April 24, 2020 • 7 mins
With a story about teaching meditation to Jerry Seinfeld, Bob explains how meditation helps the creative process. Then he offers advice on how to best wind down and get ready for bed, and leads us in a moment of silence.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stay Calm as a production of I Heart Radio. Hi.
I'm Bob Roth, and I've been teaching people to meditate
for fifty years, helping them to stay calm under pressure,
reboot and re energize their lives, and basically be a happier,
healthier version of themselves. And now I want to help
(00:22):
you do the same. Welcome to Stay Calm, your daily
dose of calmness. Every weekday morning, I'll share a meditation story,
offer a simple practical tip about how you or a
loved one can stay a bit calmer in your life,
and then we'll end each episode together with a moment
of gratitude. My hope is that I can share what
I know to anyone who needs it. Ready, sit comfortably,
(00:47):
take a few deep breaths, and let's begin today's journey.
I want to talk with you today about Jerry Seinfeld,
not his humor, but about the brain and about creativity.
I got a phone call that Jerry Seinfeld would like
me to teach his wife and children transcendental meditation. So
the way that you learned t M is taught over
(01:09):
four consecutive days for about one hour a day each day,
and on the second day I was back at their
house and Jerry walked in and I was talking about
the importance of meditating twice a day, once in the
morning for fifteen or twenty minutes and once in the afternoon.
And he interrupted. He said, twice a day. I've just
been meditating once a day. Why would I do twice
a day? And I said, well, actually, the research shows
(01:32):
meditation in the morning wakes up the brain, and then
you do again in the afternoon when you're tired, and
it washes off the stress and then you sleep better
at night. And he was doubtful, but I said, we'll
just try it for two weeks. So he called me
in two weeks and he said, it's a game changer.
What he loved about transcendental meditations the rest was deeper
than sleep, so he had much more energy and far
(01:56):
more creativity. That's what I want to talk about right now.
I want to talk about the creative process. How does
meditation allow Jerry Seinfeld to be more creative? The creative
process we employ every moment of our day when we're
solving minute problems, little squabbles with the kids who are
trying to figure out finances, and there's a problem at work,
(02:18):
and for the longest time, there was this thought the
creativity was lodged in the right hemisphere of your brain,
and if you are analytical and a numbers crunchure and mathematician,
then you are a left hemisphere person. Well, it turns
out as widespread as that understanding was, it's not true.
Creativity is a product of networks within the brain. One
(02:42):
of the key networks and the creative process is the
ability to focus, to concentrate to get the job done,
and that is lodged in the front of the brain,
in an area called the attention network or the executive
control network. Scientists were wondering what happens when you're not
focused and productive, when you're not working hard. They found
(03:05):
out that there is in fact a complex series of
networks in the back of the brain, the middle of
the brain, in the front of the brain, which they
called the default mode network. And they were kind of
dismissive about that part of the brain. They said, that
was this sort of the wandering brain, the daydreaming brain,
the unproductive brain. But now they have a new name
for it. That part of your brain is now called
(03:28):
the imagination network, or better yet, the genius lounge. And
that's where innovative, nonlinear, very creative ideas bubble up. The
default mode network is activated. Sometimes when you're taking a
hot shower, or you go for a long walk where
(03:49):
you're listening to music and you've been trying to solve
a problem and do answer comes some change in venue,
some change in the activity where the mind can just rest.
We are not stuck with the level of creativity or
problem solving that we have. Now we can do some
very foundational things that can awaken the imagination network that
(04:13):
can actually strengthen the communication between all the different parts
of the brain. It starts first and foremost with some
meditation techniques, exercise, giving yourself downtime to not work hard.
One of the most significant tools for waking up creativity
and the imagination network. Sleep. Every day, I'm going to
(04:41):
offer a tip that we can do to contribute towards
a substantial calm, a transformative calm, an inner peace that
can help us navigate our lives. We know getting enough
sleep can wake up our creativity. So my tip to
you is get a good night's sleep by breaking your
habit to something called blue light. Blue light emanates from
(05:01):
your computer screen, your television screen, your smartphone. Blue light
suppresses melatonin, which is the sleep hormone which allows us
to get a good night's sleep. So I would suggest,
as impossible as this may sound, if you want to
get a good night's sleep, then turn off your television,
particularly if it's in your bedroom, close your laptop, put
(05:24):
your cell phone on mute an hour before bed. Don't
just do it once, do it for several days and
see if it helps. It'll sure help over time. All right,
let's end this time together doing something that I think
should be a feature of our everyday life, and that's
(05:45):
appreciation and gratitude. So let's take thirty seconds of quiet,
thirty seconds to take a break, just take a moment.
It turns out when we do that it's good for
our health as well. I'll be right back, all right,
(06:28):
Thank you for joining. This is Bob Roth. Keep calm,
Thanks for listening today. I hope you heard something that
inspires that uplifts you and that you can incorporate into
your own life. Until next time, remember, meditate, be kind,
and be true to yourself. Pay all of you out there,
(06:51):
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
your stories, your questions, or anything else on your mind.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram at
meditation Bob. You can also send me an email at
meditation Bob Roth at gmail dot com. I look forward
to hearing from you
Stay Calm as a production of I Heart Radio. Hi.
