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CNN anchor Candy Crowley gives Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management

June 10, 2012

Fairfield, Iowa: On May 26, 2012, 268 students graduated from Maharishi University of Management including the largest class of undergraduate students (72) in over 20 years. Graduate diplomas were awarded to 196 students, including 5 doctoral degrees. The graduating students represented 37 different countries. After the US, the countries with the largest number of graduates were Nepal (55) and Ethiopia (54).

Candy Crowley, CNN’s Emmy Award-winning chief political correspondent and host of State of the Union, delivered the commencement speech.

In her commencement address, Ms. Crowley recounted stories from her professional and personal life to illustrate the most important life lessons she learned over decades. “To get to where you want to go, you first have to stand and be who you are,” she said. Ms. Crowley encouraged students to be unafraid to live their lives, be heroic, and find the beauty in what they do. “Be honest and demand honesty in life,” she said.

Ms. Crowley has been practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique since 2009. Along with Dr. Mehmet Oz, she was a co-host of the David Lynch Foundation “Change Begins Within” benefit gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2010. She also hosted the 2011 launch for DLF’s Operation Warrior Wellness in Washington, DC, and the recent Military Summit on Resilience, the Brain, and Meditation.

“Candy is a woman of supreme honesty, integrity, compassion, and wit,” said Dr. Bob Roth, MUM trustee and executive director of the David Lynch Foundation. “She was deeply inspired by her meetings with the students and faculty of Maharishi University of Management — and the students and faculty were inspired by her wisdom. She wants to come back soon.”

During the ceremony, Ms. Crowley received the Maharishi Award in the area of Information and Inspiration for her distinguished and internationally acclaimed work in journalism. The award was presented by Josh Wilson, outgoing president of MUM Global Student Council, on behalf of the students of MUM.

Published on Jun 8, 2012 by

Also see: Candy Crowley visits KRUU-FM before delivering Commencement Address at Maharishi University | Fairfield Ledger: Crowley speaks to M.U.M. grads | CNN’s Candy Crowley to give Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management

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Posted in Education, Videos | 5 Comments »

THE REMARKABLE DAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION — written by Norman Zierold for Healthy Referral

June 8, 2012

Posted 27 January 2012 in Healthy Referral Newspaper

THE REMARKABLE DAVID LYNCH FOUNDATION

It’s no secret that problems abound in our society, but two areas that quickly come to mind are major sources of national stress—at-risk school children and veterans returning from wars abroad with post-traumatic stress.

Enter iconic American filmmaker David Lynch, director of TV’s groundbreaking Twin Peaks, and feature films that include Eraserhead, Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, The Straight Story, and most recently, Inland Empire. The United Kingdom’s highly reputed Guardian has dubbed Lynch “the most important film-maker of the current era,” but an illustrious career has not impeded his concern for the needy.

Mind you, many individuals and organizations have stepped forward in the troubled areas of our society. Much has been done, yet even more remains to be done. What is his modality of choice to help? Meditation, he declares, and specifically Transcendental Meditation, or TM, which is neither a religion nor a philosophy, and therefore requires no change of lifestyle.

Transcendental Meditation is a simple, easily learned technique, practiced for 20 minutes twice daily while sitting comfortably in a chair with eyes closed. This quiet time provides the mind and body with a unique state of “restful alertness” which allows stress and fatigue to be released in a natural way, resulting in better health, greater energy, more clarity of mind, and overall enhancement of the joy of life. It utilizes the natural tendency of the mind to go to a field of greater happiness, hence is basically effortless, differing thereby from all other meditation techniques, which invariably involve either concentration or contemplation, modalities that tend to keep the mind on the surface level of thought and so impede the transcending process.

John Hagelin, Ph.D., world-renowned quantum physicist (“What The Bleep Do We Know!?” and “The Secret”) and recipient of the coveted Kilby Award in physics, describes Transcendental Meditation as “a systematic means to turn the attention powerfully within, to experience and explore deeper levels of mind, quieter levels of human awareness, a state of rest for the body deeper than sleep, where deep-seated stress is dissolved, providing an effective prevention and treatment for stress-related illness.”

Over 600 scientific studies have been conducted on Transcendental Meditation at 250 medical schools and universities in over 30 countries to verify its wide range of benefits for the individual and society. Most notably, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, or NIH, funded in recent decades $26 million in grants to study the effects of TM practice on high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, obesity, and heart disease. Subjects for research have been readily available because the TM technique has now been taught to six million people in over 120 countries.

The timeless knowledge of TM derives from the Vedic heritage of India, the world’s oldest system of knowledge. Veda means truth, or knowledge, and this tradition provides knowledge about many areas of life. For example, Yoga comes from the Vedic tradition, as does Ayurveda, the world’s most ancient system of health care, and Sthapatya Veda, knowledge about building in accord with Natural Law. The knowledge of Transcendental Meditation was revived in our era by the revered sage Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, launched, in 1957, a worldwide movement to make it available on every continent. Maharishi first came to the United States in 1959, and on various occasions thereafter, to oversee the progress of the local TM movement.

Why did David Lynch take up the TM practice? Well, he just couldn’t think of anything better to do. Just kidding. Lynch not only writes, produces, and directs his own films, but also composes popular music, and paints stunning pictures that are exhibited in major art galleries. And oh, yes, crowning a plethora of other avocations, he recently opened his own nightclub in Paris.

