Friends emailed me to see the premiere episode of Season 3’s NCIS: Hawai’i. NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) is a popular TV series. I was able to stream it on Paramount+ and now watch new episodes each week. Here’s how they describe the show.
NCIS is more than just an action drama. With liberal doses of humor, it’s a show that focuses on the sometimes complex and always amusing dynamics of a team forced to work together in high-stress situations. From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, these special agents investigate all crimes with Navy or Marine Corps ties.
James Todd Smith, known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He starred for many years as federal agent Sam Hanna in NCIS: Los Angeles and was recently transferred to NCIS: Hawai’i. He brought everyone up to date via Instagram and TikTok on how Season 2 ended, with Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) in bad shape.
After passing her medical and psych evaluations, Jane Tennant is surprised to see Sam Hanna conducting her final interview to clear her return to work. In the middle of this premiere Season 3 Episode 1, Run and Gun (Feb 12, 2024), Tennant and Hanna have a heart-to-heart talk one evening at a private shooting range (23:15).
Both have been deeply traumatized due to violent situations on the job. Tennant may have been medically cleared to return to work after healing from severe injuries, but she is in denial about her psychological and emotional state.
Hanna has been there and is trying to get through to her about it. Tennant finally asks Hanna what he did “to get out of the hole.” See his answer and how she responds to it in this 2-minute segment—Whatever Gets You Through The Night!—available on cbs.org and The NCISverse.
LL Cool J was involved in the creation of the Def Jam Recordings label. His collaboration with Rick Rubin laid the foundation for one of the most influential hip-hop record labels.
A TM practitioner since he was a teenager, legendary music producer Rick Rubin received the Lifetime of Harmony Award (Feb 27, 2014) from the David Lynch Foundation through its new performance arts events division, DLF Live. See more details in this Feb 25, 2014 billboard article.
Which leads me to think that maybe LL Cool J has also been doing TM, is familiar with its researched beneficial effects, the good work of the David Lynch Foundation, and might have had something to do with including Transcendental Meditation into the script. Whatever the reason, it was an unexpected surprise, and turned out to be an appropriate plug for TM!
— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.
This first video (6:05) features Dr. Tony Nader at Maharishi International University (MIU) in Fairfield, Iowa talking about the need for TM in today’s stressful world. The video opens with students meditating with Dr. Nader. Using EEG, Dr. Fred Travis demonstrates the increase in brainwave coherence of a subject as she starts meditating. Students also discuss the practical benefits from their TM practice.
The second video (7:50) takes place in Medellín, Columbia at one of Father Gabriel Mejia’s shelters for rehabilitating homeless children with addiction problems. One of them went on to become a TM teacher and returned to teach the students how to meditate. They were inspired by the positive transformation and growth in his life.
The third video (5:02) was filmed in a Rhode Island hospital where medical staff were still dealing with the stressful repercussions from the Covid-19 pandemic. TM provided welcome relief from the traumatic loss of life and continues to be taught there. Dr. Nader mentions the David Lynch Foundation’s Heal the Healers Now campaign. They provided the funding for TM instruction, which helped thousands of healthcare professionals during the pandemic. Many continue to meditate regularly.
Embedded below are the videos with their short descriptions posted on the GWI site. Each title and chapter also take you to the BBC StoryWorks pages with the same videos plus 3 slides selected from each per chapter: Nature, Self, Community.
1. TM: Listening to your inner rhythm: Dr Tony Nader has been researching the mind and meditation since he was a medical student. Discover his methods for finding peace in a busy and ever-changing world.
2. TM: A healing journey: For Breiner, meditation had a transformational effect on his life, a lesson which he is now passing on to younger generations.
3. TM: The calm in the storm. Finding a peaceful moment to recalibrate. Ongoing strains on health clinicians from the Covid-19 pandemic are still apparent in hospitals. These medical doctors are finding strength in the moments of peace that Transcendental Meditation can provide.
A new TM study and two related articles on Transcendental Meditation came out in the third week of October 2023. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing (OJIN) published a study showing TM reduced burnout and enhanced well-being in nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on the OJIN TM study, and KFF Health News Morning Briefing highlighted both the AJC article and OJIN study. Separately, Vogue Magazine published a very good article on TM, which also ran in the UK.
First, congratulations to Bob Roth, Kelly Malloy, and DLF on this great TM article in Vogue magazine, Transcendental Meditation Is a Superpower—And It’s as Easy as Two Syllables (and 20 Minutes)! (10/20) I liked the introduction where Corey Seymour describes how he had tried everything, was finally open to learning TM, and shared his surprise at how easy it was. A friend of Corey had learned TM from DLF CEO Bob Roth and she told him about it. Kelly Malloy taught him and Bob said that Corey “was the right guy at the right time…very smart and pure-hearted.” In his article, Corey makes understanding and appreciating TM very accessible. Impressed, I tweeted the article. The following day British Vogue (10/21) also ran the same article.
