TM explained
Transcendental Meditation, more commonly known as TM, is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “A trademarked technique for detaching oneself from anxiety and promoting harmony and self-realisation by meditation and repetition of a mantra.”
In today’s hectic Western lifestyle, who wouldn’t like to trade a bit of anxiety for some harmony and self-realisation?
If you’re looking for a simple way to find more balance in your life, keep reading.
How to learn TM
A unique element to the practice of transcendental meditation is that is it always taught one-on-one, never in groups, and also not through books or apps. But finding someone who can teach you TM usually isn’t difficult—there are official TM schools all over the world that are licensed to practise and teach TM. The process is simple:
- Visit www.tm.org to find a local center and book a one-hour information session
- Learn TM over four consecutive days
- Practise at home
- Book a one-hour follow-up session, and check in again whenever you feel the need
A brief history of TM
Although TM was originally derived from Hinduism, it’s now generally regarded as non-religious. Its founder was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who learned traditional meditation in India in the early 1950s from his teacher Brahmananda Saraswati.
The Maharishi brought TM to the West and developed a system for training TM teachers to help cater to a growing demand for TM. Today, millions of Westerners are estimated to regularly practise TM.
Although the Maharishi died in 1980, the popularity of TM continues unabated as people continue to spread the word about its benefits to health and general well-being.
The benefits of TM
The “restful alertness” (a term often used in practice) of TM generates significant benefits for your health and well-being. The major benefits can be summarised as:
- Reduced stress and anxiety:
In our modern lifestyle, we often find that a holiday or good sleep helps recharge our bodies. But often, even these methods of relaxation don’t help us fully recover—or, we simply return to our regular lifestyle and the feelings of stress and anxiety return. Practising TM regularly helps to reduce all of those feelings and enables us to better cope and become more resilient to stress.
- Health:
Many modern-day illnesses and poor habits are either caused or exacerbated by stress. Sleeplessness, depression, headaches, high blood pressure, alcoholism, cigarette smoking, drug use, heart attacks, stroke—so many of these modern maladies send us to the doctor looking for help. But regular practice of TM can improve all of these problems without the expense or side effects of medication.
- Self-development:
Many TM devotees find that regularly practising TM promotes an inner experience that helps them find life more satisfying without having to seek the latest status symbol, whether it be a new home, nicer car, or better job. Finding inner peace and confidence doesn’t replace these physical assets, just makes them seem less important.
Regular practice of TM helps the brain function at its best, and this state of reduced stress and anxiety, improved health and well-being, and heightened self-development is its natural outcome.
A personal experience of TM
After practising TM for several years now - twice a day, I can vouch for the official claims that TM leads to decreased anxiety and stress; increased happiness, creativity, and focus; and improved general health. It doesn’t take long to start reaping the benefits of TM; most people report that they start feeling better within days of beginning TM.
As the official TM website says, “If this kind of result was observed for a new prescription drug, it would be a billion-dollar industry to make it available to everyone immediately.” ~ Dr. Norman Rosenthal, renowned psychiatrist and best-selling author. (Source: https://tm.org.au/benefits-of-meditation)
The holistic approach to wellness and beauty
Many people find that Transcendental Meditation has a natural home in a holistic approach to wellness and beauty. This fits well with our philosophy at MEDES Lifestyle: Beauty is part of wellness, and wellness is part of beauty.
Being relaxed, calm, and stress-free is so important for coping with all that our hectic Western lifestyle demands of us, and it is an essential part of looking and feeling well.