As for Transcendental Meditation, his sister first brought it to his attention. “My sister called, and she had started TM,” he reminisces. “There was something in her voice—less stress and more happiness, a certain upbeat lilt. ‘I gotta have that,’ I said to myself. When I actually started, it was like boom, as if a cable had been cut and the elevator plunged right down into pure consciousness.

“I have been ‘diving within’ through the Transcendental Meditation technique for over 30 years now,” he continues. “It has changed my life, my world, allowing me to release stress that was causing fear and anxiety, opening the door to heightened creativity and bliss.”

“Not long ago, when I heard about the crippling levels of stress and violence in the lives of children today, about the need for armed guards to patrol school corridors, and about widespread use of prescription drugs with deleterious side effects, I became concerned about what this was doing to the health of these children and their ability to learn.”

“Discussing the matter with a friend, the thought came that in today’s turbulent world all school kids should have a class period to begin and end the school day where they can dive within and experience the field of silence, the transcendental level of life, which is an enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence within all of us.”

To help at-risk students, the director established the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace—and promptly made hefty donations to give it a jump-start.

Since then the DLF has helped fund “Quiet Time” programs, which are always voluntary, around the world, teaching TM to over 250,000 children in the United States and Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. The US schools can be found in more than a dozen states.

Progress was made in the financial area by a benefit concert given at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and featuring such renowned meditating artists as Beatles Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, legendary singer/songwriter Donovan, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, flute virtuoso Paul Horn, Sheryl Crow, Moby, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, Russell Simmons, co-founder of the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam, and Jerry Seinfeld in a winning stand-up comic skit. Since a huge number of schools around the world remain on a waiting list for Quiet Time programs, plans are underway for future benefit concerts in different venues. Watch News conference Highlights from the day before the concert, and Watch Event Highlights, which include clips of David Lynch interviewing Paul, Ringo, Sheryl, Eddie, and excerpts from that amazing magical evening. Check here for other DLF featured past events.

Transcendental Meditation in Education

Dr. Sanford Nidich, professor of education and physiology at Maharishi University of Management, has been working with at-risk adolescents in U.S. schools and reports on a study conducted at the University of Connecticut involving 106 secondary school students from three public schools, primarily from lower-income, minority populations. “Meditating students,” he relates, showed significant reductions in anxiety, emotional problems, and hyperactivity, and improved overall mental health after an average of four months compared to controls.”

“Something must be done to help today’s youth deal with the enormous amount of stress in their lives,” says Dr. Robert Colbert, professor at the University of Connecticut and co-author of the study. “This study shows that something can help immediately—and it is easy to implement in any school setting.

Two more recent studies out last year, also funded by the David Lynch Foundation, showed TM improved standardized academic achievement and effectively lowered record stress levels in students.

The study, published in the journal Education, reported students who practiced the Transcendental Meditation program showed significant increases in math and English scale scores and performance level scores over a one-year period. Forty-one percent of the meditating students showed a gain of at least one performance level in math compared to 15.0% of the non-meditating controls.

The latest study published in the Journal of Instructional Psychology found the Transcendental Meditation technique significantly decreased psychological distress in at-risk racial and ethnic minority public school students by 36 percent over 4 months compared to controls. The study also found significant decreases in trait anxiety and depressive symptoms.

In the area of students with learning disabilities, one study, published in the 2009 issue of the peer-reviewed Current Issues in Education, followed a group of 10 middle-school students with ADHD who were practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique twice a day at school. After three months, researchers found over 50% reduction in stress and anxiety, and improvements in ADHD behavior regulation.

“The effect was much greater than we expected,” says Dr. Sarina Grosswald, Ed.D., a George Washington University-trained cognitive learning specialist and lead researcher on the study. “The children also showed improvements in attention, working memory, and organization.” The study was funded by grants from the Abramson Family Foundation and the David Lynch Foundation.

A follow-up study, also funded by the David Lynch Foundation, came out last year. This random-assignment controlled study conducted over a period of 6 months in an independent school for children with language-based learning disabilities in Washington, DC, found improved brain functioning, decreased symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, (ADHD), and improved language-based skills among ADHD students practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique. The paper, ADHD, Brain Functioning, and Transcendental Meditation Practice, was published in Mind & Brain, The Journal of Psychiatry.

At the Ideal Academy Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., students from the 5th through 12th grades now practice the TM/Quiet Time program. “It changed the whole climate of the school, says principal Dr. George Rutherford, a highly regarded D.C. educator. “It was just beautiful. The academic achievement has gone up, and behavioral problems have gone down. I could never work in a school that doesn’t have the TM/Quiet Time program.”

One student at the Ideal Academy reports, “I notice I haven’t been mad for a while, since I learned TM. I used to get in fights and talk to people behind their back. And it helps me to not get distracted.”

A student at the Tucson, Arizona, Museum of Art School was struggling in math, but now says, “I’m doing really good in there, and my behavior’s been a lot better.” One of the students at the Kingsbury School in Washington, D.C., states that just two weeks after practicing TM twice a day the nightmares he was having stopped, allowing him to sleep much better and so avoid the fatigue that usually followed during the day.

“I have had the pleasure of meeting many students who are “diving within” and experiencing Consciousness-Based Education,” sums up DLF founder David Lynch. “These students are all unique individuals, very much themselves. They are amazing, self-sufficient, wide-awake, energetic, blissful, creative, powerfully intelligent and peaceful human beings. Meeting these students, for me, was the proof that Consciousness-Based Education is a profoundly good thing for our schools and for our world.”

