ET: Why Celebs Are Obsessed With Transcendental Meditation
Entertainment Tonight http://et.tv/2CFjfWU
Publishedthis high-powered 2-minute news clip shows why so many stars are using this silent practice to really unplug. Featured in the report are Katy Perry, Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness, Cameron Diaz, Fergie, Chrissy Metz, Jerry Seinfeld, Oprah and Tom Hanks. It’s a veritable free celeb-filled TM promo! Watch it on ET, MSN, AOL, Yahoo, or here: https://goo.gl/CzKDaf.
ET Canada correspondent and Radio host Roz Weston shares how Transcendental Meditation helped him become a better professional broadcaster. Roz Weston first learned broadcasting while interning with the Howard Stern Show. “The lesson that I took away from that is that success at that level is about being professional.” Today he co-hosts his own morning show on Toronto’s KISS 92.5 FM and interviews many top celebrities for ET Canada.
Read this Special to The Globe and Mail: Radio host Roz Weston finds success in meditation and professionalism. I really enjoyed this article. It’s filled with sound professional advice and tips on how to be an authentic interviewer. And for someone who works 13-hour days, it also says a lot about the sustaining power of Transcendental Meditation! The article was published Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015. I posted the introduction and the section on his TM practice. ET Canada posted this on their YouTube Channel: Roz Weston: Behind The Story.
As a correspondent on ET Canada, Roz Weston has interviewed A-listers like George Clooney and It Girls like Amy Schumer. When he’s not working the red carpet, the former Howard Stern intern is the co-host of Kiss 92.5 radio morning show The Roz and Mocha Show. It’s a hectic schedule, which is why Weston takes twenty minutes out of every day to meditate. Here, he shares some of the secrets to his success, including why he would happily interview Alec Baldwin every day.
The secret to boundless energy in 20 minutes
A few years ago I was feeling very overwhelmed by the pace of my life and the responsibilities I had. I was looking for something and I didn’t know what. I heard about Transcendental Meditation [a form of “relaxed awareness” meditation founded by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the mid-1950s and practiced by notables such as Jerry Seinfeld and Oprah Winfrey] from a friend. I’m not a religious person at all, so it was nothing to do with that. It was first described to me as yoga for your mind. You shut everything down, you go deep and when you come out of it you have so much energy. It is a literal recharge. In the middle of the day when we all break for lunch, my colleagues all go to the cafeteria and I go to my dressing room and meditate for 20 minutes and then I’m good to go. A 13-hour workday with five hours’ sleep is not a problem. It’s not like the kind of meditation where you sit cross-legged and clear your head of all thoughts. Thoughts come into your head and they sit there and you let them go and you go deeper and deeper. I now have the ability to deal with issues, thoughts, information so much more effectively than I did before. I no longer feel overwhelmed. I used to feel overwhelmed every second of the day.
Read the rest of this excellent article filled with some solid career advice: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/radio-host-roz-weston-finds-success-in-meditation-and-professionalism/article25970740/
The Back Story and More
Roz had a desire to learn about Transcendental Meditation and wasn’t sure how to do it properly. So, in September 2013, they welcomed the most calm relaxing guest in Roz & Mocha history! They interviewed actor, comedian, and Certified Toronto TM teacher Lucie Guest about Transcendental Meditation on KiSS 92.5.
As you just read, Roz did finally learn TM and benefited greatly from it. This June, he was invited to meet Amy Schumer, Judd Apatow, Dave Attell, Vanessa Bayer, Mike Birbiglia, and Colin Quinn—members of the TrainWreck Comedy Tour who were performing at Massey Hall. They were donating VIP tickets to the David Lynch Foundation to help bring Transcendental Meditation to at-risk teens and abused women who suffer from trauma and toxic stress. Roz also met with DLF Executive Director Bob Roth.
Speaking of Alec Baldwin, you can listen to him on his WNYC talk show, Here’s The Thing, asking Jerry Seinfeld how he found out about and learned Transcendental Meditation.
