May 4, 2020 • 7 mins
Our current crisis may have an effect on our mental health long after it is over. Meditation can help with that, like it did for Luke, a veteran who suffered from severe PTSD when he returned from Afghanistan, but got a second chance at life when he found meditation. Bob also shares ways that people can help support their family members who may be suffering through trauma, and resources that can help everyone find inner peace.
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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 loved
going 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
(00:42):
to anyone who needs it. Ready, sit comfortably, take a
few deep breaths, and let's begin today's journey. I want
to tell you the story about Luke Jensen because Luke's
story is indicative of what's happening in our society today,
as more adults and children are being exposed to such
(01:02):
traumatic events that they suffered the nightmare of post traumatic
stress disorder or PTSD. Luke grew up in a military family.
One grandfather was Navy, the other grandfather was Marine. Corps.
Luke knew at an early age he wanted to go
into law enforce. Me wanted to get in the military.
So the first thing he did was he joined the
(01:23):
Army Reserves as military police. Then he got a job
in a local police department, where he spent two years
doing undercover narcotics work. Luke was a tough guy. In
two thousand nine, he got deployed to Afghanistan, confident that
he could really serve his country well. In about a week,
everything turned south. He said. For the first week, there
(01:45):
was so much artillery fire, so many sirens, rockets, attacks nearby.
He never slept the first week, he was asked to
investigate the death of a little girl. She was the
same age as his daughter. He held his little girl's
body in his arms, and he said, something inside of
(02:05):
him snapped. He realized, I'm never going to make it
home to my family alive. He sunk into a depression.
The depression turned to thoughts of suicide. Within a few months,
he found himself in a truck parked outside of the
camp with a rifle pointed at his head and his
(02:26):
fingers trembling on the trigger. He said, at that moment
when he was prepared to pull the trigger. A truck
pulled up right next to him with two army rangers.
They never looked at Luke, they just looked straight ahead.
Luke felt so embarrassed about what he was going to
do that he put down the rifle and drove back
to camp. He told his superior officer immediately had a
(02:50):
meta fact. Back to the United States, Luke felt confident
that when he got back to be with his wife
and two children, it would all be okay. It's never okay,
not when you have trauma. One afternoon, his wife and
daughter came in and he screamed, I'm going to kill myself,
But just seeing the eyes of his daughter and his wife,
(03:15):
he dropped the gun, collapse in his bed, and slept
through the night. The next morning, he realized, with more
conviction than ever, he had a second chance. He was
going to make the best of it. Our paths crossed
when he learned to meditate. It's not the answer to
to all problems, but it helped him a lot. My
(03:36):
point here is Luke had a second chance. So many
of our men and women and children who suffered from
post traumatic stress never get that second chance. Today, the
nurses and doctors and orderlies and custodial staff that are
on the front lines living the hell of PTSD. And
there's another term, it's called complex PTSD. That is, you
(04:00):
been a home where your mother or father or brother
or sister has PTSD and it's contagious. You begin to
experience the same symptoms irrational thinking, depression, anxiety, impulsive, violent behavior.
Trauma doesn't go away over time. Trauma doesn't go away
(04:23):
by ignoring it. It's a disease. There's so many things
that need to be done to help a person who
has PTSD. They need to have the right therapist, they
need to have a support system. What can you do?
What is the tip I can give you in a
(04:45):
long list of things that need to be done for
the loved one that you're supporting. You need to be
able to listen without judgment, not coming at them with
you're going to fix everything for them, and not minding
if they don't want to talk. You can save a
life when you listen. The other thing I will tell
(05:05):
you is find help. The National Association of Mental Health NAMI.
Google it. They have a hotline. If we want to
keep calm within ourself and people around us as the
world gets more intense, Listen, communicate, support each other. All right,
(05:30):
let's end this time together doing something that I think
should be a feature of our everyday life, and that's
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.
(06:19):
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. Hey, all of you out there,
(06:39):
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 one
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 loved
going 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
(00:42):
to anyone who needs it. Ready, sit comfortably, take a
few deep breaths, and let's begin today's journey. I want
to tell you the story about Luke Jensen because Luke's
story is indicative of what's happening in our society today,
as more adults and children are being exposed to such
(01:02):
traumatic events that they suffered the nightmare of post traumatic
stress disorder or PTSD. Luke grew up in a military family.
One grandfather was Navy, the other grandfather was Marine. Corps.
Luke knew at an early age he wanted to go
into law enforce. Me wanted to get in the military.
So the first thing he did was he joined the
(01:23):
Army Reserves as military police. Then he got a job
in a local police department, where he spent two years
doing undercover narcotics work. Luke was a tough guy. In
two thousand nine, he got deployed to Afghanistan, confident that
he could really serve his country well. In about a week,
everything turned south. He said. For the first week, there
(01:45):
was so much artillery fire, so many sirens, rockets, attacks nearby.
He never slept the first week, he was asked to
investigate the death of a little girl. She was the
same age as his daughter. He held his little girl's
body in his arms, and he said, something inside of
(02:05):
him snapped. He realized, I'm never going to make it
home to my family alive. He sunk into a depression.
The depression turned to thoughts of suicide. Within a few months,
he found himself in a truck parked outside of the
camp with a rifle pointed at his head and his
(02:26):
fingers trembling on the trigger. He said, at that moment
when he was prepared to pull the trigger. A truck
pulled up right next to him with two army rangers.
They never looked at Luke, they just looked straight ahead.
Luke felt so embarrassed about what he was going to
do that he put down the rifle and drove back
to camp. He told his superior officer immediately had a
(02:50):
meta fact. Back to the United States, Luke felt confident
that when he got back to be with his wife
and two children, it would all be okay. It's never okay,
not when you have trauma. One afternoon, his wife and
daughter came in and he screamed, I'm going to kill myself,
But just seeing the eyes of his daughter and his wife,
(03:15):
he dropped the gun, collapse in his bed, and slept
through the night. The next morning, he realized, with more
conviction than ever, he had a second chance. He was
going to make the best of it. Our paths crossed
when he learned to meditate. It's not the answer to
to all problems, but it helped him a lot. My
(03:36):
point here is Luke had a second chance. So many
of our men and women and children who suffered from
post traumatic stress never get that second chance. Today, the
nurses and doctors and orderlies and custodial staff that are
on the front lines living the hell of PTSD. And
there's another term, it's called complex PTSD. That is, you
(04:00):
been a home where your mother or father or brother
or sister has PTSD and it's contagious. You begin to
experience the same symptoms irrational thinking, depression, anxiety, impulsive, violent behavior.
Trauma doesn't go away over time. Trauma doesn't go away
(04:23):
by ignoring it. It's a disease. There's so many things
that need to be done to help a person who
has PTSD. They need to have the right therapist, they
need to have a support system. What can you do?
What is the tip I can give you in a
(04:45):
long list of things that need to be done for
the loved one that you're supporting. You need to be
able to listen without judgment, not coming at them with
you're going to fix everything for them, and not minding
if they don't want to talk. You can save a
life when you listen. The other thing I will tell
(05:05):
you is find help. The National Association of Mental Health NAMI.
Google it. They have a hotline. If we want to
keep calm within ourself and people around us as the
world gets more intense, Listen, communicate, support each other. All right,
(05:30):
let's end this time together doing something that I think
should be a feature of our everyday life, and that's
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.
(06:19):
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. Hey, all of you out there,
(06:39):
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 one
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