Principal James Dierke agrees. The 2008 National Association of Secondary School Principals—National Middle School Principal of the Year, says, “Stress is the number one enemy of public education, especially in inner-city schools. It creates tension, violence, and compromises the cognitive and psychological capacity of students to learn and grow. The TM/Quiet Time program is the most powerful, effective program I have come across in my 39 years as a public school educator for addressing this problem. It is nourishing children and providing them an immensely valuable tool for life. It is saving lives.”

TM for Veterans: Operation Warrior Wellness

While the DLF’s work with at-risk children got into full gear, founder David Lynch was given the staggering statistics from the Veterans Administration showing that more soldiers are dying from the trauma of combat incurred in Iraq and Afghanistan than at the hands of enemy combatants. Over 500,000 veterans have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress, or PTS, since 2001, with 18 veterans committing suicide each day.

To help meet this challenging situation, the David Lynch Foundation launched Operation Warrior Wellness, a national outreach to help 10,000 war veterans suffering from PTS by teaching them Transcendental Meditation. A December 2010 press conference and follow-up fund-raiser Gala Event at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was supported by noted film directors Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese, fashion maven Donna Karan, pop music mogul Russell Simmons, and yet another Russell, versatile actor/comedian Russell Brand, plus “America’s Doctor,” Dr. Mehmet Oz.

A year later on December 2, 2011 the David Lynch Foundation launched Operation Warrior Wellness in Los Angeles with a global press conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel where David Lynch presented a check for one million dollars for Veterans to learn Transcendental Meditation. The 3rd Annual Change Begins Within Gala Event took place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.Ellen DeGeneres opened the evening and then turned the proceedings over to host Russell Brand. Photos can be seen on the David Lynch Foundation photo stream.

Combatants from past and present conflicts delivered testimonials of their devastating war experiences and told of how TM gave them a new lease on life. World War II pilot Jerry Yellin spoke eloquently of the toll that extensive bombing raids against Japan had on his nervous system so that for three decades after the end of the war he felt no satisfaction from anything he did. “At 51,” he recounted, “I took up TM and only then did I finally find peace.”

Vietnam vet Dan Burks gave a moving account of the mental scars he carried after a battle in which he killed Vietnamese soldiers and lost many of his own comrades. “PTS is a wound,” he concluded. “It takes your life away, just like losing a limb. But guess what? You can get rid of that wound. My life, after the discovery of Transcendental Meditation, was like the difference between heaven and hell.”

Finally, David George, 23, a former infantry soldier, told of the trauma he experienced not only in Iraq, but also on returning home, where long ago battles still raged deep within his system. “Happily,” he said, “I found TM and that cleared the air and I could tell where I was going. I felt this warm, groovy feeling. It just keeps getting better and better.”

Veterans with PTS showed a 50 percent reduction in their symptoms after just eight weeks of practicing the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique, according to a pilot study published in June 2011 in the scientific journal Military Medicine. The study found that Transcendental Meditation produced significant reductions in stress and depression and marked improvements in relationships and overall quality of life.

The paper’s senior researcher, Norman Rosenthal, M.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School and director of research at Capital Clinical Research Associates in Rockville, Maryland. “These young men were in extreme distress as a direct result of trauma suffered during combat,” he affirms, “and the simple and effortless Transcendental Meditation technique literally transformed their lives.”

The findings were similar to those from a randomly controlled study of Vietnam veterans conducted by researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1985. In that study, published in the Journal of Counseling and Development, after three months of twice-daily TM practice, the veterans had fewer symptoms than those receiving conventional psychotherapy of the day. In fact, most of the TM-treated subjects required no further treatment.

“The soldiers are truly suffering,” affirms David Lynch. “No one knows what they’ve been through. No one knows what they’ve done, what they’ve experienced, what they’ve seen, and their lives in many cases are a true nightmare. That’s why we want to offer them Transcendental Meditation. It’s a beautiful thing for the human being. It’s a big stress-buster, and when these soldiers get this simple effortless technique, they’re going to get their lives back again. It’s not hocus-pocus. It’s going to save lives, and help not only the soldiers, but all the families who are suffering, and their friendships as well.”

For the already noted Operation Warrior Wellness benefit at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, Clint Eastwood, best known for playing violent, hardened characters on-screen, sent a video in which he stated his strong support of Transcendental Meditation. “I’ve been using it for almost 40 years now,” he declared. “It’s a great tool to combat stress, especially considering the stress our men and women in the armed forces are going through. There’s enough studies out there that show TM is something that can benefit everybody.”

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Norman Zierold is the author of a bevy of books on Hollywood, including The Child Stars, The Moguls, Garbo, and Sex Goddesses of the Silent Screen, as well as two true-crime stories—Little Charley Ross: The Story of America’s First Kidnapping for Ransom, and Three Sisters in Black, recipient of a Special Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He has also published articles in a plethora of magazines, ranging from New York Magazine, McCall’s, and Popular Mechanics to Good Housekeeping, Variety, and Reader’s Digest.

REFERENCES:

David Lynch Foundation http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org

Operation Warrior Wellness http://www.operationwarriorwellness.org

The Transcendental Meditation program http://tm.org

Ask the Doctors: Specialists answer your questions about TM and health http://askthedoctors.com

ADHD, the Mind and the TM technique http://www.adhd-tm.org

Maharishi University of Management http://www.mum.edu

If read in the UK, use this for The Transcendental Meditation Program: http://www.t-m.org.uk

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Related article by Norman Zierold: Embody: focus on TM: Iconic Filmmaker David Lynch has a viable solution to a pressing problem.

