Meditation: Transcending Darkness

My husband, Bud, and I learned the TM technique in 1984.  We first heard of TM in the 60’s.  A great deal of scientific research was done on the TM technique in the 60’s and 70’s.  Frequently we would notice a news article about the remarkable scientific findings related to the practice of this technique.  We would comment to each other that the research was interesting and didn’t this TM stuff sound great.  We hoped it was helping a lot of people!  We had no interest in learning ourselves until 1984.

In the winter of 1984 a respected friend told us of his experiences with TM.  Our friend encouraged us to learn.  We listened to him, thought his comments were interesting, and promptly forgot the conversation.  Several weeks after this conversation, our friend who lived in LA at the time, called.  He said a conference on TM was going to be held at the Renaissance Center in Detroit. He urged us to attend.  Since our friend was planning to be in town attending the conference we decided to go as well. 

I think our experience of hearing about TM, not doing anything about it, hearing of TM again, and forgetting what we heard is typical. Most of us need to hear of something new a few times or even several times before we embrace it.  It is also human nature to embrace a new idea when we hear it from someone we know and admire rather than from a stranger. I think, too, that the media bombards us with information about a myriad of things we should or can do to improve our well being.  After a time we begin to discount information. 

My husband and I did attend that conference with our friend, and I remember the experience well.  I remember the room where the conference was held, and I remember specific conversations I had with people there.  I believe I remember my thoughts and feelings, experienced that long-ago evening, because I sensed we were learning about something that would dramatically alter the success of our lives.  It was an extremely important event for us. 

At the conference we were impressed by the presentation of a voluminous amount of research on the TM technique.  It seemed that there was no reason to turn our backs on the opportunity to learn.  Our only concerns regarded the time commitment of 20 minutes twice a day, but we gleaned from the speakers the information that we would not be giving up time.  We would be gaining time.  The researchers told us that the practice of the TM technique would help us to be more energetic, to think more clearly, perhaps to sleep less, and to be able to accomplish more not less.  Over the years we have learned that this is true.

Immediately after we learned TM, we realized that this technique was extraordinarily powerful.  We realized immediate effects and we clearly sensed that the benefits would be cumulative.  We realized this but neither of us thought much about it.  We simply meditated. Meditation became a regular part of our lives.  A few months after we began meditating, Bud and I noticed changes in each other.  When we commented on these changes we both realized that we did feel quite different from how we had felt in the past.

The experience of ourselves is what we know. How we feel, how we experience ourselves is our reality.  When the experience of self changes, and changes significantly and permanently, it changes by degrees.  Because we are changing from within, we do not have full realization of the change until it is so profound that it is noticeable to others.

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I discuss several ways that the TM technique is helps us to change. Transcendental Meditation has the following proven benefits.

1.      Dissolving Deep-Seated Stress

2.     Providing Deep Rest

3.     Alleviating Anxiety

4.     Expanding Awareness

5.     Increasing the Internal Locus of Control

6.     Enhancing Physiological Adaptability

7.     Enhancing Psychological Adaptability

8.     Purification of the Mind

9.     Integration and Personal Growth

Each of these benefits translates into a holistic change in the mind-body.  For instance, when we expand our awareness we acquire a wide-angle lens with which to view life.  Expanding awareness opens the “shutter” in the mind’s eye.  When we have a panoramic view of an event, our understanding is enhanced.  This deeper viewpoint gives us more flexibility in the face of change, allowing the stress of life’s transitions to roll off our backs more easily.  When stresses roll off of us more easily then we are not inclined to be reactive to others.  Our relationships improve and we don’t integrate stress into our physiology.  Our health also improves.  These are profound changes. 

The TM technique has been shown to increase physical, emotional, and psychological resiliency.  What can be better than increased resiliency?  To be able to roll with life’s punches and spring back to action without integrating stress into the physiology is a great gift.

I hope you are not going to be like Bud and me and have to hear about TM over and over before you decide to take the plunge.  Positive research on this technique is still being reported in scientific journals and the technique is available for all interested parties.  GoogleTM.Org to learn more and locate a teacher in your neck of the woods.