KFF Health News, a respected national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues, publishes daily summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Here is what appeared at the top of their Wed Oct 18, 2023 Morning Briefing, which I also tweeted. Their second paragraph is about the AJC TM article.
A story in Vox highlights how resistant doctors are to receiving mental health care or medication. Also: Iowa plans to remove mental health questions from medical license paperwork. Separately, a recent study shows that transcendental meditation can help combat nurse burnout.
According to a recent study published in the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, transcendental meditation is effective at reducing burnout and enhancing the overall well-being of nurses. The study is a response to increasing levels of burnout within the healthcare industry, largely exacerbated by the pandemic. According to another recent study, by market research and consulting company PRC, 15.6% of U.S. nurses surveyed reported feeling burnout. (Boyce, 10/17)
The fact that KFF highlighted and positioned the AJC report showing TM as a solution to burnout for nurses juxtaposing it with problems doctors are having with burnout speaks volumes for TM!
As far as I know, the AJC and KFF news reports on this latest important TM study happened naturally without any official publicity efforts!
Nurse Amy Ruff, RN BSN, National Director of Transcendental Meditation for Nurses, told me that Tom and Linda were two of the TM Teachers from the Ann Arbor TM Center who were involved in teaching TM to the nurses in this study through the David Lynch Foundation’s Heal the Healers Now campaign. I asked Tom for some comments about the study and he wrote back with these experiences from the side of the teachers and two of the nurses.
TM Teachers: It was a great experience sharing this knowledge with healthcare workers during the height of Covid and hearing of the benefit they were having. Witnessing the work load and cultural expectations demanded of these workers in a profession of giving, would turn anyone into an advocate for the improvement of healthcare worker conditions. They all expressed gratitude for the benefits of their regular TM practice and opportunity to learn TM through the DLF HtHN initiative. Here are emails from two of the nurse involved in the study.
First Nurse: Dear Margaret, Kelcey and Tom,
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the U of M TM RN research study. It was a great honor to be selected and participation has greatly impacted my life and the lives of people around me. These past few months have been very challenging and TM helped me remain balanced, gain clarity and keep a positive attitude. I find myself being able to let go of frustrations more easily, not engage in disruptive situations such as road rage and be able to relax more easily following difficult shifts at work. I have improved relations with the people around me and have been able to improve communication skills in difficult situations. Daily TM practice has been very beneficial to my well-being and positively affected my work as a nurse on a demanding unit.
My long term goal and hope is to get more training and bring what I have learned to my patients.
From the bottom of my heart, I want to extend a sincere thank you to you and behind the scenes team members.
Sincerely,
Gerti Schrattenthaler
Second Nurse: Good day,
I completed the survey, sorry for the delay in my responses. Our email system just changed so I no longer had access through my phone to check email. I wanted to let you know how beneficial the TM practice has been for me. It has allowed me to fully relax and recharge. It has helped me cope during the last couple of months which have been extremely stressful with the increase in COVID patients. The practice has been extremely helpful for my mental and emotional well-being. I am so grateful for this opportunity. I hope you get the opportunity to expand the study and allow other healthcare workers to benefit from this wonderful practice. I will continue the TM practice as part of my daily routine.
— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.
In it, Spielberg mentions how he and his wife had learned TM, Transcendental Meditation, 3 years ago through the David Lynch Foundation. He also revealed how the idea came up to ask David Lynch to play the role of John Ford in the film, how he pulled it off, and how David Lynch prepared for his cameo role. Apparently, David was unrecognizable as he took on the persona of the late, great filmmaker.
Entertainment writer Tomris Laffly was at the Q&A and posted several video clips of that conversation on Twitter, for which we are grateful.
I am watching Steven Spielberg & Martin Scorsese discuss THE FABELMANS. DGA today is a house of worship, ♥️ pic.twitter.com/uLAkT8W1px
And here is a part of that movie clip they talked about, especially the cigar-lighting scene, which Amanda Dugan just tweeted of David Lynch as John Ford in The Fabelmans. She later sent me the full YouTube clip of David Lynch as John Ford, which I’ve embedded here.
David Lynch playing John Ford being directed by Steven Spielberg in a semi-autobiographical film about his life.
Later added: On Jan 5, 2023, Jimmy Kimmel asked Laura Dern to share the story of how Steven Spielberg asked her to get David Lynch to play the role of John Ford in his film. She was the catalyst in bringing both of these master film directors together to “pay homage” to the master filmmaker they both admired. It’s from 4:36-6:40 and is cued up below.