And enjoy this article about Norman: The Chronicle of Higher Education: Notes From Academe: The Spokesman Who Kept Calling.

Here is an excellent Huffington Post interview with David Lynch that came out two years later, Dec 9, 2014: Interview With David Lynch: His Mission to Change the World Through Meditation.

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Fairfield Ledger: Crowley speaks to M.U.M. grads

May 29, 2012

Crowley speaks to M.U.M. grads

By DIANE VANCE, Ledger staff writer | May 29, 2012

Photo by: DIANE VANCE/Ledger photo Candy Crowley, CNN’s award-winning political corresponent and anchor of “State of the Union,” speaks to Maharishi University of Management graduates during commencement Saturday. She told the graduates, “Take those broad sweeps and move through your life unafraid.”

Commencement speaker Candy Crowley told graduates ages 20 to 66, she wants their dreams to come true, but she also asked the Maharishi University of Management Class of 2012 to watch for the “un-dreams.”

Crowley, CNN’s award-winning political correspondent and anchor of “State of the Union,” flew into Fairfield Friday, getting a brief glimpse of the community and campus.

“I’m looking forward to the trip,” she said by phone Friday while riding to the airport in Washington, D.C. “I’ve been talking with one of the folks who attended school there and it’s fascinating.”

Crowley’s dream upon college graduation when she was in her 20s didn’t turn out, she told graduates.

“I was engaged and prepared to move [from the east coast] to California, have five boys and iron my husband’s shirts for work,” she said. “Some of God’s best gifts are unanswered prayers.

“Instead, I’ve been on the rooftops in Marrakech [Morocco]; slept in the Sahara and rode on camel back to the top of the dunes to watch the sunrise in the company of a king; visited China with three different presidents; and I’m married to the man I love and I have two wonderful sons,” she said. “Those were my un-dreams.”

Crowley said she learns something new each day on her job. She shared insights gained from political figures she’s interviewed over the decades.

“From Bob Dole I learned the three Bs of speeches: Be on time; be brief; and be seated,” she said.

“One of my heroes is John Lewis, an original member of the [Civil Rights] Freedom Riders. He was a keynote speaker at Martin Luther King’s [1965] ‘March on Washington.’ He is the fiercest quiet man I’ve ever met.”

“You have to know where people come from to understand where they’re at.”

Lewis was born and raised in 1940, in Troy, Ala., the third son of sharecroppers. He studied nonviolence, organized sit-ins and by 1963 had been arrested 24 times for his activism.

Since 1987, Lewis has served in the U.S. Congress, representing Georgia’s Fifth District.

“I asked John if he were ever scared,” said Crowley. “He told me no, he knew that even if he was killed, the movement would continue. It was greater than him.”

“To get to where you want to go, you have to stand and be who you are. Do your revolution your way and let others do it their way.”

She talked about interviewing people on the streets of New York City in the aftermath of 9/11.

“I heard stories about loved ones who always went to work in the towers on time, but that particular morning, the cat threw-up — the daughter was so upset dad drove her to school that day and wasn’t at work when the planes hit,” she said. “And others said their loved one never went to the towers, but an old high school friend was in town and visiting a mutual friend at work in the towers, so this family member joined them and died.

“The fear after 9/11 made me braver,” said Crowley. “Life is so random. Take those broad sweeps and move through your life unafraid. Keep moving, life takes care of itself. Be unafraid to live your own life.”

She shared about Tom Ridge, the first secretary of Homeland Security.

“Tom Ridge was a Marine grunt in Vietnam,” she said. “He has a hard time talking about his time in Vietnam, but I asked him what lingers. He said it is the nights. At night, he had time to look up at the sky, which was very quiet and beautiful. Stars were more abundant because there was no competition from city lights. He found beauty there in the midst of horror and battle.”

“You’ve made the decision to come here, to this university. It gets tougher as you move on into the world, but find the beauty in what you’re doing,” she said.

As a self-professed political junkie, Crowley said the week George H.W. Bush was going to announce a running mate in 2000, also was the week of a long-standing tradition of a large family reunion in Michigan.

“I was unsure if I should attend the reunion, and I decided if I was that unsure, I should listen to my gut, which said attend the reunion,” she said. “So that became what I call the ‘death-bed test.’ What will you think of a decision on your deathbed? I’m pretty sure I won’t be wishing I’d stayed at work to hear Dick Cheney named as the running mate.”

At a friend’s recommendation, Crowley learned Transcendental Meditation in 2008 in Washington, D.C.

“It re-centered everything for me,” she said in her phone interview.

Reprinted with permission from The Fairfield Ledger

Related: Candy Crowley visits KRUU-FM before delivering Commencement Address at Maharishi University and CNN’s Candy Crowley to give Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management.

CNN anchor Candy Crowley gives Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management is now available on the YouTube channel.

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Candy Crowley visits KRUU-FM before delivering Commencement Address at Maharishi University

May 28, 2012

Dennis Raimondi, Burt Chojnowski, and KRUU-FM station manager James Moore enjoy a short visit with CNN’s Candy Crowley. She was in Fairfield, Iowa to deliver the Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management, May 26, 2012. (Photo taken by Ken Chawkin)

During her recent visit to Fairfield, Iowa to deliver the Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management, CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley visited the local community-supported solar-powered radio station, KRUU-LP 100.1 FM, to tape an interview on Speaking Freely with Dennis Raimondi. The show aired Saturday, May 26, 2012 and Monday, May 28 at 1:00 and 6:30 pm. The complete interview is archived at: http://kruufm.com/node/13289. Station manager James Moore also posted a photo and quote from Candy on her love of radio.

