14: Transcendental Meditation. A conversation with Bob Roth.

We begin our conversation with Bob joking that, as a young boy growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, he knew he was a Democrat before he knew he was Jewish. Bob was deeply influenced by Robert “Bobby” Kennedy’s position as an agent of change so much so that he began working with the Kennedy campaign early in his life; and considering that Bobby Kennedy was a hero figure for Bob, Kennedy’s death greatly impacted him so much so that he continued the work of activism for collective change. When he was a young man, Bob embarked on a path into education, and as a self-professed skeptic, he hesitantly began a meditation practice at 18 years old although that was soon overwhelmed by the profound experience that transcendental meditation brought into his life. With the seeds of desire to educate children, Bob began teaching and educating inner-city youth and inmates about the benefits of meditation. He has continued along this path ever since. Bob and David Lynch began the nonprofit The David Lynch Foundation and have since offered scholarships to seek to teach over one million children the transformative value of meditation. The results of these interventions are astounding. To cite one example, within a year or two, following learning meditation some of the most underperforming schools in the bay area elevated the ranks to become among some of the higher performing schools in the area. Bob discusses three forms of meditation and provides a little background on each, and expands on the practice of Transcendental Meditation. Bob draws from ancient practice to modern neuroscience to back up his claims of how revolutionary a meditation practice can be for your life – and, as he frames it, it is more accessible than you may think. Bio: Bob Roth is one of the most experienced and sought-after meditation leaders in America. Over the past 45 years, Bob has taught Transcendental Meditation to many thousands of people and is the author of the forthcoming authoritative book on the subject, entitled "Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation", which will be published internationally by Simon & Schuster in February 2018. Bob Currently serves as the CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity 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, Aspen Brain Conference, Wisdom2.0, and Summit. https://www.davidlynchfoundation.org Learn more about this project at: http://www.thesacredspeaks.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesacredspeaks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thesacredspeaks Theme music provided by: http://www.modernnationsmusic.com Song of the week: Jeff Price https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mississippi-lights/1393868655