Transcendental Meditation Boosts Student Graduation Rates

Students practising TM: Research shows regular Transcendental Meditation boosts exam results

19 June 2013

A meditation technique can boost brain power and improve exam results, reports the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, the Times and the Examiner and other media worldwide.

A study of high school students found school graduation rates were up to 25 per cent higher for those who practise Transcendental Meditation for 20 minutes twice a day, according to research published in the journal Education.

Professor Robert Colbert, from the University of Connecticut, the lead researcher, said that improved rates of completing secondary education benefit society as a whole, as well as improving prospects for the individual. He added that dropping out can result in loss of income, along with more risk of turning to crime and ending up in jail, or becoming dependent on state benefit.

In the study, analysis of the records of 235 students — the entire school year — at an inner-city school on the east coast of the USA showed a 15 per cent higher graduation rate for those put on a Transcendental Mediation programme compared to a control group.

The students, aged 16 to 17, practised TM twice a day for 20 minutes throughout their whole senior year.

The largest effect was found in the most academically challenged students, as when only the lowest academically performing participants in both groups were considered, passes rose by 25 per cent in the meditators.

The meditating students were also less likely to drop out from school, or enter prison, and were more likely to be accepted to further education.

Prof Colbert said: "While there are bright spots in public education today, urban schools on the whole tend to suffer from a range of factors which contribute to poor student academic performance and low graduation rates.

"Students need to be provided with value added educational programmes that can provide opportunities for school success.

"Our study investigated one such programme, Transcendental Meditation, which appears to hold tremendous promise for enriching the lives of our nation’s students."

Dr Sanford Nidich, co-author and professor of education at Maharishi University of Management, added, "Recently published research on increased academic achievement and reduced psychological stress in urban school students may provide possible mechanisms for the higher graduation rates found in this study."

 

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Refugees in Uganda practising Transcendental Meditation as part of the African PTSD Relief project, funded by the David Lynch Foundation.

Transcendental Meditation dramatically reduces post-traumatic stress in African refugees

24 April 2013

 

 

New study reports immediate and dramatic reductions in symptoms after just thirty days of Transcendental Meditation practice.

Soldiers and other military personnel returning from wars exhibit symptoms of what is now recognised as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the effects of war on civilian victims is often overlooked. Refugees are torn from their homes and homelands, yet live with the constant reminders of what war has done to their lives and those of their families. Healing their trauma is key to their future.

Research into the effects of an established therapy for post-traumatic stress, Transcendental Meditation, on a group of African war refugees, when practised just twice daily for twenty minutes, found dramatic results. 

The randomised study, which is published in the April 2013 issue of Journal of Traumatic Stress, measured the severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms in a group of Congolese refugees living in Uganda before and after learning the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique.

The forty-two participants were assigned to learn TM immediately or wait until after the study. All the participants indicated severe symptoms immediately before the outset and were matched in age and gender. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include flashbacks, nightmares, hyper-vigilance, insomnia, emotional numbness and isolation, as well as anxiety and depression. All participants were tested again for symptoms after thirty days and again after 135 days. 

Graph illustrating results of TM African refugee study

In the non-meditating group, the symptoms actually increased, while in the group practising Transcendental Meditation, symptoms went from severe to nil, with no symptoms after thirty days or 135 days of TM practice.

 

IMAGE: This graph shows the changes in post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms reflected in the two groups (the meditating group is in blue) at outset, 30 days, and at 3 months. Both groups indicated severe PTSD at the outset.

"We anticipated improvement, but I didn't expect this magnitude of change," said lead author of the study Col. Brian Rees MD, who is a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and a former chief medical officer in Afghanistan and Iraq. "The continued improvement at four months also led us to conclude that TM may be a very worthwhile intervention for anyone suffering from post-traumatic stress."