And since Roz interned at The Howard Stern Show, you may also enjoy eavesdropping on Howard and Jerry sharing their own TM stories. They seemed to have learned around the same time on Long Island. Much to Jerry’s surprise, Howard shares with him how his mother’s life was turned around after learning TM, how she took him to the local Center to learn to meditate, and how Howard had actually interviewed Maharishi twice. Fabulous!
Documentary on the meaning of peace premieres in Iowa Sunday
A documentary that aims to define the meaning of “peace” will premiere in Iowa this weekend and the filmmaker will attend the debut. Six years in the making, Greg Reitman says “Rooted in Peace” is the story of his personal quest which took him around the planet, with a few stops in southeast Iowa.
“I go on a journey asking the question, ‘Why are we so violent?’ and why we don’t connect with ourselves and with nature,” Reitman says. “Along the way, I’m guided by some incredible people.” The list includes: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, spiritualist Deepak Chopra, film director David Lynch, media mogul Ted Turner, and music legends Donovan, Pete Seeger and Mike Love.
Reitman first met Love, one of the founders of the Beach Boys, at a 2009 concert in Fairfield. Reitman is a New York native who now lives in southern California and the process of making this film took him to several continents.
The documentary had its beginnings more than two decades ago when he visited Japan and saw the ruins of first city that was wiped out by an atomic bomb. “When I was in Hiroshima and I saw the devastation, I didn’t cry and learned a little about PTSD,” Reitman says. “I came up with this idea when I was 19 in college at UMass-Amherst that I was going to save the world by planting trees. I created this tree-planting initiative called The Giving Tree-Rooted in Peace.”
Now in his 40s, he shows himself in the documentary carrying a tiny potted tree through places like Times Square in New York City. “Essentially, I come back 20 years later with the bonsai tree as a symbol of hope, looking at the tree as a symbol for all of us and our connection with humanity and how we want to connect with nature,” he says. “That really becomes the unfolding story.”
The documentary “Rooted in Peace” will be shown Sunday at 7 P.M. at the Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts in Fairfield. Reitman will do a question-and-answer session afterwards. His 2008 film, “Fuel,” won the Sundance Audience Choice Award.
Audio: Matt Kelley interview with Greg Reitman. 5:06.
Another radio interview coming up is with James Moore on KRUU LP 100.1 FM today at 7:30pm Thursday, to replay on 3:00pm Friday, and 11am Saturday. You can listen if you’re in the Fairfield, Iowa area or online streaming live. James said he may replay Dennis Raimondi’s interview with Prudence Farrow at 2pm before Friday’s 3:00pm interview with Greg. She discusses a book she wrote, Dear Prudence: The Story Behind The Song, which I am enjoying reading. More on that in a future post. Both interviews involve Maharishi and Transcendental Meditation, appropriate to air together tomorrow on Guru Purnima Day!
See ROOTED in PEACE to play Martha’s Vineyard and an Iowa premiere at Fairfield’s Sondheim Center.
Dear Prudence: A Portrait of Prudence Farrow Bruns
Enjoy this video portrait of Prudence Farrow Bruns, the inspiration for the Beatles song “Dear Prudence”. Prudence discusses her personal journey, meditating with the Beatles in India, the transformation her generation tried to bring about in the world, and the change that can only come from within through Transcendental Meditation.
Directed, shot and edited by Kryshan Randel, music by Mike Pellarin, produced by David Shaw for iTranscend TM, a concept created by Ashley Cooper. For more information on Transcendental Meditation, visit these websites: http://maharishi.ca (Canada) and http://www.tm.org (USA).
Visit the newly launched Dear Prudence Foundation and click on About Prudence to read about her journey and why she set up a foundation: http://dearprudencefoundation.org.
See these other interviews with Prudence: 1) Amitava Sanyal, Allahabad, for BBC News India: Prudence Farrow — subject of the Beatles song Dear Prudence — visits India’s Kumbh Mela, and two videos: 2) Ted Henry interviews “Dear Prudence” Farrow Bruns about her life with TM and Maharishi, and 3) MicCameraAction: PRUDENCE FARROW BRUNS.