At the bottom of The Film Stage article, they embed a video from 11 years ago — Spielberg/Grazer/Howard – “John Ford” — of Spielberg recounting in detail the real-life story, when he was 15, of meeting John Ford, which, decades later, would became the ending for The Fabelmans.
Over the past two years I’ve been joining the daily morning and evening group meditations on Zoom facilitated by Bob Roth, a longtime Transcendental Meditation (TM) teacher, CEO of the David Lynch Foundation (DLF), and author. Before each group meditation, Bob likes to share interesting scientific information about how the body works, or something in nature, and ends the call with an inspirational poem, quotation, or word.
Bob also answers questions that have been sent in. One that comes up often is how is TM different from other types of meditation, in particular mindfulness. Bob’s answer was so clear, I wanted to share it with you. It was transcribed and approved for posting. I found two relevant images in an article on TM Basics in Enjoy TM News that will help highlight Bob’s explanation. He also addresses the notion of the active “monkey mind” and how it can be calmed without effort, a key point.
Bob Roth: I want to address a pretty basic question that many of you know the answer to, but many of you don’t. And since this is a community experience (these group meditations), I want to be sure that everybody feels comfortable and is up to speed. And one of the questions that frequently comes up, even among people who practice TM, is, “How is this different from other types of meditation, or mindfulness meditation?” Because we hear that term: mindfulness meditation.
And I like to use a very simple analogy; that you have a cross section of an ocean. (You ever hear me use that analogy in the past?) And you have choppy waves on the surface. And that can be analogous to the thinking mind. And people who are familiar with different types of meditation often talk about the nature of the mind being like a monkey mind. It bounces all over the place and, just in search of, just bouncing, bouncing, bouncing. It’s an active mind.
And if you want to control the mind, if you want to have a calm mind, then you have to stop the monkey mind from bouncing all over the place. And so, many types of either mindfulness meditation or other types of meditation involve some type of control of the mind.
So, in that cross-section of the ocean, it would be attempting to stop the waves on the surface of the ocean. That if you want to have a calm ocean, what disrupts a calm ocean? Waves. So, if you could stop the waves, then you’d have a calm ocean.
By analogy, if you want to have a calm mind, what disrupts a calm mind? Thoughts. So, if you want to have a calm mind, stop thoughts. You’ll have a calm mind.
That approach to meditation is called a cognitive approach. Cognitive means attending to your thoughts, your moods, your feelings, your actions. So, in that type of meditation, there’s some degree of control of the mind.
In Transcendental Meditation, we know there’s no control of the mind.
In Transcendental Meditation, we know there’s no control of the mind. We appreciate that the surface of the ocean may be turbulent, but we also recognize that there’s a vertical dimension to the ocean, and that there’s a depth to the ocean. And the depth to the deeper levels of the ocean? More silence.
In the same way, we appreciate that the mind is an active mind. All of the thoughts that we have during the day—we’re busy people. And we’re upset about things, and we’re happy about things, and we’re depressed about things, and we’re anxious about things, and we’re in love, and then we’re hurt.
All this stuff that’s going on are like waves on the surface, thoughts on the surface of the mind. And we call that the “gotta-gotta-gotta” mind.
Transcendental Meditation recognizes that there’s a vertical dimension to the mind. Just as there’s a vertical dimension to the ocean, there’s a vertical dimension to the mind. And the deeper levels of the mind are increasingly quiet, more settled.
Just as there’s a vertical dimension to the ocean, there’s a vertical dimension to the mind. And the deeper levels of the mind are increasingly quiet, more settled.
We know that when we want to talk to a dear friend about something important to us, we don’t say, Let’s go to a noisy sports bar. We say, Let’s go someplace quiet. Because when it’s quiet, we can think more clearly. We feel more settled within ourselves.
So, deeper levels of the mind—quieter. In Transcendental Meditation, we don’t try to stop thoughts on their surface. We effortlessly access what’s called (go in the direction of what’s called) the source of thought, from where thoughts arise deep within the mind of everyone—from where thoughts arise.
And that level of the mind is naturally quiet, like the ocean depth is naturally quiet. It’s there. That’s the hypothesis. You don’t have to believe in that. That’s the hypothesis. Deep within every human being is a level where the mind is already quiet. All we do in Transcendental Meditation is set up the conditions for our mind to effortlessly access that.
Deep within every human being is a level where the mind is already quiet. All we do in Transcendental Meditation is set up the conditions for our mind to effortlessly access that.