The Congo is one of eighteen African nations that have been ravaged by war in the past twenty years. Tens of millions of Africans now suffer from post-traumatic stress. In the video above, some Sudanese refugees, also living in Uganda backspace, tell their personal story of how practice of Transcendental Meditation has healed their trauma, bringing mental and emotional stability.

The findings of this study reinforce previous research on the TM technique showing that it can reverse the damage done by traumatic experiences in military personnel. In a study of Vietnam veterans, TM practice was found to be more effective than psychotherapy in reducing post-traumatic stress symptoms, anxiety, depression, insomnia and alcohol abuse. A study of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans found that three months practice of TM decreased anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Journal of Traumatic Stress (Volume 26, Issue 2, pp. 295-298)

More information on the David Lynch Foundation's Africa PTSD Relief Project, including a short documentary with actor, director Bill Duke, Ambassador for African PTSD Relief, can be found at David Lynch Foundation/Africa.

 

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Can Meditation Change the World?

Joachim Chissano, former president of Mozambique, created lasting peace and prosperity for the country.

28 January 2013

The Amazing Story of Mozambique's 'Meditating President'.

From: Out Of The Darkness, by Steve Taylor.

Psychology Today

What would happen if every member of a country's government and army started to meditate, asks author Steve Taylor writing in the journal Psychology Today?

Would the country become peaceful and crime-free? And would meditation prove to be the best way to stop famine, as the spiritual psychologist Ken Wilber once controversially asserted?

The amazing story of Mozambique and its former president Joachim Chissano provides us with answers to these questions, writes Taylor, who is a university lecturer in psychology. As under Chissano’s leadership, from 1994 to 2005, the entire government, military and police force of Mozambique were required to practise Transcendental Meditation twice a day.

The result was peace and prosperity. A country that had been torn apart by civil war for 15 years was ‘brought back from the brink of self-destruction and has instead become one of Africa's most stable and peaceful countries’.

Joachim Chissano first became president in 1986, but it was in 1992, in the wake of the civil war, that he first learned Transcendental Meditation. His government forces had won the war, but Mozambique showed all the signs of being trapped in a cycle of conflict and corruption.

Instead Chissano made peace with the rebel forces and promised that there would be no prosecutions or punishments.  He offered them 50 percent of the positions in the Mozambiquan army and encouraged the rebels to establish their own political party.

Chissano introduced Transcendental Meditation to other government officials and their families and two years later, in 1994, he and his generals ordered all police and military (half of whom would have been from the rebels’ side) to meditate twice per day for 20 minutes. In addition 30,000 civilians were reportedly taught Transcendental Meditation and its advanced techniques.

After winning the 1994 election against the rebels, Chissano set about establishing lasting peace by reducing poverty. By 2003, almost three million people were rescued from extreme poverty, out of a total population of almost 20 million. This lead to a 35 percent decrease in the number of children dying under the age of five, and an increase of 65 percent in the number of children going to school.

Joachim Chissano, who is now a UN peace envoy, is in no doubt that collective Transcendental Meditation was responsible for the end to conflict and the increasing prosperity. He said, "The result has been political peace and balance in nature in my country. The culture of war has to be replaced by the culture of peace. For that purpose, something deeper has to be changed in our mind and in our consciousness to prevent the recurrence of war.”

Steve Taylor goes on to explore some research on other types of meditation, Mindfulness and Buddhist, and the mechanism by which meditation might lead to more rational and compassionate behaviour.

In support of Ken Wilber's statement that "meditation is the best way to eliminate famine in the world", Taylor concludes "Human social behaviour is a manifestation of our inner state. Discord in the world stems from discord in our minds, and there will only be harmony and peace in the world once there is harmony and peace inside us."

Read the full article at Steve Taylor's blog Out of the Darkness at Psychology Today.

Steve Taylor is a lecturer in psychology at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. He is the author of Back to Sanity: Healing the Madness of the Human Mind. Eckhart Tolle has called his work "an important contribution to the shift in consciousness happening on our planet at this time".