Our family is delighted to welcome a new meditator into our fold this week.  Blessings to Ivy, age 13.  She recently decided to learn TM. The TM technique will provide a natural basis for Ivy’s formation of her adult identity.  It will give her increased energy, self-confidence and a general feeling of well-being.  She’ll be able to recognize how people can be identical at their core and yet uniquely different in their personalities. This recognition will help her to have positive relationships throughout her high school experience and beyond.  We believe that practice of the TM technique will help Ivy sail through adolescence unencumbered by the stresses many teen agers experience. She’ll be able to access her internal wisdom, rid herself of stress, and reach her full potential! Bud and I are filled with joy for her!  We hope all of you decide to learn TM too!

As always, Sandra and I send our best wishes for health and happiness,

Nancy

Setting Your Sails!

You can’t turn the wind, so turn the sail.

 

Does this African proverb imply that we should “go with the flow”? Going with the flow, a frequently spoken about concept, is not always easy to put into action.

 

Doesn’t each and every one of us wish that one or another thing could be different from how it is?  Perhaps life is grand, but still you wish for a different house, more money, a different job, different co-workers, or that your child or spouse would change in one way or another.

 

Wouldn’t you like to turn your sail to take advantage of the prevailing winds? Don’t you intuitively know that going with the flow is helpful but not always easy to do?  Sandra and I believe that making this shift in thinking requires more than a switch in mind-set.  It requires internal change.

 

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way we recommend meditation to change the internal world. We all need assistance if we are to go with the flow and maintain our equilibrium in spite of having heavy winds toss us about.  Meditation is the perfect assistance.

 

We all (at least sometimes) make the mistake of thinking that the external world (the wind) needs to change in order for us to be happier or to enjoy life more.  This simply isn’t so.  It is the internal world that is calling for change, and meditation is the most effective technique by which to accomplish internal change. If we meditate we will be better able to set our sails to take advantage of the wind.  The internal strength we secure through meditation will help us to not rail against the prevailing winds but to go with the flow!

 

In spite of all the meditation techniques that are available, we strongly recommend the Transcendental Meditation technique.  We realize that different forms of meditation work for different people, but our primary reason for recommending the TM technique is that it has been rigorously evaluated for efficacy.  In addition, unlike some forms of meditation, the TM technique does not require adherence to any belief system—there is no dogma or philosophy attached to it, and it does not demand any lifestyle changes other than the practice of it.

 

If practiced regularly, the TM technique will inevitably yield positive results.  Research has shown that this technique works no matter what the expectations of the practitioner are.  It’s a bit like holding a tennis ball in your hand and then letting it go—the ball will fall to the ground whether you believe it will or not.  It the same way, the TM technique will affect your physiology whether you expect it to or not.

 

Because the regular practice of the TM technique affects the central nervous system it positively affects every aspect of human performance. Certainly it affects our ability to develop positive traits that disallow the seeding of a depressive mood.  In other words, it helps us to set our sails to take advantage of the wind; to sail on with the flow and not get blown over.

 

A study analyzed the effect of the TM technique on the development of self-actualization.  As defined by this study, self-actualization includes the following qualities:  an open, receptive, and caring attitude; cheerfulness and good humor; a predominance of positive thinking; spontaneity and freshness of appreciation; self-sufficiency; loss of fear of death; and an acceptance of self, nature, and others.

 

Pick up a copy of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way and read the chapter on meditation to learn more about how the Transcendental Meditation technique can assist you in setting your sails to take advantage of the wind!  There is a fee to learn this technique.  The training to become a teacher of Transcendental Meditation is a six month long residence course.  However, no one is ever sent away and arrangements will be made if you wish to learn.

 

Contact the organization to find a teacher near you.  TM.org

 

We send you our best!

 

 

Negativity and its Destructive Power

 

Illinois State Police stand guard on Michigan Ave., Chicago, during a protest march as a part of this weekend’s NATO summit Sunday. Security has been high throughout the city in preparation for the NATO summit, where delegations from about 60 countries will discuss the war in Afghanistan and European missile defense.