Dennis mentions that Candy was one of the first to make it possible for other women to become broadcast journalists. She thanks him for that observation, if it is true, but did not set out to purposefully make that happen. With television being a visual medium, she says, “I’m clearly not the 20-something blonds that are currently on TV. But you can do it your way, you can be who you are, and do what you want. You might have to work a little harder, you might have to be that much better. … You have to be so good at what you do that they can’t ignore you.”

Burt Chojnowski of Fairfield First! Buzz also produced a film of Dennis’s interview in the KRUU-FM studio: Candy Crowley on Speaking Freely with Dennis Raimondi. This Candy Crowley on Speaking Freely – Unplugged version includes the pre-interview banter starting off with her reciting the Gettysburg Address! Burt also enjoyed asking and posting 3 Questions with Candy Crowley.mov about her impressions of Fairfield, writing, and leadership, also recorded on May 26, 2012.

Candy told Burt she had lived in Iowa before, in Des Moines, for 5 years, and could probably see herself living here in Fairfield. She said, stepping off the plane, you can really feel yourself breathing deeply, for the first time. Burt asked Candy what she would say to women in third-world countries to inspire them to become leaders. She said the best leaders, not the ones that got the most votes, but the ones who did something, are the best listeners. “A leader has to be able to take the hopes and desires of the people looking to him or her and make it into reality. Well, what’s the first step of that—what are those hopes and desires? The leaders listen first, and if you skip that step, you’re never gonna be a leader.” Speaking of leaders, a big thank you to Bob Roth for listening and bringing Candy Crowley into the studio despite her tight schedule!

CNN anchor Candy Crowley gives Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management is now available on the YouTube channel.

See Fairfield Ledger: Crowley speaks to M.U.M. grads and CNN’s Candy Crowley to give Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management.


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KTVO’s Kate Allt: From the earth to your plate; one university’s lesson in sustainable agriculture

May 25, 2012

From the earth to your plate; one university’s lesson in sustainable agriculture

By Kate Allt

Friday, May 25, 2012

Greenhouses at Maharishi University KTVO’s Kate Allt

FAIRFIELD, IOWA — The cafeteria at Maharishi University is like no other dining hall on any campus in the country. Every meal is vegetarian and organic, and many of the ingredients are grown right on campus by students and staff.

Ayurvedic food preparation, which pays particular attention to seasonal foods, is a growing trend and the roots of the movement are planted in the greenhouses at Maharishi University.

“This greenhouse has been here since 2004; we put it up,” said Steve McLaskey, Director of the Maharishi organic farm. “The university had been organic – the food service had been organic for quite a number of years before that and then in 2003, they decided to take the next step and grow as much of their own food as possible.”

Maharishi’s greenhouse is the first of its size to grow crops year-round in a cold climate. The students and staff who work with the plants have learned much more than identifying a cucumber from a zucchini.

“I get a lot of satisfaction out of growing good produce and providing it to the university,” McLaskey said. “We also sell at the Golden Dome market, the little market on campus, and at the farmer’s market, and I get a lot of comments from customers who appreciate the quality, the freshness.

“When we’re eating good food, then the action that happens from putting good things in is more directed and its more focused,” said Molly Haviland, a MUM student. “So it goes along with the principle of do less, accomplish more.”

James Gavin, a worker at the greenhouse, said he has learned so much from working at the greenhouse and it has improved his quality of life.

“This greenhouse is a real opportunity for all of us… and for the county, I think,” he said.

“I really encourage everyone to grow their own garden and to look up alternative methods of making sure everything is natural, no chemicals, and everything like that,” said student Sultan Salah. “So I would say the experience of working with fresh vegetables is probably the best experience.”

“We grow some of the tastiest vegetables there are,” said Edward Hipp, another greenhouse worker. “When its fresh off the plant, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

Then – fresh off the plant – the food goes to the Maharishi kitchens, where vegetarian, organic recipes and Ayurvedic methods are utilized.

“We’re trying to keep all the Ayurvedic guidelines in touch with the recipes so that it still tastes really good for everybody,” said Sharon Stinogel, Maharishi Executive Chef. “So it’s kind of a challenge, but it’s fun.”

“Since we’ve arrived here at Maharishi, we’ve shared the fact that organic and vegetarian is out there,” said Ken Zimmerman, food service director at Aladdin Food Management Services. “There’s a lot of our accounts that do offer organic vegetarian but not on a wide range like we do here in Fairfield.”

The cafeteria serves 800 to 1,000 people a day and after the meal, the leftover food is collected to be turned into compost, completing the cycle back to the earth.

1 comment:

Sharalyn Pliler · Maharishi University of Management

In my book, THE RELUCTANT VEGETARIAN, I make the point that it’s ever more important to eat organic than it is to be a vegetarian, but at the MUM cafeteria, where I love to go to eat, we can have it all. Good food, safe food, and good company. :-) I love MUM!

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CNN’s Candy Crowley to give Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management

May 23, 2012

FAIRFIELD, IA: The entire Fairfield community is invited to attend the Maharishi University of Management 2012 Commencement in the Men’s Dome at 1 pm on Saturday, May 26.