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Meditation Could Halve Heart Attacks and Strokes in Heart Patients

New study shows Transcendental Meditation Improves the Long-Term Health of the Heart

10 January 2013

New study also found lower blood pressure and reduced stress and anger, as well as improvement in long-term heart health.

NBC (see TV report, right), CNN, the Daily Mail, the Huffington Post, the New York Times and other media worldwide.

November 18, 2012

People with heart disease who practised Transcendental Meditation regularly were almost 50 percent less likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die from any cause compared with those who attended a health education class over more than five years, according to a new study published by the American Heart Association's journal, Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Those practicing meditation also lowered their blood pressure and reported less stress and anger. And the more regularly patients meditated, the greater their survival rate, said researchers who conducted the study at the Medical College of Wisconsin, USA.

Lead researcher Dr Robert Schneider, director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention in Iowa, said: "We hypothesised that reducing stress by managing the mind-body connection would help improve rates of this epidemic disease.

"It appears that Transcendental Meditation is a technique that turns on the body’s own pharmacy – to repair and maintain itself."

For the study, researchers randomly assigned 201 African-Americans to participate in either the Transcendental Meditation stress-reducing programme or a health education class about lifestyle modification for diet and exercise. Their average age was 59 and their average BMI was 32 – classed as obese.

African-Americans have a 50 percent higher rate of death from heart disease compared to whites in the United States.

Those in the meditation programme sat with eyes closed for about 20 minutes twice a day practicing the technique. Participants in the health education group spent at least 20 minutes a day at home practising heart-healthy behaviours such as exercise, healthy meal preparation and relaxation.

Results

Although there were no significant differences between the groups in weight, exercise or diet, regular meditation was correlated with a 48% reduced rate of death, heart attack and stroke. The meditation group also showed a trend towards reduced smoking.

Blood pressure was reduced and anger decreased significantly among the meditation group. They also showed a trend towards reduced smoking.

Dr Schneider added: "Transcendental Meditation may reduce heart disease risks for both healthy people and those with diagnosed heart conditions.

"The research on Transcendental Meditation and cardiovascular disease is established well enough that doctors may safely and routinely prescribe stress reduction for their patients with this easy to implement, standardised and practical programme."

The study was funded by the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

 

Read more at the American Heart Association website.

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David Lynch Launches Warrior Wellness in UK with Gala, Starring James McCartney.

Guests at theTransforming Lives From Within benefit Gala at the Under-Globe at the Globe Theatre

10 December 2012

David Lynch, James McCartney, Tim Burgess and others from the entertainment world joined British war veterans at the Transforming Lives From Within Gala in London on 24th November to support the UK launch of the David Lynch Foundation UK and its Operation Warrior Wellness programme, which helps war veterans to overcome post-traumatic stress disorder.

Singer and songwriter James McCartney opened the gala with an impressive performance, bringing to the UK the solid support he and his father Paul McCartney have given the David Lynch Foundation in recent years. In New York in 2009 the two remaining Beatles, Paul and Ringo, reunited for the first time on an American stage for decades in support of the David Lynch Foundation, and it was at a small DLF concert in Iowa that James made his public musical debut that same year, after a decade of playing incognito in bands.

  James McCartney performing

The Transforming Lives From Within Gala took place at the Under-Globe at the Globe Theatre in London

 

 

 

 

 

James McCartney performing at the gala:"I wish the Foundation continued success in spreading its good work & the power of TM”   

James McCartney spoke of his delight (in a statement) at playing at another David Lynch Foundation event, and the importance of the Transforming Lives From Within Gala gig for him, “The significance this time round is that it’s in my home town of London… I am pleased to learn that the David Lynch Foundation has expanded into Europe & enrolled as a UK registered charity. I wish everyone involved continued success in spreading the good work of the Foundation & the power of Transcendental Meditation – Health & Happiness to all.”     