My husband, Bud, and I spent the weekend in Chicago.  This metropolis, on the shore of Lake Michigan is a spectacular city.  We love to spend time there.  The architecture and cultural life delights us with its excellence and variety.

You may have read that this week NATO is convening in Chicago.  A convention of this size and power invites not only worldwide delegates, but also protestors wanting to be heard by the individuals in power.  Thousands of people lined the streets and parks in Chicago.  And, what seemed to us like thousands of police also marked the sidewalks and surrounded the beautiful parks.

In 1968 the violence between police and anti-Vietnam war protesters in the streets and parks of Chicago gave the city a black eye from which it has yet to completely recover.

Let’s all hope that the NATO convention doesn’t trigger the same type of breakout.

In 1968 it was the police, not the protesters who were held primarily responsible for the violence.  This was because of their reactions to a perceived threat.  Certainly the police in 2012 also perceive the protesters as threatening.

We saw police carrying bully clubs in their hands, angry scowls on their faces and we heard them yelling at sign-carrying protesters. These experiences reminded me of the power of negative interactions and how negativity can bring about violence.

We could feel tension in the air and sense a growing anger.  I heard one woman carrying an “end all wars sign” call out to a policeman who was corralling her off the sidewalk, “Why do you treat us like this?  We aren’t mad at you.  We are here for peace.” I’m sure there were some serious troublemakers in the protesting crowd, but the ongoing reactions from the police (that Bud and I observed) seemed over the top.

The Chicago police definitely desire peace and safety.  I’m sure in many ways they have done and are doing a terrific job.  However, if the reactions on the street that we observed are indicative of their general attitudes and behaviors then they will certainly bring about, at the least, some unnecessary skirmishes.

How we react to perceived threats is always pivotal in meeting our goals. I know the policemen’s goal was to insure a peaceful city but I wondered if they were unwittingly sabotaging themselves.  Watching their behavior I was reminded of how well meaning parents often sabotage their goals for their children by becoming oppositional and negative when they perceive a threat to family values.  I was reminded of the skirmishes that often occur between parents and children—-especially parents and teen-agers.

I was also reminded that industrial psychologists believe that one person carrying a negative attitude and exhibiting negative interactions can cause tremendous problems in a total work force.  I was reminded of how easily the human being becomes oppositional when he is threatened.  Unfortunately opposition usually brings about that which we desire to avoid as it increases opposition in the people we are opposing.

In sum:  I was reminded of the power of opposition and negativity when it exists in our personal lives.

My thought processes led me to a mental review of research on the TM technique and how that technique is helpful in creating peace.  Practice of the TM technique has been shown to create increased peace in families, in the work place and in society at large.

Scientific research informs us that negativity and oppositional tendencies are reduced through practice of the TM technique.  Ample research shows that meditating families are, in general, significantly happier than non-meditating families.  Research also shows that meditating families are able to avoid becoming caught up in escalating conflict.  Of course meditators experience stress but their physiologies are able to brush stress off instead of incorporating it into mind and body.

Many companies now suggest and support the practice of the TM technique for their employees.  Research shows that absenteeism, accidents and substance abuse are reduced while efficiency and productivity in these businesses increases.

In addition, at least ten large-scale studies, carefully controlled for all demographic influences known to affect crime, have demonstrated that when one percent of a population practices TM, the crime rate in that city or country drops markedly, as do the suicide and accident rates.  One study found a significant overall drop in crime rate in a sample of forty-eight American cities and reported results in the Journal of Crime and Justice.

There is no doubt that the TM technique helps the individual, the family and society avoid negativity and oppositional tendencies.  It helps us to avoid conflicts and tension and to resolve differences in a peaceable way.

In Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I discuss how the practice of the TM technique helps the individual in a myriad of ways.  In general we focus on the helpfulness of this technique to avoid and to treat depression.  Do you want to know more about the power of this technique?  If so I suggest you click on TM.org and read some of the impressive research that has been done on the effects of this practice.