Another video portrait made by Canadian filmmaker Kryshan Randel is about Paralympian Daniel Westley. Westley had represented Canada in the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. As Paralympic Games grew, Daniel went on to participate in both the summer and winter games in a wide range of sports that included everything from wheelchair racing to skiing. Read this inspiring story: Meditation key to finding balance for Paralympian Daniel Westley — special to The Vancouver Sun, which contains the video, Physical Meditation: A Portrait Of Daniel Westley.
Both videos appear on the iTranscend TM YouTube channel series along with other heartfelt testimonials from new meditators, meditators dicussing meditation, and portraits of veteran meditators — people from all walks of life telling their stories — a physiotherapist, bakery story owner, musician, students, sharing how they are realizing their potential through the profound life-changing benefits of their Transcendental Meditation practice. And this video is an edited composite of some celebrities talking about the value of meditation, TM, in their lives: iTranscend Hollywood.
See: Who was Dear Prudence the Beatles sang to in India? What happened to her? Here is her story.
Prudence’s memoir is now out: Dear Prudence: The Story Behind the Song.
Read this excellent article in the Pensacola News Journal: Woman behind Beatles ‘Dear Prudence’ reads at Open Books.
Inspiring excerpts from a book by David Lynch: Catching the Big Fish – Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity
Ideas are like fish. If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you’ve got to go deeper. Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They’re huge and abstract. And they’re beautiful. Everything, anything that is a thing, comes up from the deepest level. Modern physics calls that level the Unified Field. The more your consciousness – your awareness – is expanded, the deeper you go toward this source, and the bigger fish you can catch.
Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity
–David Lynch
David Lynch (b. 1946) – director, visual artist, musician and, most significantly, long-term Transcendental Meditation practitioner – is best known for his surrealist films, having developed his own unique cinematic style, characterized by dream imagery and meticulous sound design. In the course of his career, he has received numerous nominations and awards, including the illustrious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival.
His most popular and critically-acclaimed film projects include Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive and INLAND EMPIRE. He has also embraced the internet as a medium, producing several web-based shows, such as the animation, Dumbland, and the surrealist sitcom, Rabbits.
He has also produced a brilliant literary offering, Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity. Written in short chapters on themes as diverse as painting, filmmaking, meditation, consciousness, the texture of a dead body and other such profound matters, it is an absolute treat for any aspiring artist who is also keen to dive deep for the so-called bigger fish and is looking for a truly authentic and honest interpretation of life.
Desire
Desire for an idea is like bait. When you’re fishing, you have to have patience. You bait your hook, and you wait. The desire is the bait that pulls those fish in – those ideas.
The beautiful thing is that when you catch one fish that you love, even if it’s a little fish – a fragment of an idea – that fish will draw in another fish, and they’ll hook onto it. Then you’re on your way. Soon there are more and more and more fragments, and the whole thing emerges. But it starts with desire.
Consciousness
Through meditation one realizes the unbounded. That which is unbounded is happy. There is no happiness in the small.
Upanishads
Little fish swim on the surface, but the big ones swim down below. If you can expand the container you’re fishing in – your consciousness – you can catch bigger fish.
Here’s how it works: Inside every human being is an ocean of pure, vibrant consciousness. When you ‘transcend’ in Transcendental Meditation, you dive down into that ocean of pure consciousness. You splash into it. And it’s bliss. You can vibrate with this bliss. Experiencing pure consciousness enlivens it, expands it. It starts to unfold and grow.
Intuition
Know That by knowing which everything is known.
Upanishads
Life is filled with abstractions, and the only way we make heads or tails of it is through intuition. Intuition is seeing the solution – seeing it, knowing it. It’s emotion and intellect going together. That’s essential for the filmmaker.
How do you get something to feel right? Everybody’s got the same tools: the camera and the tapes and the world and the actors. But in putting those parts together, there are differences. That’s where intuition enters.
Personally, I think intuition can be sharpened and expanded through meditation, diving into the Self. There’s an ocean of consciousness inside each of us, and it’s an ocean of solutions. When you dive into that ocean, that consciousness, you enliven it.
You don’t dive for specific solutions; you dive to enlighten that ocean of consciousness. Then your intuition grows and you have a way of solving those problems – knowing when it’s not right and knowing a way to make it feel correct for you. That capacity grows and things go much more smoothly.
