Transcriber: Anton Zamaraev Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs
So there are many killers in this world.
We have bombs, guns, illness,
but the worst killer of all, in my opinion,
is stress.
So our body is the most complex piece of machinery known to mankind.
Engineers can only dream of building a machine
that works even half as well as the human body.
And guess who controls the human body?
The brain.
When you get stressed,
your brain produces a stress hormone, cortisol.
There's a lot of stress that's healthy,
but it also has potential to be life-threatening.
Repeated release of cortisol in the brain can lead to serious brain degeneration.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where healthy stress
turns into a killer.
So to kill a weed, you have to rip it out from the root.
And in this case, the root of the problem would be stress.
Just think about it.
You spend a large amount of your day just bogged down with stress.
Your exams are coming up.
Your boss isn't too happy with you.
The bills are piling up.
It just keeps going on and on and on.
Now, imagine all of these negative thoughts as flies.
Loud, annoying flies that just won't stop buzzing around up there.
But here's the problem.
You need to get rid of these flies.
But how do you get rid of these flies?
You can hardly spray insect repellent to get rid of metaphorical flies,
now can you?
Well, there is an answer.
You can spray metaphorical insect repellent
to get rid of these metaphorical flies.
And that's ...
meditation.
[Meditation!]
In meditation, you look inside yourself.
You focus on the person that you truly are,
and you block out everything else that's around you.
You find your emotions, and you should let them go.
Don't keep it inside.
It's like with a soda bottle.
If you shake a soda bottle then the top pops off
and your soda just flies all over the place.
Now, I don't want to put a disgusting picture in your head,
but imagine the same thing happening to your brain.
Yikes.
Okay.
But if you don't believe in all this "reach deeper into yourself"
non-scientific mumbo-jumbo,
then I have a more scientific explanation
for those of you who might be slightly more skeptical.
Meditation physically thickens, you hear that - "physically" -
physically thickens your frontal lobe, which is a part of your brain.
You see, it's the yellow area right there.
Okay.
It physically thickens your frontal lobe.
This results in increased levels of attention and creativity.
Meditation can also act as a solution to high blood pressure.
High blood pressure, if left untreated, can lead to serious heart diseases,
which kill thousands of people every year.
Another ailment the meditation is a solution to
is depression.
As all of you probably know, depression can be a side effect of stress.
According to a poll conducted by the World Health Organization,
who knows when,
approximately 315 million people in our world
suffer from depression,
and the number just keeps rising.
Depression at its worst can lead to potential suicide,
and as you all learned earlier in this program,
approximately 1 million people every year try to commit suicide.
So,
now, insomnia is also something that can be cured by meditation.
And speaking of insomnia, I'm leading up to something else here.
Just so you know. Okay.
So my grandfather is a brain tumor patient.
Just a few years ago, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor,
and as a result of the surgery -
So, recently, he's started meditating, like, every night before bed,
or sometimes, (Whispering) you know, things get spoiled sometimes.
He started meditating almost every night before bed,
and as a result, he can sleep soundly without any sleeping pills.
And now, just to give you a short idea
of what this meditation process might feel like.
(Ethereal music)
So,
shake out your muscles.
Just move around a little bit.
Shake your arms.
Rock around in your chair.
Just start moving.
Now, relax.
Drop your arms.
Close your eyes.
Listen to the sounds in your surroundings.
Accept what's around you.
Just focus on where you are in this moment.
Notice if there's any discomfort in your body.
Just try to be comfortable in your surroundings.
Breathe in.
And breathe out.
Reach for any emotions that you might be feeling right now.
Take a deep breath in.
And breathe out.
Slowly and gradually,
whenever you feel ready, you may open your eyes now.
So this is meditation.
Just being in the moment, if only for five minutes,
a complete 100%.
So the topic of this entire program was the beauty of change.
And now, what I want you to do
is incorporate meditation into your lifestyle.
Let this experience change your mindset.
And hopefully this will help you in your life.
(Applause)