A total of 275 degrees will be given to 268 graduating students: 67 undergraduates for 74 degrees, including 7 double-majors, and 201 graduate degrees, for 196 Master’s and 5 Ph.D.

M.U.M.’s Commencement speaker is Candy Crowley, CNN’s award-winning chief political correspondent and anchor of “State of the Union with Candy Crowley,” a political hour of newsmaker interviews and analysis of the week’s most important issues.

In her role as chief political correspondent, Ms. Crowley covers a broad range of stories, including presidential, congressional and gubernatorial races and major legislative developments on Capitol Hill.

Since arriving at CNN from NBC in 1987, Ms. Crowley has won some of broadcasting’s major awards: a Peabody, Emmy, and Gracie Allen Award.

Ms. Crowley has been practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique since 2009. Along with Dr. Mehmet Oz, she was a co-host of the David Lynch Foundation “Change Begins Within” benefit gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 2010. She also hosted the 2011 launch for DLF’s Operation Warrior Wellness in Washington, DC.

Ms. Crowley was nominated for a Maharishi Award by the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) Global Student Council this past December but was unable to attend the award ceremony. This award will be presented to her when she is on campus.

“She said she is ‘very honored and excited’ to be able to speak at our 2012 commencement ceremony,” said MUM executive vice-president Craig Pearson.

Candy will be attending many of the Commencement events, but has to return immediately to Washington, DC after graduation in order to anchor her national political talk show on Sunday morning.

Florence Lillian Nickerson is this year’s Salutatorian, and the Valedictorian is Patrik Nils-Olof Siljestam.

The University of Iowa Faculty Brass Quintet will play the music for the Graduation Processional.

Numbers and Types of Degrees

74 Undergraduate degrees:

BA Art 2
BFA 1
BA Business 14
BA in Sustainable Community Development 1
BA in Education 1
BA in Literature 7
BA in Media and Communications 12
BA in Maharishi Vedic Science 2
BA in Physiology and Health 8
BA in Physiology and Health, Pre-Medicine 7
BS in Mathematics 1
BS in Sustainable Living 18

196 Master’s degrees:

MA in Education 3
MA in Maharishi Vedic Science 15
MA in Teaching 3
MBA Sustainable Business 33
MBA Accounting 23
MS Computer Science 119

5 Ph.D. degrees:

Ph.D. in Management 5

During her recent visit to Fairfield, Iowa to deliver the Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management, CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley visited the local community-supported solar-powered radio station, KRUU-FM, to tape an interview on Speaking Freely with Dennis Raimondi. Burt Chojnowski of Fairfield First! Buzz filmed that interview and also asked and posted 3 Questions with Candy Crowley about her impressions of Fairfield, writing, and leadership, recorded on May 26, 2012. You can hear and see those interviews in this new post: Candy Crowley visits KRUU-FM before delivering Commencement Address at Maharishi University.

Also see this article by Diane Vance who spoke with Candy on her way out here and also attended her commencement address: Fairfield Ledger: Crowley speaks to M.U.M. grads.

CNN anchor Candy Crowley gives Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management is now available on the YouTube channel.

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CBS/FOX News: Kelsey Minor’s Report: Meditation Town: Fairfield Iowa’s Key to Education Success

May 18, 2012

MEDITATION TOWN: Fairfield Iowa’s Key to Education Success

Kelsey Minor visits Maharishi School for a special report on Fairfield Iowa’s Key to Education Success, on FOX 28 News at Nine and CBS 2 News at Ten, May 17, 2012.

Thursday, May 17 2012, 10:05 PM CDT | Kelsey Minor | FOX 28 | CBS 2

Tiffany O’Donnell: On the surface it looks just like any other Iowa town square, but if you look a little closer, you’ll find it’s international flare.

Jack Miller: And that’s not the only reason people are flocking to Fairfield. It’s the center of a meditation movement. And our Kelsey Minor spent some time there to uncover the big mystery behind how meditating is helping the people there thrive. Kelsey?

Kelsey Minor: I know Tiffany’s excited about it; she’s been there. Jack, you need to get there.

You don’t often hear of Iowa being associated with meditation, but it’s happening right here in Eastern Iowa, and it’s in the process of shaping some of our state’s youngest minds, as well as the minds of Fairfield’s leaders.

FAIRFIELD, IA (KGAN/KFXA) — Tucked deep in Iowa’s flatland, among the barns and fields, is one of the 12 great places Mother Earth News says you’ve probably never been. It’s Fairfield, Iowa, and something’s been happening in this city of 95-hundred, a mystery, until now.

“Trust me, we want to get the secret out. We’d love for people to come and discover our community. We believe that’s happening now,” says Mayor Ed Malloy.

This small place, less than a two-hour drive away from Cedar Rapids, has its international flavor with its Indian restaurants and Italian coffee houses. But that’s not the mystery. I have to bring you here, to the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment, where for nearly four decades, the simple act of meditating, twice a day, everyday, has attracted all sorts of people, including the students in this private school.

“We’ve been the kind of pioneering or flagship school for this approach we call Consciousness-Based education,” says Head of School, Dr. Richard Beall.

It’s like any other college prep school across the State of Iowa but here the students, faculty, and staff all take time to practice Transcendental Meditation or T-M.

“So we are taking a significant amount of time in the morning and afternoon, bookends, before and after school, to practice meditation and yoga, so that our kids when they go into the classroom are wide awake,” Beall said.