I'm Bob Roth, and I've been teaching people to meditate
for fifty years, helping them to stay calm under pressure,
reboot and re energize their lives, and basically be a happier,
healthier version of themselves. And now I want to help
(00:22):
you do the same. Welcome to Stay Calm, your daily
dose of calmness. Every weekday morning, I'll share a meditation story,
offer a simple practical tip about how you or a
loved one can stay a bit calmer in your life,
and then we'll end each episode together with a moment
of gratitude. My hope is that I can share what
I know to anyone who needs it. Ready, sit comfortably,
(00:47):
take a few deep breaths, and let's begin today's journey.
I want to talk with you today about Jerry Seinfeld,
not his humor, but about the brain and about creativity.
I got a phone call that Jerry Seinfeld would like
me to teach his wife and children transcendental meditation. So
the way that you learned t M is taught over
(01:09):
four consecutive days for about one hour a day each day,
and on the second day I was back at their
house and Jerry walked in and I was talking about
the importance of meditating twice a day, once in the
morning for fifteen or twenty minutes and once in the afternoon.
And he interrupted. He said, twice a day. I've just
been meditating once a day. Why would I do twice
a day? And I said, well, actually, the research shows
(01:32):
meditation in the morning wakes up the brain, and then
you do again in the afternoon when you're tired, and
it washes off the stress and then you sleep better
at night. And he was doubtful, but I said, we'll
just try it for two weeks. So he called me
in two weeks and he said, it's a game changer.
What he loved about transcendental meditations the rest was deeper
than sleep, so he had much more energy and far
(01:56):
more creativity. That's what I want to talk about right now.
I want to talk about the creative process. How does
meditation allow Jerry Seinfeld to be more creative? The creative
process we employ every moment of our day when we're
solving minute problems, little squabbles with the kids who are
trying to figure out finances, and there's a problem at work,
(02:18):
and for the longest time, there was this thought the
creativity was lodged in the right hemisphere of your brain,
and if you are analytical and a numbers crunchure and mathematician,
then you are a left hemisphere person. Well, it turns
out as widespread as that understanding was, it's not true.
Creativity is a product of networks within the brain. One
(02:42):
of the key networks and the creative process is the
ability to focus, to concentrate to get the job done,
and that is lodged in the front of the brain,
in an area called the attention network or the executive
control network. Scientists were wondering what happens when you're not
focused and productive, when you're not working hard. They found
(03:05):
out that there is in fact a complex series of
networks in the back of the brain, the middle of
the brain, in the front of the brain, which they
called the default mode network. And they were kind of
dismissive about that part of the brain. They said, that
was this sort of the wandering brain, the daydreaming brain,
the unproductive brain. But now they have a new name
for it. That part of your brain is now called
(03:28):
the imagination network, or better yet, the genius lounge. And
that's where innovative, nonlinear, very creative ideas bubble up. The
default mode network is activated. Sometimes when you're taking a
hot shower, or you go for a long walk where
(03:49):
you're listening to music and you've been trying to solve
a problem and do answer comes some change in venue,
some change in the activity where the mind can just rest.
We are not stuck with the level of creativity or
problem solving that we have. Now we can do some
very foundational things that can awaken the imagination network that
(04:13):
can actually strengthen the communication between all the different parts
of the brain. It starts first and foremost with some
meditation techniques, exercise, giving yourself downtime to not work hard.
One of the most significant tools for waking up creativity
and the imagination network. Sleep. Every day, I'm going to
(04:41):
offer a tip that we can do to contribute towards
a substantial calm, a transformative calm, an inner peace that
can help us navigate our lives. We know getting enough
sleep can wake up our creativity. So my tip to
you is get a good night's sleep by breaking your
habit to something called blue light. Blue light emanates from
(05:01):
your computer screen, your television screen, your smartphone. Blue light
suppresses melatonin, which is the sleep hormone which allows us
to get a good night's sleep. So I would suggest,
as impossible as this may sound, if you want to
get a good night's sleep, then turn off your television,
particularly if it's in your bedroom, close your laptop, put
(05:24):
your cell phone on mute an hour before bed. Don't
just do it once, do it for several days and
see if it helps. It'll sure help over time. All right,
let's end this time together doing something that I think
should be a feature of our everyday life, and that's
(05:45):
appreciation and gratitude. So let's take thirty seconds of quiet,
thirty seconds to take a break, just take a moment.
It turns out when we do that it's good for
our health as well. I'll be right back, all right,
(06:28):
Thank you for joining. This is Bob Roth. Keep calm,
Thanks for listening today. I hope you heard something that
inspires that uplifts you and that you can incorporate into
your own life. Until next time, remember, meditate, be kind,
and be true to yourself. Pay all of you out there,
(06:51):
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
your stories, your questions, or anything else on your mind.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram at
meditation Bob. You can also send me an email at
meditation Bob Roth at gmail dot com. I look forward
to hearing from you
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