Identity
The thing about meditation is: You become more and more you.
Sound
Sometimes you hear a piece of music, and it marries to a scene in the script. When I’m shooting, I will often play that piece of music in the headphones whilst listening to the dialogue. Hearing the music is just a verification that things are going the right way – for instance, the right pace or lighting. It’s just another tool to ensure that you’re following that original idea and being true to it.
Ask The Idea
The form which embodies that wish appeared in consciousnesses – that is to be held within consciousness.
Upanishads
The idea is the whole thing. If you stay true to the idea, it tells you everything you need to know, really. You just keep working to make it look like that idea looked, feel like it felt, sound like it sounded, and be the way it was. And it’s weird, because when you veer off, you sort of know it. You know when you’re doing something that is not correct because it feels incorrect. It says, ‘No, no; this isn’t like the idea said it.’ And when you’re getting into it the correct way, it feels correct. It’s an intuition: You feel-think your way through.
You start one place, and as you go, it gets more and more finely tuned. But all along it’s the idea talking. At some point, it feels correct to you. And you hope that it feels somewhat correct to others.
Suffering
It’s good for the artist to understand conflict and stress. Those things can give you ideas. But I guarantee you, if you have enough stress, you won’t be able to create. And if you have enough conflict, it will get in the way of your creativity. You can understand conflict, but you don’t have to live in it.
In stories, in the worlds that we can go into, there’s suffering, confusion, darkness, tension and anger. There are murders; there’s all kinds of stuff. But the filmmaker doesn’t have to be suffering to show suffering. You can show it, show the human condition, show conflicts and contrasts, but you don’t have to go through that yourself. You are the orchestrator of it, but you’re not in it. Let your characters do the suffering.
It’s common sense: The more the artist is suffering, the less creative he is going to be. It’s less likely that he is going to enjoy his work and less likely that he will be able to do really good work.
Light of the Self
He who sees everything as nothing but the Self,
and the Self in everything he sees,
such a seer withdraws from nothing.
For the enlightened, all that exists is nothing but the Self,
so how could any suffering or delusion continue
for those who know Oneness?
Upanishads
Negativity is like darkness. So what is darkness? You look at darkness, and you see that it’s nothing: It’s the absence of something. You turn on the light, and darkness goes.
But sunlight, for instance, doesn’t get rid of negativity. It gets rid of darkness but not negativity. So what light can you turn on that removes negativity the way sunlight removes darkness? It’s the light of pure consciousness, the Self – the light of unity.
Don’t fight the darkness. Don’t even worry about the darkness. Turn on the light and the darkness goes. Turn up that light of pure consciousness: Negativity goes.
The Box and the Key
I don’t have a clue what those are.
Fire
Sitting in front of a fire is mesmerizing. It’s magical. I feel the same way about electricity. And smoke. And flickering lights.
Advice
The Truth upholds the fragrant Earth and makes the living
water wet. Truth makes fire burn and the air move,
Makes the sun shine and all life grow. A hidden truth
supports everything. Find it and win.
Ramayana
Stay true to yourself. Let your voice ring out, and don’t let anybody fiddle with it. Never turn down a good idea, but never take a bad idea. And meditate. It’s very important to experience the Self, that pure consciousness. It’s really helped me. I think it would help any filmmaker. So start diving within, enlivening that bliss consciousness. Grow in happiness and intuition. Experience the joy of doing. And you’ll glow in this peaceful way. Your friends will be very, very happy with you. Everyone will want to sit next to you. And people will give you money!
Thanks to StillnessSpeaks.com for compiling this list.
See Fishing For Fallen Light: A Tanka inspired by David Lynch and Pablo Neruda with links to videos of David talking about these ideas.
Documentary film on David Lynch titled “Meditation Creativity Peace”
Since the book, David Lynch made a 16-country tour around the world when he spoke to government leaders, film students, and the press. It was made into a documentary film and premiered in NY. Watch the trailer for a new documentary film on David Lynch titled “Meditation Creativity Peace”.