Next, David Lynch joined the gala by video link to speak of the charity's goals. The iconic movie director established the Foundation in 2005 to fund the teaching of Transcendental Meditation (TM) to schoolchildren and students worldwide. He spoke of how the charity had already enabled over 200,000 individuals to learn stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation and how the charity's scope had successfully extended to programmes for war veterans with PTSD, the homeless, prisoners and for other at-risk groups.

He also presented Tim Burgess of the band The Charlatans with a 'David Lynch Foundation Peace Award' via live video link

 in honour of Tim's innovative fund-raising work for the charity. This has included contributing music to the Transcendental Music label (a non-profit label directing proceeds to the DLF) and, most recently, creating his own coffee brand, Tim Peaks, which he launched in November.

In thanking the charity, Tim Burgess said (in a statement), "The David Lynch Foundation is something that's so close to my heart, and being able to contribute to their work has been an absolute pleasure for me. Practising TM has given a whole new aspect to my life, and to know that contributing time and ideas to the DLF is benefiting people who need our help means such a lot."

Tim Burgess at the Transforming Lives From Within Gala posing with Peace Award, with David Lynch on live video link.The focus of the evening then moved to the DLF’s Operation Warrior Wellness programme, which has successfully helped thousands of Gulf and Afghanistan war veterans, active servicemen and their families in the USA to recover from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through the teaching of Transcendental Meditation.

Two British ex-servicemen spoke about how post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) had blighted their lives and how learning Transcendental Meditation had brought about significant relief and recovery.

Former army Commando Gunner, Steve Bindon, a Falklands veteran, was isolated and traumatised for decades before learning TM last year. At the gala he described the events in 1982 which caused his trauma, including experiences during the Battle of Goose Green.

“PTSD started to affect me straight away after the events that caused it in 1982, but it wasn’t until 2010 that I was diagnosed…
“When I learnt TM it was like somebody turned on the light – really… Now, I am for the first time in 30 years able to find my true self again and live the life I was destined to but never had the chance.”

An original painting by Steve was amongst items auctioned at the gala. 

Leighton Stagg was discharged from the army in 2009 after 5 years as an infantry soldier because he was unable to function owing to traumatic stress. For several years he suffered, and tried counselling, CBT and various other approaches which only helped to a certain extent.

In 2011 he learnt TM. “That was the best decision I ever made. In the last 13 of 14 months I've come off all of my medication and I haven't had the need for any other approaches.

"I've regained something within myself that I hadn't felt, in all honesty, since I was 18 years old… The deep rest and relaxation it has given me has been unique. I really feel it has allowed my body and my mind to heal from the trauma.”

Operation Warrior Wellness was launched in the USA in 2010, and has since received the support of leading military and veterans organisations, including the US Government's Department of Veteran Affairs (which is funding two major studies on Transcendental Meditation and PTSD). High profile supporters include Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey, and Russell Brand.

David Lynch praised the forces veterans “who have done so much for their country; yet they come home from battles and have to suffer in silence. They’re afraid to say, and they’re not encouraged to say, and yet their lives are pure hell.” “When soldiers get this simple, effortless technique [Transcendental Meditation],” he added, “They get their lives back. It saves lives; not only the soldiers lives, but the families who are suffering too."

The gala featured an auction with items donated by celebrities and artists, including various special edition prints of David Lynch’s own Twin Peaks-themed artwork, each signed by Lynch, and artwork by Santha Faiia and war veteran Steve Bindon.

Further items are available by silent auction from 29th November at the Charity Buzz site, including a DJ lesson with Radio 1’s Rob da Bank and, from Tim Burgess, 2 VIP tickets to the Isle of Wight Festival and a shift working at the coolest coffee shop on earth – Tim Peaks Diner! Artwork, including items from Pauline Amos, Gilbert & George and Francis Knight, will also soon be available for silent auction at Paddle 8.

