Let’s Be Still

Now is the time to take it slow. Today, find a few minutes of peace as Bob reads wise words on tranquility from some of the world’s greatest minds, like Pico Iyer, Laozi, and Goethe. They will help carry you through your day.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Stay Calm is a production of I Heart Radio. Welcome
to Stay Calm, your daily dose of calmness. 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

(00:22):
of themselves. And now I want to help you do
the same. Ready, sit comfortably, take a few deep breaths,
and let's begin today's journey. Sometimes when we feel particularly overwhelmed,
told in a million different directions, unsure about our uncertain future,

(00:43):
and our type a logical problem solving mind seems to
be more than a bit foggy. Well, sometimes the best
thing we can do to fix things is to do nothing,
even just for a few minutes. And as you know,
I regularly talk about the research that backs up the
very real benefits to our brain, our mind, and our

(01:04):
body from taking a break from the constant pushing, pushing,
pushing of life. Today, I want to set aside the
science and instead I want to ask you if you
can to stop what you're doing for just a few
minutes and sit back and listen to some really beautiful
thoughts from some really wise poets and other thinkers, both

(01:27):
modern and ancient. Their words give voice to the need
to get away from it all and just be still.
These next five minutes will be our upside for taking
this downtime. The great author and essayist Pico Iyer, in
his book The Art of Stillness, says it best. In

(01:50):
an age of speed, I began to think nothing could
be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction,
nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention, And in
an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than
sitting still. Loud Sue, the great ancient Chinese philosopher and writer, said,

(02:14):
to the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart said, the music is not in the notes,
but in the silence between. And if we needed any
additional convincing, Isaiah commands be still and know that I

(02:37):
am God. But what do we do? What kind of
break can we take when nothing seems to be going
right for us, when the winds do not seem to
be in our favor, when we seem to be fighting
an uphill battle. Listen to the advice of John O'Donohue,
Catholic priest, poet and visionary. This is the time to

(03:00):
be slow, lie low to the wall until the bitter
weather passes. Try as best you can not to let
the wire brush of doubt scrape from your heart all
sense of yourself and your hesitant light. If you remain generous,
time will come good, and you will find your feet

(03:21):
again on fresh pastures of promise, where the air will
be kind and blushed. With beginning, Wendell Berry and his
famous poem The Peace of Wild Things writes, when despair
for the world grows in me, and I wakened the
night at the least sound and fear of what my
life and my children's lives, maybe I go and I

(03:45):
lie down with the wood drake rests in his beauty
on the water, and the great heron feeds. I come
into the peace of wild things who do not tax
their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the
press sense of still water, and I feel above me
the day blind stars waiting with their light. For a time,

(04:08):
I rest in the grace of the world and am free.
And this from the great German philosopher, playwright and author
Gerta who seeks transcendence, how yearns the solitary soul to
melt into the boundless hole and find itself again in peace.

(04:29):
The blind desire, the impatient will, the restless thoughts and
plans are still we yield ourselves and waken bliss. And Finally,
no matter how challenging these times may be for us,
or how dark the night, nothing lasts forever. As Khalil

(04:50):
Gabron writes in the Prophet, at the heart of every
winter there is a quivering spring, and behind the veil
of each night there is a smiling dawn. All right,
let's end this time together doing something that I think
should be a feature of our everyday life, and that's

(05:11):
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,

(05:53):
Thank you for joining me today. I hope you heard
something that inspires that uplifts you and that you can
incorporate into your own life. This is Bob Roth. Stay calm, Hey,
all of you out there, 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,

(06:17):
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