This was later followed by a premier in Los Angeles: Russell Brand and David Lynch at LA Premiere of ‘Meditation, Creativity, Peace’ Documentary. Also see David Lynch, Russell Brand, Bob Roth Q&A after screening Meditation, Creativity, Peace documentary at Hammer Museum. Links to videos and articles are available at the bottom of each post.
The film continues to be shown in major cities around the world. Check your local TM center and the David Lynch Foundation for more information.
The documentary film was made available online, March 3, 2016. You can watch it here on The Uncarved Blog.
This is a delightful find—early vintage Maharishi—interviewed by a popular LA television talk show host. Les Crane interviewed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in September 1967 about a month after The Beatles had met and learned Transcendental Meditation from him. They go over the basics of what Transcendental Meditation is and is not. Maharishi is delightful, laughing and quipping throughout the interview. The one-hour show, minus commercials, is 49:30 minutes long.
Les asks Maharishi when he first heard of the Beatles and when they first met him. He then quotes the Beatles from the current (Sept 22, 1967) Time magazine cover story, THE BEATLES / Their New Incarnation, where they favorably describe Maharishi and how TM fulfilled their search for a genuine spiritual experience.
Les asked some good questions. He was an intelligent man. Halfway into the program Les opens up questions from the audience. He also introduces Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and mentions his association with Maharishi. Les then introduces Jerry Jarvis, national director of SIMS, and asks him to explain the Five Year Plan. Maharishi mentions Charles Lutes and his plan to build an Academy of Meditation in the US. Les asks what the world would look like if many people practiced Transcendental Meditation, and Maharishi gives him a very practical description.
At the end of the program Les apologetically prefaces what he’s about to say when he announces who his guests will be on the next show. “We have been talking about Transcendental Meditation and spiritual enrichment and fulfillment tonight. Tomorrow night we’re going to have a group of people on the program who believe that the way to find inner peace and happiness is an entirely different way. We’re gonna have a few representatives of the Sexual Freedom League on the program.” [laughter, a few more comments, then adds] “I had to say that because that’s what we do here, we look at everything.”
Maharishi: “To search is good.” Les, smiling: “To search is good.” Maharishi adds: “And to find fulfillment is really great.” [loud applause] Les: “Maharishi, thank you very much.” Maharishi: “Good luck to the whole nation through you.” Les: “Good bye. Bless you all.”
See this recent post of The Telegraph reporting on a recent TM study improving graduation rates saying the Beatles may have been on to something after all during their fabled journey to India.
Also see Maharishi interviewed on the BBC in 1967.
The BBC World Service program Witness, will air an interview with Theresa Olson, Monday March 3, 2014, 8:50 GMT. In the spring of 1959, Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi set off around the world to spread the teachings of Transcendental Meditation. Witness speaks to Theresa Olson, who was ten years old when the Maharishi came to stay in her parents’ house. A photo is shown of Maharishi taken from BBC1, Sunday July 5, 1964, to promote the upcoming interview on The Maharishi’s World Tour.
Another program worth watching from those early days is the 1968 CBC documentary of Maharishi at Lake Louise.
The most recent biography on Maharishi aired on A&E’s History Channel, 40 years after the BBC and Les Crane interviews.
A new BBC report, on the 50th anniversary of that visit to Bangor to learn more about Transcendental Meditation from Maharishi was published today, August 25, 2017. The Beatles: Historians say 1967 Bangor visit was a turning point. The report includes interviews with people who were there at that time.
Maharishi explains the reason for TM’s worldwide popularity
Maharishi always had an interesting take on world events. In this recently posted 1968 video, he discusses where the worldwide popularity for Transcendental Meditation started. During his visit to England in the summer of 1967, he describes the countrywide concern that was being expressed over the previous 8 months about the deplorable drug problem among the youth. Thanks to Patti Harrison, The Beatles heard Maharishi was going to speak at the London Hilton and got front row seats. They wanted to meet him afterwards and it was arranged. Maharishi inspired them to want to do something good for the youth and they agreed. They wanted to learn how to meditate from Maharishi and he invited them to join him on the long train ride to Wales where he was going to lead a 3-day meditation course. Some reporters overheard their plans. When The Beatles met Maharishi at the train station, they were surrounded by over 50 press and hundreds of fans. The video contains footage from that time as well as photos taken at the lecture and on the train. There is also actual footage taken privately of their discussion, but it has yet to be made public.