 

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James McCartney Headlines David Lynch Foundation Benefit Gala in London

James McCartney: I'm delighted to perform at a David Lynch Foundation event in my home town of London

23 November 2012

'Transforming Lives From Within' Gala

Iconic Hollywood movie director David Lynch is to launch his charitable foundation in the UK with a fundraising gala and live auction in London this Saturday 24th November at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

James McCartney is to perform exclusively at the Transforming Lives From Within Gala — in support of the very same charity that reunited the two remaining Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, for a rare public performance at the David Lynch Foundation’s Change Begins Within benefit concert in New York in 2009. That same year, James made his public musical debut at a David Lynch Foundation benefit in Iowa, having only played incognito before.

James says,

“I’m delighted to have been invited to perform again at another one of the Foundation's events. The significance this time round is that it’s in my home town of London. …I wish everyone involved continued success in spreading the good work of the Foundation & the power of Transcendental Meditation – Health & Happiness to all.”

 

DJ Rob da Bank, Donovan, David Lynch and other celebrities and artists have donated auction items in support of the David Lynch Foundation’s Operation Warrior Wellness programme, which has successfully helped thousands of Gulf and Afghanistan war veterans and active servicemen in the USA to recover from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by teaching them the Transcendental Meditation technique.

 

David Lynch will join the gala by live video link to present his charity's plans for similar projects for veterans and others in vulnerable high-stress categories in the UK. He will also present Tim Burgess of The Charlatans with a 'DLF Peace Award’ (via video link) for his innovative fundraising for the charity, including music for the Transcendental Music Label, his own Kellogg's cereal brand and, most recently, his own brand of coffee, Tim Peaks. Tim will speak about how Transcendental Meditation helped him recover from decades of drug addiction.

British ex-servicemen whose lives were blighted by PTSD will be among other speakers at the event describing how Transcendental Meditation has transformed their lives, including former army Commando Gunner, Steve Bindon, a Falklands veteran who for decades was isolated, traumatised and at times homeless before learning Transcendental Meditation last year.

Operation Warrior Wellness was launched in the USA in 2010, and has since received the support of leading military and veterans organisations, including the US Dept. of Veteran Affairs, which is funding two major studies on Transcendental Meditation and PTSD. High profile supporters include Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah Winfrey, and Russell Brand.

David Lynch says,

"We are delighted to be launching the David Lynch Foundation in the United Kingdom, and look forward to bringing Operation Warrior Wellness to British war veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and their families.

“Since we established the Foundation in the USA in 2005, we have helped over 250,000 at-risk adults and children worldwide to heal traumatic stress and raise performance through the teaching of Transcendental Meditation – including thousands of veterans, serving military and their families. When soldiers get this simple, effortless technique, they get their lives back. It saves lives; not only the soldiers’ lives, but the families who are suffering too.”

The David Lynch Foundation UK will also be bringing its innovative approach to help at-risk youths, the homeless in re-entry programmes, prisoners and inner-city teachers and students.

TV antiques and memorabilia expert Jamie Breese will conduct a live auction at the event, with items including various special edition prints of David Lynch’s own Twin Peaks-themed artwork, each signed by Lynch, and artwork by Santha Faiia and war veteran Steve Bindon. Further items will be available by silent auction, from 29th November, at the Charity Buzz site, including a DJ lesson with Radio 1’s Rob da Bank, and, from Tim Burgess, 2 VIP tickets to the Isle of Wight Festival and a shift working at the coolest coffee shop on earth – Tim Peaks Diner! Artwork, including items from Pauline Amos, Gilbert & George and Francis Knight, will also be available for silent auction at Paddle 8 from 29th November.

More information about the event and the online auction can be found at davidlynchfoundation.org.uk

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Candy Crowley, CNN anchor and presidential debate moderator, is credited with a ‘natural state of restful alertness’ since learning TM.

