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"Transcendental Meditation is back in a big way" The
Independent (UK)
by admin <http://www.tm.org/blog/author/admin/> on September 15, 2011
[Post image for "Transcendental Meditation is back in a big
way" The Independent (UK)]
Excerpts from the Sunday, July 10th, 2011 feature story in The
Independent, one of Great Britain's leading daily newspapers:
"TM <http://www.tm.org/> , as its followers call it, is rapidly
moving from kooky to respectable mainstream thanks largely to a
burgeoning body of scientific research which indicates that regular
meditators can expect to enjoy striking reductions in heart attack,
stroke and early mortality (as much as 47 per cent, according to one
study). And the apparent benefits don't stop there: according to a
pilot study just published in the US journal Military Medicine, veterans
of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars showed a 50 per cent reduction in their
symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after eight weeks of TM.
[http://www.tm.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Paul-mccartney-237x30\
0.jpg]
Sir Paul McCartney
Meanwhile, educational establishments which introduce a "quiet time
program" as did Visitacion Valley Middle School in San
Francisco report drops in fights and suspensions, increased
attendance and improvements in exam results. In this country, the
Maharishi School in Ormskirk, Lancashire, gets glowing reports and
achieves exceptional academic results.
[http://www.tm.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Russell-Brand.jpg]
<http://www.tm.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Russell-Brand.jpg>
Comedian Russell Brand
An estimated four million people now practice TM globally 20
minutes twice daily, as per the Maharishi's
<http://www.tm.org/blog/maharishi/settled-state/> prescription
many of them over the course of many decades, and there are some famous,
and rather surprising, names on the list. Clint Eastwood
<http://www.tm.org/blog/people/clint-eastwood/> , for example, has been
doing it for 40 years, a fact he vouchsafed via video link at a
fund-raising dinner for the David Lynch Foundation
<http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/> , an organization set up by the
filmmaker to teach TM to school children, soldiers suffering
post-traumatic stress, the homeless and convicted prisoners. Other
celebrity adherents include Paul McCartney
<http://www.tm.org/blog/people/david-lynch-interviews-paul-mccartney-abo\
ut-transcendental-meditation/> , Russell Brand
<http://www.tm.org/blog/people/russell-brand-transcendental-meditation/>
, Martin Scorsese <http://www.tm.org/blog/people/martin-scorsese/> ,
Ringo Starr
<http://www.tm.org/blog/people/my-interview-with-ringo-starr/> , Mary
Tyler Moore, Laura Dern and Moby
<http://www.tm.org/blog/people/moby-is-cool/> .
[http://www.tm.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Dennett.jpg]
American philosopher Daniel Dennett
TM reaches far into the rational and skeptical world, too; the American
philosopher Daniel Dennett does it, as does Dr Jonathan Rowson, head of
the Social Brain project at the Royal Society for the Encouragement of
Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and a chess grandmaster (more from
them later). Now a psychiatrist with 30 years' clinical experience,
Dr. Norman Rosenthal <http://normanrosenthal.com/> has written a book,
Transcendence: Healing and Transformation through Transcendental
Meditation <http://normanrosenthal.com/about-transcendence.html> , which
gathers all the available evidence for TM and urges healthcare
professionals to offer it to patients suffering from mental illnesses
ranging from mild depression to bipolar disorder.
[http://www.tm.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/laura-dern.jpg]
Actress Laura Dern
While the research on the health benefits of TM is fascinating,
there's another, more compelling, reason why meditation is in the
air just now. Done consistently, it seems to offer some sort of
corrective to modernity, a respite from anxiety and the ability to
really, truly relax, without chemical assistance; a break from our
constant, restless and often doomed aspirations to be thinner, richer
and more popular on Facebook; the welcome discovery that happiness is to
be found not in retail therapy, but within.
Those spiritual cravings explain why Rosenthal's book is now riding
high at number 14 on America's Publishers Weekly non-fiction
list
[transcendence-norman-rosenthal] The bestselling Dr. Rosenthal
<http://normanrosenthal.com/> came to public prominence through his
work on seasonal affective disorder at the National Institute of Mental
Health in Maryland, where he also pioneered the use of light therapy to
treat it. His interest in TM was piqued when one of his bipolar patients
described how practicing TM alongside his regular medication had helped
him move from `keeping his head above water' to feeling
`really happy 90 per cent of the time'.
Dr Rosenthal began to examine the large body of scientific research into
the effects of TM on long-term users, and also to collect anecdotal
evidence from meditators. His book Transcendence
<http://normanrosenthal.com/about-transcendence.html> is the result,
though as he acknowledges in his introduction, `Some of you may find
this preview of the benefits of TM this seemingly simple technique
exaggerated and hard to believe. I don't blame you.' He
draws on 340 peer-reviewed research articles to back his argument that
TM can not only reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease, but also
assist in treating addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder
<http://www.tm.org/blog/video/ptsd-brain/> , ADHD and depression
<http://www.tm.org/blog/research/adhd-transcendental-meditation/> , not
to mention helping high-functioning individuals achieve greater
self-actualization"