You don’t need to be a protester in Chicago carrying an anti-war sign to make an impact on society.  Instead you can begin by creating peace within that radiates outward to all around you.  May I suggest that you investigate learning the TM technique?  One does have to pay to learn but no one is ever turned away for lack of funds.  Check it out.  Again—-that website is TM.org—-

As always, Sandra and I wish you perfect health and happiness.  Today we also wish you peace in your relationships, your work place, and in society at large!

Women, Violence and Meditation

On March 31^st The David Lynch Foundation hosted a sold-out conference at New York City’s Air and Space Museum.  CNN anchor Soledad O’Brian was conference chair and the title of the conference was “Women, Violence and Meditation.”

 

The main focus of the conference was the scientific research on the helpfulness of one form of meditation, Transcendental Meditation, for victims of trauma.  The use of the TM technique to heal anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies in persons who have experienced trauma was explored.

 

Dr. Fred Travis, a neuroscientist from the Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition explained to the group that traumatic stress creates a veil of fear through which a person experiences the world.  “You are hyper-vigilant, vulnerable, you think people don’t understand you,” said Dr. Travis.  “Because this is what your brain is telling you.”

 

According to neuroscience traumatic experience turns on the amygdala, the non-verbal area of the brain and the seat of the fight or flight response.  To recover Dr. Travis said, “We need an experience that is the opposite of trauma—an experience that is holistic and not fragmented, an experience that is silent and not chaotic.  When a person transcends, moves beyond thought and emotion, during meditation the fear signals from the brain get turned off.”

 

“Why did this happen to me?” is often the biggest question and main source of confusion and pain that a victim of trauma, rape or abuse must live with.  We can’t always explain the reasons for acts of violence, yet through the regular experience of peacefulness gained through meditation we can overcome its effects.

 

Deep within us—beyond the subconscious—is the silent transcendental field of our awareness, which remains untouched by life’s negative impressions. Meditation moves us from the surface busyness of the mind to this field.  It does this in an effortless, natural and easy way.  From the regular practice of this experience arises a power of reassurance that can pervade every fiber of our being, so that we become whole—healed and at peace.

 

Does it Really Work?

 

A handful of controlled studies support the effectiveness of the TM technique in alleviating PTSD.  There has been research ranging from Vietnam War Veterans to soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

According to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed piece by W. Scott Gould, Deputy Secretary of the Veteran’s Administration, “Transcendental Meditation has received substantial attention at the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health.”  He says the VA has embarked on a series of clinical investigations into the effectiveness of all forms of meditation.

 

Tara Wise Jones, executive director of the National Women’s Veteran’s Association of America said that Transcendental Meditation saved her life.  “It calmed my mind, helped to restore my nurturing nature, restored my femininity and has helped me to become a better thinker.  Once I learned, I didn’t have to depend on anyone else, it makes me feel good inside mentally and physically.”

 

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I suggest practice of the TM technique for healing depression.  We give a review of significant research and explain the process of learning. This technique must be learned through a trained teacher.  The fact that such a subtle yet powerful mental technique can be taught at all is amazing, but of course it cannot be learned from a book.

 

TM does work.  It does heal anxiety and depression and we hope that you will look into its benefits.  You can learn more about the TM technique through Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way or online by clicking on tm.org.

 

As always, Sandra and I wish happiness and good health for you!

 

 

Meditation: Transcending Darkness

                         My husband, Bud, and I learned the TM technique in 1984.  We first heard of TM in the 60’s.  A great deal of scientific research was done on the TM technique in the 60’s and 70’s.  Frequently we would notice a news article about the remarkable scientific findings related to the practice of this technique.  We would comment to each other that the research was interesting and didn’t this TM stuff sound great.  We hoped it was helping a lot of people!  We had no interest in learning ourselves until 1984.

In the winter of 1984 a respected friend told us of his experiences with TM.  Our friend encouraged us to learn.  We listened to him, thought his comments were interesting, and promptly forgot the conversation.  Several weeks after this conversation, our friend who lived in LA at the time, called.  He said a conference on TM was going to be held at the Renaissance Center in Detroit. He urged us to attend.  Since our friend was planning to be in town attending the conference we decided to go as well.