US Debate Moderator’s Secret of Success? Transcendental Meditation

18 October 2012

Daily Mail
15 October 2012

Candy Crowley, moderator of the second presidential debate may have a trick up her sleeve if things get tense between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney – she practices Transcendental Meditation twice a day.

The senior CNN anchor, who will be in charge of the debate on Long Island, New York, took up meditation after the 2008 election and managed to achieve what one website called a “natural state of restful alertness”. She also credits the practice with her weight loss.

Crowley, 63, will be under intense scrutiny as debate moderator, following criticism of Jim Lehrer for being too passive in the first presidential debate. She has also prompted concerns from both camps after comments she has made, suggesting she will not be passive during the debate.

Plastic Surgery? “No, Meditation”

Three years ago, Crowley attracted a lot of comment because she seemed slimmer and perhaps even a little more chilled. There was even speculation she might have had a face lift or gastric bypass. But the secret, she revealed to the Los Angeles Times was swimming, dieting and Transcendental Meditation.

“I feel great physically,” she said at the time. “I feel really good. I’m lighter now in a lot of ways.” She added that she does not have scales in her home because that’s not what motivates her.

US presidential debate moderator Candy Crowley Healthy: Candy Crowley credits TM and vegetarianism with helping her lose weight.

 

In May, Crowley gave the commencement address for students at Maharishi University of Management. The university was set up in 1974 in Fairfield, Iowa, by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who founded Transcendental Meditation.

“To Get to Where You Want to Go, You First Have to Stand and Be Who You Are”

The university’s mission is to “provide a consciousness-based education holistic, relevant education for a successful life — not just a career — to ensure our happiness and to make real contributions in the world” and “meditation and spiritual growth, self-exploration, higher consciousness, spirituality, and inner peace through the Transcendental Meditation technique”. The meditation is practised for 15–20 minutes twice per day, while sitting with closed eyes.

Crowley told the gathered students: “To get to where you want to go, you first have to stand and be who you are.” In advice that could be applied to Romney and Obama, she told them to be heroic, and find the beauty in what they do. “Be honest and demand honesty in life,” she said.

A veteran of eight presidential campaigns, Crowley is known among journalists for her friendliness and complete lack of pretension in a world awash with preening egos.

On her meditation, she says: “I’ll do it in the morning. If I have to, I do it at the office. Most times, I will do it when I get home, but not before bed, because it tends to be energising.”

She has been a vegetarian since covering the Republican campaign in 1995. She recalled: “We were in South Carolina, and someone served me a hamburger, and I thought, ‘I don’t want to eat this any more.’”

Read the full article by Toby Harnden at Daily Mail.

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Did Our Ancestors Benefit from a Fourth State of Consciousness?

Dr Norman Rosenthal explores the benefits of Transcendental Meditation

29 September 2012

Leading American psychiatrist identifies ‘lost’ human experience that could be the key to health and happiness – and reveals how we can rediscover it, in a new book and in a series of  seminars in London starting next week.

We experience life within the realm of three changing states: waking, dreaming and sleeping. Yet in every culture mystics, poets or sages have alluded to a ‘higher’ or greater state of consciousness that has transformative qualities.

Dr Norman Rosenthal, the clinical psychiatrist renowned for identifying Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and pioneering light box treatment, claims this ‘fourth’ state of consciousness, far from being a poetic flight of fancy, is a distinct state with its own physiological signature and brain pattern; a state that was once an ordinary part of human existence, experienced by all and not just a priestly elite.

Transcendence

In his new book Transcendence, which he will be presenting in a series of talks in London from October 6th-10th, Dr Rosenthal describes this lost state as ‘transcendence’, and weaves testimonies from history and scripture together with modern scientific evidence from numerous studies on Transcendental Meditation to reveal the unique and beneficial characteristics of this fourth state of consciousness.

The Night Sky The Watch: Was transcendence a regular experience for our ancestors?

He explores the function of transcendence, and reveals how it can be easily experienced through regular practice of the TM technique, which has wide-ranging scientifically-proven benefits for health and well-being.