We don’t try to stop thoughts. It’s a waste of time. It’s impossible. It doesn’t accomplish what we hope to accomplish. And what do we hope to accomplish? Just set up the conditions for the mind to settle down within. And why will the mind settle down within? Because your mind doesn’t wander aimlessly. The mind is in search of something more satisfying. When it goes out through the senses, we look for something—something more beautiful, something more delicious, something more fragrant, something more pleasurable.
When we close our eyes, wait a half a minute, and then begin to think the mantra in an effortless way, then the mind is drawn inward to these quieter levels. And as that happens, our body gains deep rest.
And then as we get deep rest, the body throws off stress, and that increases the activity in the body. And then we come up a little bit. And then we settle back down. And we come up and we settle back down. This is Transcendental Meditation.
So, it’s that vertical dimension—accessing a level of the mind that is already quiet. So, no control in this. Concentration and control, just is trying to manipulate the surface. And that is just difficult and uncomfortable and not Transcendental Meditation.
Easy, comfortable, let the attention turn within, and we settle down, we come up. And that is TM—transcendence. Going beyond ordinary human limitations.
More on that in times to come, but let’s do our meditation now.
* * *
This infographic on the TM website compares forms of meditation techniques and their impact on the brain by looking at amount of mental effort required, images of different EEG signatures, types of brainwave activity, and their descriptions identified by the Mayo Clinic.
January 16, 2022: Today is YEBBA’s 27th birthday. We wish her peace of mind, a joy-filled heart, and a successful fulfilling career.
Born Abigail Elizabeth Smith, she went by Abbey Smith until she changed her name professionally to Yebba—Abbey spelled backwards—in honor of her mother who had given her that nickname. More on that later.
I recently discovered this amazing artist on YouTube. She is an American singer-songwriter from West Memphis, Arkansas. Over 5 years ago, when she was 21, she gave a powerful, emotive performance of her song “My Mind” at Sofar (Songs From A Room) in New York City. Sofar NYC had recorded it and later posted it on their YouTube channel. It went viral.
I can’t get it out of my mind. I never heard a singer express such raw emotion, yet within a precise musical structure. She does this with her very versatile voice and just her guitarist softly backing her up. That’s it.
The song opens with her discovering that her partner has been cheating on her, then shows her reaction. Her voice slowly builds to a powerful expression of rage, hurt, and grief, to the point where she is about to lose her mind. The audience is spellbound. The camera shows some women sitting motionless in rapt attention.
YEBBA performing “My Mind” at Sofar NYC on September 30th, 2016. Sofar Sounds connects artists and music-lovers around the world through intimate shows in unique venues.
Losing love can be a painful thing. I normally wouldn’t post something like this, however. This is such a profoundly visceral experience executed with the utmost skill and talent I just had to share it.
Having written and performed My Mind at Sofar in front of a live audience must’ve been part of her healing process, and a cathartic experience for those listening who may have also suffered a betrayal and loss of love. After it was over, I like how she matter-a-factly stated, “That’s that one.”
Reactions
Hundreds have reacted to this video over the years, some technically, others emotionally, recalling their own memories of betrayal. It is a powerful performance that triggers anger, compassion, tears. It reminded me of that famous line: ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’.
I think the main thing that I felt when I heard that was this overwhelming sense of wanting to protect her and make the pain go away because it was just watching a woman in distress crying out for help in such a harrowingly poetic and beautiful way. It shows you what beauty can come out of such intense pain. And we need that, we need a pioneer of expression.
All of her vocal effects—from the runs, to the aspirations, to the yodels, to the calling or crying that she’s putting into the sound, to the distortion—all of it sounds suitable, if the emotional content of the song that she’s putting in, like, you can’t help but feel something when you’re watching her sing this because it’s like her heart is in her hands. This is an incredible emotional performance and the vocal delivery is stunning. I mean I don’t think she overdid anything that wasn’t warranted by the lyrics that she was delivering.
Voice teacher John Henny said Yebba uses a minor pentatonic scale, a five-note scaffolding on which her voice ascends and descends. Her riffs sound like Middle Eastern runs or from a gospel choir. Yebba’s father is a pastor and she used to create choral arrangements and sing in his church. At times, it sounds like she’s wailing. John provides us with this insight into her talent and technique.
I gotta tell you, it is so hard to take your voice and your emotions to the edge of tears but you don’t lose the ability to sing. That’s really difficult, because as you begin to touch that emotion you lose control in the voice, and she’s right on the razor’s edge of that. That’s really fantastic! I’ve seen Barbra Streisand do that effectively well. It’s incredibly hard to do.