Those 20 minutes, says school officials, rids everyone of stress making it easy to learn and perform better.

“Of course there are cynics out there who may say that this doesn’t work, and your argument against that would be what,” CBS 2’s Kelsey Minor asked.

“We kind of welcome skepticism because you can put it to the test and I think it stands up really well,” says Beall.

And so far it has. This consciousness-based learning helps send more than 95 percent of its seniors to top colleges and universities across the country. They always score in the top one percent in Iowa’s standardized test, not to mention the top honors in Math, Science, the Arts, and Sports.

“All that’s evidence that something good is happening here,” says Beall.

But this isn’t just a school thing. Roughly 25 percent of Fairfield’s population practices TM, including Mayor Ed Malloy who’s been practicing for 38 years.

“The science shows that there is an influence of reduction of crime and stress,” says Malloy.

A town that takes TM seriously.

“You have arrived right when people are first arriving for their meditation,” says resident Jim Mayhew.

Each day between four and five o’clock the cars and the people start to arrive, joining together in large numbers for meditation groups. This is the end result of that rush hour traffic—a parking lot full of cars, their owners meditating inside these golden domes. It’s a town like no other, and the people who practice TM say what they do inside these domes helps create change. And it all started here, at the school where consciousness-based learning is helping to shape tomorrow’s leaders.

“They say it takes a village to raise a child and I couldn’t imagine a better village,” says student Caroline Fulcher.

(A great village it is indeed.) Now Transcendental Meditation has become so popular that other schools across the country are now implementing the program for its students. As for Fairfield, there’s plenty to do there, and if you haven’t been already, they sure would like to see you.

In the studio, Kelsey Minor, FOX 28 News at Nine/CBS 2 News.

Links to see this news report on FOX 28 News at Nine: http://www.kgan.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/videos/kgan_vid_11222.shtml, and on YouTube for CBS 2 News at Ten, which includes introductory comments by the news anchors: http://youtu.be/FZdOStcEkC4.

Related stories on Fairfield: Video segments of Oprah’s Next Chapter on OWN: Oprah Visits Fairfield, Iowa—“TM Town”—America’s Most Unusual Town | The Iowan: Sizing Up Small Towns: Rethinking Success in Rural Iowa: Fairfield Thinks Inclusively | The Cultural Oasis of The Midwest: Fairfield, Iowa | Finding peace in Fairfield by Diane Vance

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South Asian Heart Center uses Transcendental Meditation to prevent and manage heart disease

May 12, 2012

South Asians are becoming painfully aware of the high incidence of heart attacks, often fatal, frequently among seemingly healthy, trim, and physically active close family & friends.

The South Asian Heart Center (SAHC) at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, California has developed a four-pronged approach to prevent and successfully manage heart disease among men and women of South Asian descent living and working in America. Here is an introduction to their work presented by Executive Director Ashish Mathur, and SAHC Medical Director Cesar Molina, MD, FACC: South Asian Heart Center Helps South Asians Fight Heart Disease.

In this fourth of a four-part series on Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Dr. Molina focuses on the importance of deep rest and its effect on heart-health and diabetes. He specifically covers the importance of meditation (or restful alertness) on longevity and health, and the science behind the effective technique of Transcendental Meditation (TM), which produces a “hypo-metabolic state of restful alertness.” Learn the evidence on the profound impact of this unique form of meditation on a whole class of chronic ailments. This is a very clear and comprehensive presentation!

South Asian Heart Center Webinar: TLC – Restful Sleep & Restful Alertness April 25, 2012, published on Apr 26, 2012 by sahcsathi.

At 26:26 of Part 4, Dr. César Molina begins talking about resting while awake with Transcendental Meditation and how it impacts our health, especially for South Asians and their propensity toward heart disease. One of the therapeutic modalities from the South Asian Heart Center is Transcendental Meditation as a stress-reduction technique. Dr. Molina reviews his talk starting at 56:18. He summarizes the lifestyle methodology to prevent heart disease and enhance longevity at the South Asian Heart Center: nutrition, physical activity, the importance of restful sleep, and the importance and benefit for stress reduction through Transcendental Meditation decreasing cardiovascular risk factors, decreasing hospital expenditures and admissions, and enhancing longevity.

Dr. César Molina presents Wednesday Lunch-hour Webinar Series TLC: Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes. Here are the 4 topics where you can download the video and a PDF of the main points and graphs for each talk. The recommendations can be applied to all Americans regardless of ethnicity or geographical location.

1. TLC: Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes Overview: May 2, noon
2. TLC: Exercise as Medicine: May 9, noon
3. TLC: The Dinner vs. the Diner: May 30, noon
4. TLC: Restful Sleep and Restful Alertness: June 20, noon

For more information: www.southasianheartcenter.org and www.tm.org.

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Washington Post: VA testing whether meditation can help treat PTSD

May 4, 2012
 

VA testing whether meditation can help treat PTSD

By Steve Vogel, Published: May 3

Seeking new ways to treat post-traumatic stress, the Department of Veterans Affairs is studying the use of transcendental meditation to help returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Veterans Affairs’ $5.9 billion system for mental-health care is under sharp criticism, particularly after the release of an inspector general’s report last month that found that the department has greatly overstated how quickly it treats veterans seeking mental-health care.

VA has a “huge investment” in mental-health care but is seeking alternatives to conventional psychiatric treatment, said W. Scott Gould, deputy secretary of veterans affairs.