Transcendence is described as a state of ‘restful alertness’.  Typically, thoughts subside and the mind settles down to a state of inner wakefulness with no object of thought or perception; just silent awareness.

Dr Rosenthal first encountered ‘transcendence’ in the early 90s when involved in sleep studies as a senior researcher at the USA’s National Institute of Mental Health. A study to explore how the advent of modern lighting had affected our sleep patterns revealed that if participants slept for a period of 14 hours of darkness – equivalent to a full winter’s night – every night for a period of several weeks, their sleep would typically divide into two periods, with a waking period of, on average, two hours in between. Participants would experience a feeling of ‘tranquil awareness’ or ‘crystal clear consciousness’ during this time.

‘The Watch’

This period of wakefulness corresponded with ‘The Watch’ as described in past centuries. Rosenthal draws on a rich array of literary and poetic descriptions of this ‘mystical experience’ from Homer through to Robert Louis Stevenson. What was the function of The Watch?

One evolutionary function of The Watch, says Rosenthal, was a restorative and transformational one, as, fresh from REM sleep, our ancestors were able to access their dreams and process this valuable information and experience clearer sight, improving decision-making.

In the late 90s, Dr Rosenthal began comparing scientific research on The Watch with research on Transcendental Meditation, which he had learned decades before. He found they ‘shared a common physiology’.

Transcendental Meditation

Transcendence is not unique to The Watch or TM, Dr Rosenthal says, but “most modern-day Westerners will seldom experience much, if any, transcendence”. With practice of Transcendental Meditation, however, research has shown that novice meditators very quickly experience the increased brain alpha-wave power and coherence associated with transcendence – within a few months of learning, practising twice a day for 20 minutes. Indeed, their EEG brain measurements are often indistinguishable from that of long-term meditators during practice of TM.

This experience of transcendence, therefore, as with The Watch in pre-historic times, is accessible to all people, and not just the poets and priests among us.

In a fascinating and varied series of presentations in London in October, Dr Rosenthal will explore transcendence and the wide ranging benefits of Transcendental Meditation for health and well-being, drawing on scientific evidence, modern case studies, and literary and spiritual testimonies to transcendence from across the centuries.

As well as presenting his current New York Times bestselling book, Transcendence: Healing and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation, he will also speak about his revised and updated, Winter Blues: Everything You Need to Know to Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder.

To join him at one of his seminars for either the public, those interested in spirituality, business leaders, medics or the SAD community, from October 6th-10th, visit http://maharishifoundation.org.uk/rosenthal-tour/London-Dublin.html.

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Daily Mail Journalist Transforms Her Life and Workplace with Meditation

19 July 2012

Daily Mail journalist Marianne Power Kensington High Street 350

“I wish I’d been taught this at school – it’s the best life skill I’ve ever learned.”

Daily Mail feature writer Marianne Power says  Transcendental Meditation has helped her to combat stress, sleep better and perform better at work.

Marianne learned the TM technique last summer after a colleague recommended it, and was soon meditating twice a day.

Before she embarked on her TM routine, Marianne said she was running on empty. Writing in the Daily Mail, she said: “By day I was stressed by silly things that made me snap at people.

“By night I would try to unwind with too many hours of television and too many glasses of wine before lying awake in bed stewing over all my worries. I was run-down, got every cold going and at my very lowest points was prescribed antidepressants.

TM had an immediate effect on Marianne, and a year later she says it has changed her life.

“There’s something about the sound vibration of the mantra going over and over in your mind that lulls you into a kind of trance. The repetition of the sound is like a lullaby.

“You go into your own world and yet you are still aware of your surroundings. You’re neither awake, nor asleep, nor dreaming – just beautifully relaxed. It’s like a warm bath for your brain.”

After the first lesson, she felt calm and focused and that night, enjoyed the longest, deepest sleep since childhood. She’s been sleeping well ever since.