He concludes by saying “She’s just amazing” and then provides us with this final analysis:
The song itself—there’s not a lot there. I mean very simple chords. It’s not like it’s this hook-driven ditty. It really is just a vehicle for her to express herself emotionally. And what I love, is her riffs, her choices. None of them are done to be showy. It’s not, ‘Hey, look-at-me,’ vocals. It’s, ‘Let me express myself to you.’ ‘Let me communicate to you.’ So, this is absolutely fantastic!
Collaborations and Grammys
To date, this video has almost 20 million views. Ed Sheeran saw Yebba sing and it brought him to tears. He immediately signed her to his record label and later invited her to London at the famous Abbey Road Studios (same name!) to record one of his songs as part of his No. 6 Collaborations Project released in 2019. It included many top artists and produced several hits mentioned in the notes. It’s posted on his YouTube channel: Ed Sheeran – Best Part Of Me (feat. YEBBA) (Live At Abbey Road).
Yebba’s mother, Dawn, a high school science teacher, encouraged her singing. Sadly, she committed suicide in October, shortly after Yebba’s performance at Sofar went viral. Yebba returned home traumatized, putting her career on hold, and tried to deal with her PTSD and OCD.
Yebba mentions a feeling of constant panic and grief in this 5-minute synopsis of an NPR interview that Sam Sanders did with her when her debut album, Dawn, came out last September: With The New Album ‘Dawn,’ Yebba Sheds Old Beliefs.
Listen to the complete intimate 24-minute interview where they discover they have a lot in common growing up around music in the church: Yebba Sheds Old Beliefs With A New Album. Both include the transcripts.
NPR also posted Yebba: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert of her performing songs from the album with her amazing band and vocal backup group.
Trying to come to terms with her mother’s death, Yebba processed a lot of emotions and memories. She titled and dedicated her first album in her name. Symbolically, it became the official dawn of her career.
September 8, 2021: This Tiny Desk Concert has been in the works since the spring of 2020, when the album was completed but shelved until Yebba (and the rest of the world) was in a better place. It was worth the wait.
In the YouTube documentary, “How To Be: Mark Ronson,” when Mark and Yebba are in the studio, he says, “she is one of the top five greatest vocalists I’ve ever recorded, just the kind of person that when they’re singing in a room, everybody just suddenly engages more.” And Mark has collaborated with and produced the best, like Amy Winehouse, Adele, Bruno Mars, Q-Tip, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, to name a few.
Yebba Is The Real Deal wrote Stereogum’s Chris Deville in his informative review for The Week In Pop and concludes: “She sounds ready to take over the world.”
Natalie Maher interviewed Yebba for Harpers Bazaar: Yebba Isn’t Afraid to Feel It All. The singer-songwriter’s debut album, Dawn, is a hauntingly beautiful ode to the art of healing.
Song versions
Yebba doesn’t usually sing her songs the same way twice. Her song, Boomerang, is on the album, but this live version posted on her YouTube channel sounds better.
Same with this live version of October Sky. The song is based on a memory of her mother firing off bottle rockets she had brought home from science class for Yebba and her brother. Gerard Hern explained it in his comment quoting Yebba on how she wrote the song.
“I wrote this whole story about remembering her sliding down the hall and telling us ‘Come outside we’re shooting off bottle rockets,’” Yebba explains. “That memory came to me and the words just spilled out: this story of her and the promise that she broke, in a way, because she killed herself in October. I genuinely feel like she was standing there in the room with me as I was writing it, in my studio apartment in Brooklyn.”
Nick Cave and Lady Gaga are two of many musicians who have spoken about the benefits of Transcendental Meditation (TM) for their grief and pain, respectively, and to boost their creativity. Katy Perry and Sting have participated with other artists in fundraising concerts for the David Lynch Foundation (DLF), which offers TM for free to traumatized communities.
My screen is getting blurry. ❤️ So moved. Thank you for showing what’s been hiding in my own work through your profoundly powerful and soulful take. You are so special I can’t stand/understand it sometimes. ♥️♥️♥️
And now John Mayer’s 2022 Sob Rock Tour will include Yebba as his opening act in some March to April venues. Official #1 Fan, Yebbite Smith, posts videos from concerts, like these clips from Luke Edgemon of Yebba and her funky band opening for John Mayer in LA. Luke also posted Yebba singing October Sky from that Forum concert. Jayla R posted Stand from the Tampa show.
July 16, 2023: Yebba posted a clip of her wailing the conclusion to an Amy Winehouse’s song, “You Know I’m No Good”, with Mark Ronson and an amazing band at the jazz festival in Montreux, Switzerland! YebbaUpdates (@yebbamusic), posted photos and videos from Montreux on their Instagram.
Blue Note New York
October 10, 2023: Yebba posted some of her favorite moments from Robtober at Blue Note, the famous Jazz Club in New York City. “Thank you for having me get out the house @robertglasper and always having my back. You are my hero it’s never not gonna be crazy I get to call u mentor and friend.”