“The reality is, not all individuals we see are treatable by the techniques we use,” Gould said at a summit Thursday in Washington on the use of TM to treat post-traumatic stress suffered by veterans and active-duty service members.

By some estimates, 10 percent of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan show effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, numbers that are overwhelming the department

“Conventional approaches fall woefully short of the mark, so we clearly need a new approach,” said Norman Rosenthal, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University’s medical school.

Rosenthal told the gathering that TM, a meditative practice that advocates say helps manage stress and depression, is “possibly even a game-changer” in how to treat PTSD.

VA is spending about $5 million on a dozen clinical trials and demonstration studies of three meditation techniques involving several hundred veterans from a range of conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Results from the studies will not be available for 12 to 18 more months.

But Gould said he was “encouraged” by the results of other trials presented at the summit.

Two independent pilot studies of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans showed a 50 percent reduction in symptoms of post-traumatic stress after eight weeks, according to the summit’s sponsor, the David Lynch Foundation, a charitable organization founded by the American filmmaker and television director.

Results from the initial phase of a long-term trial investigating the effects of TM on 60 cadets at Norwich University, a private military college in Vermont, have shown promise, school officials said at the summit.

Students practising TM at Norwich showed measurable improvement in the areas of resilience, constructive thinking and discipline over a control group not using the method. “The statistical effect we found in only two months was surprisingly large,” Carole Bandy, an associate professor of psychology who is directing the Norwich study, said at the summit.

“For us, it’s all about the evidence,” said Norwich President Richard W. Schneider, who added that he was a skeptic before the trial began.

Operation Warrior Wellness, an initiative of the David Lynch Foundation, is providing TM training to troops recovering from wounds at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. Soldiers report “dramatic improvements” in sleep, according to the foundation, as well as significant reductions in pain, stress and the use of prescription medications.

Lynch, the director of “Blue Velvet,” “Mulholland Drive” and the television series “Twin Peaks,” is a longtime practitioner of TM.

“The VA is very interested in what this can do,” Lynch said in a telephone interview Thursday. He acknowledged that many in the military are wary of transcendental meditation, with its New Age and mystic connotations.

“Big-time,” Lynch said. “They’re skeptical until they start hearing stories, or experiencing it for themselves.”

Related articles: Washington Post: Does Transcendental Meditation help veterans with PTSD? | POLITICO: Coping with PTSD | Norwich University President Receives “Resilient Warrior Award” at National Veterans Summit in Washington, DC | Huffington Post: David Lynch Brings Transcendental Meditation To D.C.

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Norwich University President Receives “Resilient Warrior Award” at National Veterans Summit in Washington, DC

May 4, 2012

Norwich University President was honored with the “Resilient Warrior Award” during a National Veterans Summit in Washington, DC for his leadership in exploring the use of Transcendental Meditation in building resilient warriors

“The disturbing prevalence of PTSD among returning troops underlines the need for more effective resilience training among our cadets.” — Norwich University President Richard W. Schneider, RADM USCGR (Ret.)

Washington, DC (PRWEB) May 03, 2012

Dr. Richard W. Schneider, RADM USCGR (Ret.), the 23rd President of Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., received the inaugural “Resilient Warrior Award” for 2012 during a national summit on “Resilience, the Brain and Meditation,” held on Thursday, May 3, at the Army and Navy Club in Washington D.C.

The award was presented to President Schneider by veterans of four wars who direct Operation Warrior Wellness, a division of the David Lynch Foundation 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which has provided Transcendental Meditation (TM) scholarships for more than 250,000 at-risk youth and veterans and their families who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The award cites Schneider for “leading and training a new generation of resilient warriors who will safeguard America and secure the peace with honor and integrity.”

Under Schneider’s leadership, Norwich University recently completed the initial phase of a long-term, longitudinal, randomized controlled trial with 60 cadets, investigating the effects of TM on psychological distress and resilience. Key results of the first nine-week period included reduced perceived stress, improved constructive thinking, decreased state anxiety, increased behavioral coping, reduced depression and improved dispositional resilience.

“Norwich is proud to be in partnership with the David Lynch Foundation and the Educational Foundation of America for providing the resources for this wonderful effort,” Schneider said.

“The disturbing prevalence of PTSD among returning troops underlines the need for more effective resilience training among our cadets. Based on existing data and preliminary results of ongoing trials at Norwich, I believe the Transcendental Meditation technique represents an essential tool to promote resilience in cadets.”

Ed Schloeman, CMS (Ret.), national co-chair of Operation Warrior Wellness, praised President Schneider for “equipping his cadets with the most important of tools—one that will help them overcome stress and promote resilience throughout their life in the military—throughout their life. He is a great educator, a wise man, and a true leader.”

After receiving the news of the award, Schneider said: “I am honored to accept this award on behalf of all those who have worked so hard on this project to experiment with providing our future soldiers, sailors, and airmen the tools necessary to become more resilient, even better warriors, and better human beings.”

Other speakers at the Summit included W. Scott Gould, the US Deputy Secretary of the Veterans Administration, and Norman Rosenthal, M.D., clinical professor of psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical School and author of a breakthrough research study, which found a 50% reduction in the symptoms of PTSD among veterans who practice TM.

Reported in newstimes.com. Related articles: Washington Post: Does Transcendental Meditation help veterans with PTSD? | POLITICO: Coping with PTSD | Washington Post: VA testing whether meditation can help treat PTSD |

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