I think our experience of hearing about TM, not doing anything about it, hearing of TM again, and forgetting what we heard is typical. Most of us need to hear of something new a few times or even several times before we embrace it.  It is also human nature to embrace a new idea when we hear it from someone we know and admire rather than from a stranger. I think, too, that the media bombards us with information about a myriad of things we should or can do to improve our well being.  After a time we begin to discount information.

My husband and I did attend that conference with our friend, and I remember the experience well.  I remember the room where the conference was held, and I remember specific conversations I had with people there.  I believe I remember my thoughts and feelings, experienced that long-ago evening, because I sensed we were learning about something that would dramatically alter the success of our lives.  It was an extremely important event for us.

At the conference we were impressed by the presentation of a voluminous amount of research on the TM technique.  It seemed that there was no reason to turn our backs on the opportunity to learn.  Our only concerns regarded the time commitment of 20 minutes twice a day, but we gleaned from the speakers the information that we would not be giving up time.  We would be gaining time.  The researchers told us that the practice of the TM technique would help us to be more energetic, to think more clearly, perhaps to sleep less, and to be able to accomplish more not less.  Over the years we have learned that this is true.

Immediately after we learned TM, we realized that this technique was extraordinarily powerful.  We realized immediate effects and we clearly sensed that the benefits would be cumulative.  We realized this but neither of us thought much about it.  We simply meditated.  Meditation became a regular part of our lives.  A few months after we began meditating, Bud and I noticed changes in each other.  When we commented on these changes we both realized that we did feel quite different from how we had felt in the past.

The experience of ourselves is what we know. How we feel, how we experience ourselves is our reality.  When the experience of self changes, and changes significantly and permanently, it changes by degrees.  Because we are changing from within, we do not have full realization of the change until it is so profound that it is noticeable to others.

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I discuss several ways that the TM technique is helps us to change.  Transcendental Meditation has the following proven benefits.

1.  Dissolving Deep-Seated Stress
2. Providing Deep Rest
3. Alleviating Anxiety
4. Expanding Awareness
5. Increasing the Internal Locus of Control
6. Enhancing Physiological Adaptability
7. Enhancing Psychological Adaptability
8. Purification of the Mind
9. Integration and Personal Growth

Each of these benefits translates into a holistic change in the mind-body.  For instance, when we expand our awareness we acquire a wide-angle lens with which to view life.  Expanding awareness opens the “shutter” in the mind’s eye.  When we have a panoramic view of an event, our understanding is enhanced.  This deeper viewpoint gives us more flexibility in the face of change, allowing the stress of life’s transitions to roll off our backs more easily.  When stresses roll off of us more easily then we are not inclined to be reactive to others.  Our relationships improve and we don’t integrate stress into our physiology.  Our health also improves.  These are profound changes.

The TM technique has been shown to increase physical, emotional, and psychological resiliency.  What can be better than increased resiliency?  To be able to roll with life’s punches and spring back to action without integrating stress into the physiology is a great gift.

I hope you are not going to be like Bud and me and have to hear about TM over and over before you decide to take the plunge.  Positive research on this technique is still being reported in scientific journals and the technique is available for all interested parties.  Google TM.Org to learn more and locate a teacher in your neck of the woods.

Our family is delighted to welcome a new meditator into our fold this week.  Blessings to Ivy, age 13.  She recently decided to learn TM.  The TM technique will provide a natural basis for Ivy’s formation of her adult identity.  It will give her increased energy, self-confidence and a general feeling of well-being.  She’ll be able to recognize how people can be identical at their core and yet uniquely different in their personalities. This recognition will help her to have positive relationships throughout her high school experience and beyond.  We believe that practice of the TM technique will help Ivy sail through adolescence unencumbered by the stresses many teen agers experience.  She’ll be able to access her internal wisdom, rid herself of stress, and reach her full potential! Bud and I are filled with joy for her!  We hope all of you decide to learn TM too!

As always, Sandra and I send our best wishes for health and happiness,

Nancy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image courtesy of http://meditationatlanta.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-is-transcendental-meditation.html