Veterans with PTSD who practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique showed significant reductions in PTSD symptom severity, according to a new study published today in Journal of Traumatic Stress. Fifty percent of the meditating veterans no longer met criteria for PTSD after three months compared to only 10 percent of controls. The randomized controlled study also showed significant reductions in veterans’ symptoms of depression and anxiety, and sleep difficulties.
Fifty percent of veterans who practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique for three months no longer met criteria for PTSD compared to only 10 percent of controls. Meditating veterans also showed significant reductions in symptoms of depression and anxiety, and sleep difficulties. This figure shows the unadjusted mean change in PTSD symptoms, based on the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), for the Transcendental Meditation group compared to the treatment-as-usual control group (all P values <.05) over the three-month intervention period.
Veterans with PTSD who practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique showed significant reductions in PTSD symptom severity, according to a new study published today in Journal of Traumatic Stress. Fifty percent of the meditating veterans no longer met criteria for PTSD after three months compared to only 10 percent of controls. The randomized controlled study also showed significant reductions in veterans’ symptoms of depression and anxiety, and sleep difficulties.
“Transcendental Meditation is a non-trauma-focused, easy-to-learn technique that was found in this study to improve PTSD symptoms, likely through the experience of physical rest,” said Mayer Bellehsen, Ph.D., director of the Unified Behavioral Health Center for Military Veterans and their Families, Northwell Health, and study principal investigator. “In contrast to commonly administered therapies for PTSD that are trauma-focused and based on a patient’s recall of past traumatic experiences, this intervention does not require extensive review of traumatic history, which some individuals find difficult to engage in. This intervention may therefore be more tolerable for some individuals struggling with PTSD.”
The randomized controlled trial, conducted at Northwell Health in Bay Shore, New York, assigned 40 veterans with documented PTSD to either the Transcendental Meditation (TM) group or treatment as usual control group. The TM treatment provided 16 sessions over 12 weeks, with twice-a-day daily home practice. PTSD symptom severity was assessed with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5), and patient self-report with the PTSD Checklist for DSM -5 (PCL-5).
The results showed large effect sizes, indicating a strong TM treatment impact in reducing trauma symptoms for both PTSD measures. Other factors associated with trauma, such as depression and anxiety symptoms and sleep problems, also showed a strong impact of TM treatment.
“This trial corroborates the findings of a large clinical trial published in The Lancet Psychiatry,” said Sanford Nidich, Ed.D., Director of the Center for Social-Emotional Health at Maharishi International University Research Institute, and study co-investigator. “The current study further supports the effectiveness of Transcendental Meditation as a first-line treatment for PTSD in veterans. The availability of an additional evidence-based therapy will benefit veterans, both by offering them a greater range of options and by serving as an alternative treatment strategy for those who don’t want to engage in trauma-focused treatment or who aren’t responding to a previous PTSD intervention.”
The authors point out in their research paper that TM may positively affect trauma symptom severity through the reduction of hyperarousal symptoms. Previous research has shown that TM practice decreases physiological responses to stressful stimuli. In addition, recent research indicates that TM may improve resilience and positive coping strategies, providing further benefit to both veterans and active military personnel.
Many science and international news outlets posted the news, including this excellent report in Medical News Today (PDF). And Jim Dwyer MD produced and tweeted this 60-seconds MediBlurb: Transcendental Meditation for PTSD in Veterans, which airs on regional radio in Arizona.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Medical experts say health care workers are experiencing higher rates of burnout, exhaustion and even PTSD as they continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
One group is trying to change that.
Tom and Jeanne Ball, directors at the Asheville TM Center, joined the national Heal The Healers Now project to offer free Transcendental Meditation training for health care workers who are experiencing higher rates of burnout, exhaustion and even PTSD as they continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo credit: WLOS staff)
Tom and Jeanne Ball, directors at the Asheville TM Center, have joined the national Heal The Healers Now project to offer free Transcendental Meditation training for health care workers. This is happening at a time when those involved in the project said health care workers need it the most.
“We found before the pandemic a year ago, found that half of physicians anyway were reporting significant levels of burnout,” said Dr. Stuart Rothenberg, medical director of the Center for Health and Wellness. “Now, we have 75 to 80% reporting significant burnout,” said Stuart Rothenberg, MD, Medical Director of the Center for Health and Wellness.
Tom Ball said health care workers need a way to do destress.
“Our health care workers that are so overly stressed and overly taxed right now,” Tom Ball said.
He said the Transcendental Meditation technique is a way for them to find peace during the chaos.
