then please use whatever tips you may
Speaker 1: have learned here, but also discover and test out additional
Speaker 1: new tips on your own. And if there's any way
Speaker 1: I can help you along your journey, please email me
Speaker 1: at Meditation Bob Roth at gmail dot com. Now let's
Speaker 1: take a minute, a full sixty seconds, to be grateful
Speaker 1: for whomever we love and appreciate the most. 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 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,
Speaker 1: Facebook or Instagram at Meditation Bob. You can also send
Speaker 1: me an email at Meditate Acient Bob Roth at gmail
Speaker 1: dot com. I look forward to hearing from you.