“Situations that would once have sent me into a tailspin no longer have the same effect.”

She said: “The more I meditate, the less I seem to be bothered by things. Situations that would once have sent me into a tailspin no longer have the same effect.

“My heart doesn’t race in the way it once did; I have become more calm and rational; my concentration at work has also improved.

“I think this is primarily because I am better rested and less stressed, but scans have shown that meditation actually increases the size of your hippocampus – the part of the brain associated with memory and learning. I also feel healthier.

“I have had only one cold in the past seven months. And then there are the less tangible changes, the ones to your personality and relationships.

“Friends have commented on the fact that I seem more relaxed. I certainly feel more content, less inclined to snap or overreact.

“So is this a miracle? Am I now the perfect person? Hardly. Like most of the good things in life, it takes work. Like going to the gym or eating well, you have to keep doing it even on days when you tell yourself you are too busy.

“I meditate for 20 minutes morning and night. After breakfast, and then at 4pm – and on days when that’s not possible, on the train or in a taxi. Every little helps … I feel better.

“I’m just so happy that I’ve found a tool that helps me perform well in the day and sleep better at night.

“I wish I’d been taught this at school – it’s the best life skill I’ve ever learned.”

Read the full article at the Daily Mail.

 

Troy van Beek being interviewed on Oprah's Next Chapter about his new life

From Guns to Meditation

29 June 2012

As a US Navy Seal, Troy van Beek worked for 9 years in some of the most hostile and dangerous places on Earth. His last tour of duty was in  Afghanistan, where he was the lead sniper protecting the Afghan president for two years. Car and road bombs and suicide attacks were a part of his daily life.

Today, by contrast, aged 42, he lives in a charming bungalow with his girlfriend, Amy, in the idyllic town of Fairfield, Iowa, one of the safest, greenest and most peaceful communities in the USA, where over 5,000 residents practise group meditation twice daily.

Troy is now a renewable energy expert and works just as assiduously to secure our civilisation, but now his focus is on protecting us against the threat of global environmental meltdown rather than terrorism. He and Amy live completely ‘off the grid’, as do many in the neighbourhood in Fairfield, and his life’s work is to inspire others to live sustainably.

Speaking to Oprah Winfrey on an episode of Oprah’s Next Chapter exploring Transcendental Meditation and Fairfield, Troy said that the turning point for him came after he’d completed his last tour of military duty.

“I googled Enlightenment”             

Troy and his partner Amy
Troy and his partner Amy Greenfield live in a community of 27 homes that are virtually off-the-grid.

“I found myself at a crossroads. I was living two lives. I had to work very hard to be a security professional, but also the spirituality of me was really driving me as well. I realised there was a kind of split in my life. At one point, I was looking for what was out there, and I googled ‘enlightenment’ online and the town of Fairfield kept coming up.”

Fairfield – or TM town, as Oprah named it – is the centre of Maharishi University of Management, and is home to many practitioners of Transcendental Meditation and others seeking a more spiritual and green way of life.

Eleven months later Troy was visiting family in Michigan and decided to make a detour to Iowa.

“It was an amazing place. It was filled with people having conversations about their spirituality, and I realised it was a town that desired evolution and I was taken by it immediately.”

He enrolled at Maharishi University of Management and pursued a degree in Sustainability.

“Right away, as part of the curriculum, they start teaching you Transcendental Meditation and the way that comes through you, it connects you with a more holistic understanding of yourself and of how you connect with everything else. … From this I’ve been able to rest and take in a whole new world of possibilities.”

After graduating from MUM, he started the company Ideal Energy: “It is part of my attempt to be the change I wish to see in the world.

“What I was doing overseas as part of the military was, I hoped, helping but I realised I couldn’t possibly be helping by pointing guns at people. … If I wanted to see a positive peaceful change, I needed to embody that myself.”

Troy works with the David Lynch Foundation’s Operation Warrior Wellness programme …

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