Mettle Intro Day 1

The transcription is about the benefits of meditation and its impact on mental fitness. It highlights that meditation is not just for spiritual purposes but has been embraced by successful individuals like Steve Jobs and LeBron James. Scientific studies have shown that regular meditation can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, while improving attention, memory, and emotional regulation. It also explains how meditation affects the brain by strengthening decision-making areas and reducing fear and stress responses. The transcription ends with a simple breathing exercise as an introduction to meditation. Do you ever feel like your head's about to explode with that non-stop pace of life? Like you're sprinting on a treadmill that's just a bit too fast. Maybe you've been burning the midnight oil for that next promotion or you're a dad trying to juggle work and family. Well I'm Chivzo Kereke, Stress and Burnout Coach and we're about to unlock your new superpower, Meditation. Now I know what you're thinking, alright great, he's about to tell me to sell all of my possessions, stop wearing deodorant and grow a man bun. But real meditation isn't what you've been sold in the movies. What if I told you ultra successful men from all walks of life, like Steve Jobs, LeBron James, Tim Ferriss and Arnold Schwarzenegger, have all credited meditation as a key part of their routine. Titans like this don't mess around, they use every tool in the toolbox to get to the top, especially meditation. So what is this superpower we're about to unlock? Well meditation isn't some mystical mumbo jumbo. In the same way that you'd hit the gym to train your body, meditation trains your mind. And if we're being real, we as men tend to fall a bit short here, but it's time to change that. Meditation is about achieving mental fitness, finding that inner calm amongst the chaos and enhancing our focus and productivity. Now who doesn't want that? Still not convinced? Alright, let me bring in the big guns, science. Now I could list thousands of scientific studies, but let's focus on a couple of the highlights. A study from John Hopkins found that regular meditation could help ease psychological stresses like anxiety, depression and even pain. Researchers from New York University found that even a short daily meditation can improve attention, memory, mood and emotional regulation. The proof is endless, with over a thousand new studies being published every year. So what's going on in the body and the brain when we meditate? Well it's pretty mind blowing. Scans have shown that regular meditation can beef up key areas of the brain responsible for decision making, social interactions, memory and learning. And it can also dial down our fear and our stress response, while boosting our energy and focus. Now my first time meditating wasn't exactly a walk in the park. I remember feeling a bit awkward, maybe even a bit ridiculous, but I stuck with it and let me tell you, it's been a game changer. So if you're feeling a little bit out of your league, that's alright, we're in this together. Let's start simple. Forget about meditating, we'll do that tomorrow. But what I want you to do today is simply notice how your body is breathing right now. Now I don't want you to slow the breath down or deepen the breath, just notice how your body is naturally breathing. So right now, is it a slow breath or is it a fast breath? Are you breathing into the chest or into the stomach? Is your inhale longer than your exhale, or is your exhale longer than your inhale? Also notice what it feels like to breathe. So maybe you can feel the cool air coming in through the nostrils as you breathe in. And maybe you can feel the warmer air leaving the nostrils as you breathe out. Now if it helps you to concentrate, you're welcome to close your eyes if you want. Maybe you can feel your chest, your lungs and stomach expanding on the inhale. And the body softening and relaxing on the exhale. And you might find that your mind starts thinking about something else instead of focusing on the breath. That's okay, just reset and then bring your focus back to the breath as you continue to notice how your body is breathing. One more breath in. And a breath out. And if your eyes are closed, feel free to open them. Okay, so I lied. You just meditated. But I promise that will be the only lie that I tell you in the whole series. Everything else is going to be 100% true and based on the science. So you see, there's not much to it. Even though it's science, it's not rocket science. It's basically the art of doing nothing. We focus on an object, in this case the breath. And every time we get distracted, which we will over and over, we just bring our attention back until we get distracted again. Rinse, repeat. Simple but powerful. So, you've just made it through day one of our meditation journey. Not too bad, right? Tomorrow, we'll dive deeper into mindfulness, a form of meditation, as we learn how to switch off autopilot and start living in the moment. Until then, stay strong and stay metal.