May 5, 2020 • 7 mins
Bob proves the power of meditation to overcome anxiety by telling a story about one of his clients, Michael J. Fox. Michael has lived with Parkinson’s for around 20 years, and it was meditation that helped ease some of the disease’s effects. Plus, Bob shares some tips on how to stay calm and healthy with a good night’s sleep.
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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 to you about Michael J. Fox,
the great actor, director, producer, author, and all around extraordinary
human being. A few years ago, I received a telephone
call from a woman named Tracy. She explained that she
(01:09):
wanted to arrange a course for her husband to learn
to meditate. I said we could schedule a time, and
then I talked about some of the benefits and I said,
has a very powerful effect for reducing stress and anxiety.
And she interrupted me and she said, yes, my husband
is Michael J. Fox, and you may know he's been
living with Parkinson's for over twenty years. I want to
(01:31):
give him a tool that might help him manage his anxiety.
So he came into my office two weeks later, and
when he walked in, he said, I just want to
let you know that usually when I'm out in public,
I have a medication to reduce the tremors. But I'm
on no medication right now. I want to see how
potent transcendental meditation could be. I gave him a mantra,
(01:54):
which is a word or a sound that has no
meaning associated with it. He closed his eye, and before
I closed my eyes, I noticed that immediately the tremor stopped.
Several minutes later, I opened my eyes, asked him to
open his and his hands were still calm. He stared
at his hands for several minutes, not saying a word.
Then he looked over at me and he said, this
(02:16):
is the calumnist I felt in twenty years. As he
was leaving to go home, I said, I want you
to meditate this afternoon for twenty minutes. I want you
to meditate tomorrow morning for twenty minutes. So he came
back to the office the next afternoon, and sure enough,
in both meditations, as soon as he started to meditate,
his tremors calmed. What was more impressive to him, though,
(02:37):
was how he felt afterwards. He said, he did this
peacefulness inside that he hadn't had in years. Michael has
continued to meditate for five years, and every time he
meditates the tremors stop. They do increase slowly after meditation,
but that is inevitable because Parkinson's is not a stress
(02:58):
base disease. But what was more impressive to him was
that equanimity that he felt inside. And he told me
about a talk that he had recently given in Toronto.
And before, even though he'd given the same talk for years,
he'd be so nervous and he'd be reviewing his speech
over and over and over again. This time he just
(03:20):
sat in the green room, did his afternoon meditation, walked
out on the stage, gave the best talk he'd ever given. Now,
the interesting thing about Michael's story, and it is a
lesson for all of us. There are inevitable challenges and demands,
an unexpected tumult and traumas that come to us in
(03:40):
our life for which we may have little or no
control over. But what we do have control over is
how we respond to those challenges and demands. And look
at Michael, top of his game twenty years ago, comes
down with Parkinson's. He didn't let it stop him from
building his career and enjoying his life. But the last
(04:01):
few years the anxiety was rising in him. He wasn't
living in the present, he was fearful of the future.
What the meditation has done was allow him to enjoy
and appreciate what he has now. And what a lesson
for all of us. We're accessing a field of calm
(04:22):
that lies deep within everyone. When we transcend in meditation,
we can enliven that with all the other important natural
things we do in our life, getting enough sleep, exercising,
eating properly. Going back to this point about sleep, this
is what happens when we don't get enough sleep. There
(04:44):
are two hormones. One is called grellin and it is
the hunger hormone. It's what makes us feel hungry. Then
there's another hormone called lepton. Lepton is what tells us
that we're full, we're satisfied. When we don't get enough sleep,
grellan the hunger craving hormone goes up. The lepton hormone,
(05:09):
the one that says I'm done, decreases. We have a
craving and we're never satisfied. And that, my friends, is
a formula for disaster. All right, 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
(05:32):
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. Thank you for joining.
(06:11):
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, I'd love to hear from you.
(06:32):
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 to you about Michael J. Fox,
the great actor, director, producer, author, and all around extraordinary
human being. A few years ago, I received a telephone
call from a woman named Tracy. She explained that she
(01:09):
wanted to arrange a course for her husband to learn
to meditate. I said we could schedule a time, and
then I talked about some of the benefits and I said,
has a very powerful effect for reducing stress and anxiety.
And she interrupted me and she said, yes, my husband
is Michael J. Fox, and you may know he's been
living with Parkinson's for over twenty years. I want to
(01:31):
give him a tool that might help him manage his anxiety.
So he came into my office two weeks later, and
when he walked in, he said, I just want to
let you know that usually when I'm out in public,
I have a medication to reduce the tremors. But I'm
on no medication right now. I want to see how
potent transcendental meditation could be. I gave him a mantra,
(01:54):
which is a word or a sound that has no
meaning associated with it. He closed his eye, and before
I closed my eyes, I noticed that immediately the tremor stopped.
Several minutes later, I opened my eyes, asked him to
open his and his hands were still calm. He stared
at his hands for several minutes, not saying a word.
Then he looked over at me and he said, this
(02:16):
is the calumnist I felt in twenty years. As he
was leaving to go home, I said, I want you
to meditate this afternoon for twenty minutes. I want you
to meditate tomorrow morning for twenty minutes. So he came
back to the office the next afternoon, and sure enough,
in both meditations, as soon as he started to meditate,
his tremors calmed. What was more impressive to him, though,
(02:37):
was how he felt afterwards. He said, he did this
peacefulness inside that he hadn't had in years. Michael has
continued to meditate for five years, and every time he
meditates the tremors stop. They do increase slowly after meditation,
but that is inevitable because Parkinson's is not a stress
(02:58):
base disease. But what was more impressive to him was
that equanimity that he felt inside. And he told me
about a talk that he had recently given in Toronto.
And before, even though he'd given the same talk for years,
he'd be so nervous and he'd be reviewing his speech
over and over and over again. This time he just
(03:20):
sat in the green room, did his afternoon meditation, walked
out on the stage, gave the best talk he'd ever given. Now,
the interesting thing about Michael's story, and it is a
lesson for all of us. There are inevitable challenges and demands,
an unexpected tumult and traumas that come to us in
(03:40):
our life for which we may have little or no
control over. But what we do have control over is
how we respond to those challenges and demands. And look
at Michael, top of his game twenty years ago, comes
down with Parkinson's. He didn't let it stop him from
building his career and enjoying his life. But the last
(04:01):
few years the anxiety was rising in him. He wasn't
living in the present, he was fearful of the future.
What the meditation has done was allow him to enjoy
and appreciate what he has now. And what a lesson
for all of us. We're accessing a field of calm
(04:22):
that lies deep within everyone. When we transcend in meditation,
we can enliven that with all the other important natural
things we do in our life, getting enough sleep, exercising,
eating properly. Going back to this point about sleep, this
is what happens when we don't get enough sleep. There
(04:44):
are two hormones. One is called grellin and it is
the hunger hormone. It's what makes us feel hungry. Then
there's another hormone called lepton. Lepton is what tells us
that we're full, we're satisfied. When we don't get enough sleep,
grellan the hunger craving hormone goes up. The lepton hormone,
(05:09):
the one that says I'm done, decreases. We have a
craving and we're never satisfied. And that, my friends, is
a formula for disaster. All right, 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
(05:32):
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. Thank you for joining.
(06:11):
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, I'd love to hear from you.
(06:32):
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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