“Practice 15, 20 minutes a day, just sit comfortably with your eyes closed,” Tom Ball said.
Jeanne Ball said she’s teaching a nurse right now.
“She’s told me that she’s been able to take a break at the hospital and just sit down and do this,” Jeanne Ball said.
Michael Stephens, an Asheville area doctor, agreed with the technique’s effectiveness. He learned the technique before the pandemic.
“Working in a COVID environment is very suffocating. Wearing protective gear all the time and having to wear masks and gowns and gloves and shields is very suffocating, both physically hard to breath and emotionally,” Stephens said. “The Transcendental Meditation just really gives respite.”
Rothenberg said a national survey found that since the pandemic 76% of health care workers feel emotionally exhausted and 50% said they cry frequently at work, with 67% of nurses saying they cry frequently at work.
“We don’t really see the light at the end of tunnel for our health care workers,” he said. “It’s just an opportunity, twice a day, to get out of that cycle.”
The Balls said the free course they are offering is held over four days with 1.5 hours each day.
This week, Nov 9-13, 2020, is ‘Jerry Fest’, a 5-Day free, Sneak-Peak Screening and Virtual Celebration of Veteran’s Day, honoring the life of Jerry Yellin with the release of a new documentary film, ‘Jerry’s Last Mission’.
Here is a press release that was sent out announcing this week’s activities: Ed Cunningham Announces David Lynch Foundation and Regnery History to Host ‘Jerry Fest’. 5-Day Virtual Festival Celebration of Veteran’s Day and WW2 Fighter Pilot will include free screenings of the Feature Documentary ‘Jerry’s Last Mission’ and Q&A sessions with the filmmakers.
The two virtual Q&A sessions take place on Veteran’s Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 8 pm ET hosted by Regnery Publishing, and on Thursday, Nov. 12 at 8 pm ET hosted by the David Lynch Foundation. Both will include Yellin’s family, producers Ed Cunningham and Melissa Hibbard, and director Louisa Merino. Check the film’s website for zoom links.
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, a young Jerry Yellin signed up to become a fighter pilot. He flew P-51 missions over Iwo Jima, including the last official bombing raid of the war over Japan. He was the only one left in his squadron to survive. He returned home a hero, but suffered for decades from what is now known as PTSD. Thanks to his wife, Helene, Jerry learned the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, which transformed his life.
Decades later, when Jerry heard about the high rate of suicides among today’s veterans, he inspired the David Lynch Foundation to start Operation Warrior Wellness, which provided scholarships for veterans and their families to learn Transcendental Meditation.
So Jerry’s last mission was not only at the end of WW2, but also decades later during the latter part of his life, when he made it possible for American veterans of foreign wars to heal their PTSD by learning TM.
The film will have an exclusive release through Utopia Distribution’s ALTAVOD on November 11, 2021, Veterans Day, and will be available December 4 on Apple TV and Apple iTunes. Jerry’s autobiography, originally published as Of War And Weddings in 1995, has been re-released as Jerry’s Last Mission by Armin Lear Press to coincide with the release of the documentary film. Find out more in their press release: ARMIN LEAR RELEASES JERRY’S LAST MISSION CONCURRENT WITH DOCUMENTARY.
Jerry’s Last Mission was later made available for rent or purchase on Amazon Prime.
This is one of the most informative articles on Transcendental Meditation I’ve read. Nicole Pajer put it together for the February 19, 2020issue of Parade. I asked Bob Roth about it and he said, “The reporter sent me a bunch of questions and I answered them, thinking she would lift parts of the answers for an article… instead they printed the whole thing!”
If you’ve done any research into the meditation, you’ve likely heard of Transcendental Meditation. Just about every celebrity seems to be practicing it these days. Popularized by The Beatles (who originally learned in 1967), it’s now a favorite of Katy Perry, Hugh Jackman, Sheryl Crow and Liv Tyler. After discovering it herself, Oprah even paid for her 400 employees to become trained in the methodology!
But what exactly is TM and how does it differ from the other types of meditation out there? We caught up with Transcendental Meditation expert and CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, Bob Roth, who walked us through the ins and outs of this popular form of meditation.
What is Transcendental Meditation (TM)?
Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a mental technique that is practiced for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day, sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. During the technique, the mind and body settle down to a unique state of “restful alertness” where the whole physiology is deeply relaxed while the mind is quiet inside, yet wide awake. Hundreds of published studies show the technique is effective for reducing stress, anxiety, insomnia, depression and at the same time, improving health, focus and performance. TM does not involve religion, philosophy or a change in lifestyle. It has been learned by 10 million people.
How does TM differ from other forms of meditation?
