Transcendental Meditation teacher and leader Bob Roth explains how to reduce stress using transcendental meditation techniques. Transcript of the video.
The Surgeon General recently called stress the Black Plague of the 21st century. Modern medicine has no magic pill that we can take to prevent it or to cure it. I’m going to tell you some simple, natural evidence-based tools that you can do in everyday life that can help you not just reduce stress but actually cure it.
There is so much interest these days in meditation, and nobody really knows what it means.
“Meditation just means thinking.”
It’s interesting because meditation affects a mental technique affects our body it affects our moods and our anxiety levels and our ability to sleep. Why? Because science tells us there’s a mind-body connection. Not that the mind is just connected to the body but actually the mind and body are one.
Let’s just take a moment and look at this idea of meditation and thinking.
According to research, there are 3 basic types of meditation.
Three basic types of meditation
1. Concentration or focused meditation
That’s where you want to control your thoughts. We think we have a monkey mind, and we want to stop the mind from wandering. This is a meditation where you try and clear your mind of thoughts.
2. Mindfulness or open monitoring meditation
That’s where we want to emotionally disengage from the intensity of what’s happening at the moment. We want to assume sort of an equanimity and a calm. We want to step back.
3. Automatic self transcending
You’ve probably heard of Transcendental Meditation. We don’t mind the thoughts on the surface, and we assume that there’s a vertical dimension to the mind. We access a field of calm, silence, peace that lies deep within everyone.
Benefits of Meditation
When we do these different meditation techniques, they have an effect on the way our brain functions. They have an effect on the way our heart functions, respiratory system, digestive system, our moods, everything. because mind and body are not just connected, our mind and body are one. In addition to meditating, which is exercise from from the neck up, there are many different things that we can do to exercise from the neck down. It’s interesting, the most most powerful tools to reduce and prevent stress are the simplest.
“Mind and body are not just connected, our mind and body are one.”
Other ways to reduce stress
1. Go for a walk
Every day, go for a walk 10 or 15 minutes outside, even if it’s freezing cold. Bundle up. Go for a walk.
2. Disengage from technology
If you’re starting to feel tense, and you’re starting to get all wound up on something, we have the tendency is to push harder. No. Unplug. Step away from the computer. Turn off the cell phone. I’m not asking you to do it for hours, just 10 or 15 minutes, or just an hour. Let your brain settle down from that backlit light.
3. Get a good night’s sleep
Now that’s easier said than done for some people, but there are easy things we can do for that. Go to bed earlier. Disengage from technology an hour before bed. Your room shouldn’t be too warm. The room should be cooler, and you can layer blankets on top of your bed. Don’t drink coffee or caffeinated drinks an hour or so before bed. Don’t eat a big meal before bed.
All these things. walking, disengaging from technology, going to bed earlier ,they don’t cost a ton of money and yet research shows they are in many ways more powerful than the most expensive drugs. I’m not saying you shouldn’t take medication if your doctor has you on a prescription, but we don’t want to live the rest of our life on prescription medications. We want to take control of our health. We don’t want to depend on prescription medications. We want to respect that mind-body connection.
“We don’t want to live the rest of our life on prescription medications.”
4. Learn a meditation practice
Take it seriously. Don’t just dabble. Don’t just of try something online where it’s a little guided meditation, you do it once, and don’t do it again. Find a legitimate teacher, get instruction. You can go online you can find it. There should be research to back it up. There shouldn’t be any religion or belief involved. This is a human being thing, and it can transform your life.
LEARN MORE WITH BOB ROTH
What would Bob Roth tell his 20 year old self? WATCH his important advice HERE
Bob Roth Book: Strength in Stillness
The above is a video transcript featuring Bob Roth, produced by the Healthy Life Project
Bob Roth
Transcendental meditation teacher / leader
Bob Roth is one of the most experienced and sought-after meditation teachers in America. Over the past 40 years, Bob has taught Transcendental Meditation to many thousands of people and authored an authoritative book on the subject, fittingly entitled, Transcendental Meditation, which has been translated into 20 languages. Bob currently serves as the CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, which has brought meditation to over 500,000 inner-city youth in underserved schools in 35 countries, to veterans and their families who suffer from post-traumatic stress, and women and children who are survivors of domestic violence. Bob also directs the Center for Leadership Performance, another nonprofit, which is bringing meditation to Fortune 100 companies, government organizations, and nonprofit charities. Bob is the host of the SiriusXM radio show, “Success Without Stress” and has spoken about meditation to industry leaders at such gatherings as Google Zeitgeist, Aspen Ideas Festival, Wisdom2.0, and Summit.
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