The ocean is a great analogy for understanding different approaches to meditation. Just as the ocean can be turbulent on the surface with innumerable waves and quiet at its depth, so, too, the mind is active on the surface with innumerable thoughts but it is also naturally, profoundly quiet deep within. Other forms of meditation work to bring calm to the mind by stopping or observing thoughts—or visualizing new thoughts. This is like trying to create calm in the ocean by stopping the surface waves. On the other hand, Transcendental Meditation doesn’t mind the surface thoughts, it provides access to deeper levels of the mind, which are already calm and peaceful. For this, TM does not require concentration or control of thoughts, nor does it involve visualization or any type of guided practice.
It requires one-on-one instruction to master.
Unlike other forms of meditation that can be learned from a book or tape, TM is always taught in personal, one-to-one instruction by a certified instructor. That is because the ability to “transcend,” to settle down and access a field of silence that lies deep within the mind, while completely natural, is also a special skill that everyone learns at his or her own unique pace. For this, a teacher is incredibly helpful. The TM teacher instructs you in the skill of how to turn the attention of your mind, which is usually directed outward to the world around us, inward and to experience the deepest, most settled level of the mind where you are peaceful and quiet inside, yet wide awake and alert. For this your teacher will give you a mantra and then teach you how to use the mantra properly.
Transcendental Meditation is taught over four consecutive days, about 60 to 90 minutes each day. During the first session, your teacher will give you a mantra and then teach you how to use it properly. During the following three sessions over consecutive days, you learn addition information to stabilize the correct practice of the technique as well as learn about how the body reduces stress, improves health, and enhances brain functioning as you continue to meditate twice a day over the ensuing weeks, months, and years. Visit TM.org to find a certified TM teacher who offers a course in your area.
The technique is learned from a certified instructor, not from a video or book. That said, there are several videos you can watch that will help answer your questions about the technique and help you decide if you would like to learn:
Your practice will center around your own personal mantra.
The mantras in TM come from an ancient meditation tradition that is over 5,000 years old. A mantra is a specific word or thought that (1) has no meaning associated with it—because if there was a meaning then the mind would be stuck on the surface trying to it out and (2) the mantra is a soothing sound whose effects are known to be positive and life-supporting. When you learn TM, your teacher will give you a mantra and then equally importantly, will teach you how to use the mantra properly, which means effortlessly, without any concentration or control of the mind.
It’s best performed for 15 to 20 minutes, twice a day.
Once in the morning, before the day begins to give you the energy, resilience, and focus to enjoy the day with less stress and fatigue, and again, in the late afternoon or early evening, to wash off the stress of the day so that you can truly enjoy the evening with family and friends and sleep better at night.
How much does Transcendental Meditation cost?
The initial TM course is four sessions, and a one-time fee—based on income and ranging from $380-$960—is charged to cover the teacher’s salary. There is an option to split these payments over four months, and those who receive federal assistance such as SNAP may be eligible for a partial grant to help cover the fee. After these four sessions there is a lifetime of free follow up offered through any of the more than 200 teaching centers in the U.S. and any of the thousands of teaching centers worldwide.
What is a typical TM session like?
You sit comfortably with your eyes closed and you think the mantra in the easy, effortless way that your teacher has instructed you. There is no need for electronic apps or guided imagery. It is a natural process that is equally natural to practice. No tools, no apps, no videos. Just a comfortable place to sit and close your eyes for 20 minutes is all you need to participate.
Who can learn Transcendental Meditation?
Anyone from the age of 10 years and older can learn TM. Children ages 4-10 can learn a technique that is more appropriate for a youngster. TM is ideal for anyone: skeptic or advocate, experienced with other practices or novice. It is ideal for anyone who has had difficulty with techniques in the past that advocate stopping thoughts, clearing the mind of thoughts, or any form of concentration on the breath, sound, or areas of the body.
Is there anyone who shouldn’t do TM?
TM can be learned by anyone and can benefit everyone. That said, if a person is suffering from PTSD or another form of extreme trauma and is under the care of a physician or therapist it is important to continue those treatments along with the addition of TM practice.
What are the health benefits of Transcendental Meditation?
Research shows that TM is highly effective for giving the body deep rest and reducing stress, fatigue and trauma. At the same time, research also shows that TM can have a positive impact on the 80 to 90 percent of the diseases and disorders that are either caused by stress or exacerbated by stress, which includes reductions in high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and insomnia, along with improvements in focus, creativity, problems-solving, and overall physical and mental health.
Bob Roth recently appeared on a Frontiers podcast (S2:E4) by The Upside. In this episode Bob shared his journey to bring Transcendental Meditation to the Frontiers of medicine, education and the workplace. You can also listen to it on Apple Podcasts.
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