Maharishi explains it was not the Beatles that created the worldwide publicity about TM, but the English press who reported on their wanting to learn to meditate, which, they felt would inspire the British youth to give up drugs in favor of meditation. An example of one of the English headlines was the report from the Archbishop of Canterbury congratulating The Beatles for starting Transcendental Meditation. Then the world press picked up this Beatles story and it spread globally. Maharishi emphasized it was not The Beatles, but the tense situation in the country at the time that brought about the news headlines. He said they wanted “to change the psychology of the children, and they succeeded, greatly. So this phase was behind the worldwide publicity.”
Additions: #TranscendentalMeditation founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi interviewed on Finnish TV in 1973. And Maharishi on the nature of a settled, silent mind in the November 1993 Science of Mind interview. And Rememberances of #TranscendentalMeditation and #MaharishiU founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Pages 12-13 of the September 2020 issue of Transcendental Meditation News in the UK under The Maharishi Interviews features a transcript of part 1 of Les Crane’s interview with Maharishi in Los Angeles, Autumn 1967. Part 2 continues in their next issue. Transcendental News, Vol 24. No 2, September 2020.
Who was Bungalow Bill from the Beatles White Album and what happened to him? He tells us! This post now includes mention of the new film, Meeting the Beatles in India, by Paul Saltzman. In the Q&A that followed, Rikki Cooke III, aka Bungalow Bill, explained why he thought the remaining Beatles left the ashram abruptly. It made a lot more sense than the usual rumor mentioned in the article. I posted a comment after the Variety article of what he said about it, and included related material.
Enjoy this great interview Christopher Caplan conducted with Omar Akram, published June 25, 2013 at 12:15 pm in RYOT Reports. I was pleasantly surprised to learn how Transcendental Meditation freed the creativity of this Grammy award-winning composer and recording artist, and the respect he has for David Lynch and the David Lynch Foundation.
Q&A: Omar Akram, first Afghan American to win a Grammy, talks Transcendental Meditation
Omar Akram, 2013 New Age Music Grammy Award Winner
I recently sat down with Omar Akram, the first Afghan American to win a Grammy award to learn a bit more about his creative process. He has been referred to as a cultural diplomat by many, and the musical equivalent of Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner, in that he is (gradually) mending cultural differences between war-torn nations through art. His recent article on The Huffington Post bespeaks of a well traveled life in which he has mingled with Cuban dictators and contributed to peace in the Middle East. What’s particularly interesting about Omar is the way he uses Transcendental Meditation in his creative process, as well as his support and admiration of the David Lynch Foundation.
Q: When and how did you first discover Transcendental Meditation?
I began using TM about 5 years ago. I was going through some creative blocks, so to speak, and a friend of mine suggested it. I’d known about it for years, but I had never taken the time to try it. I started to meditate slowly, and after doing it a few times, I got hooked.
Q: How has TM helped your creative process over the years?
I think it definitely brings you closer to the source of creativity. I feel this way almost every time. I remember David Lynch was talking about it. He said it was like “searching for the big fish,” or in other words, reaching deep down. I can reach deep down inside of myself and get to the big fish — that big creative idea. That’s what it’s all about, the big creative idea, and TM helps me find this.
Q: Have you tried other forms of meditation?
Yes, I’ve tried straight meditation, on and off for many years. But five years ago I became a lot more serious about it.
Q: How do you feel about David Lynch’s recent advocacy of TM?
I think what he’s doing is fantastic because he is really trying to get it out to school kids and to people that have never been exposed to it before. I think that once people try it, I mean really try it, they realize how beneficial it is.
Q: How do you think TM can help children and students?
One thing that I know is that kids sometimes have a hard time focusing on anything. Especially nowadays because they are being bombarded with so much media. I think it’s really helpful for kids once they give it a chance. They learn the value of meditation and focus. It will be hard in the beginning to understand what they’re doing, but with proper guidance they’ll learn. I think that not only will it help them become more creative, but they will improve in all aspects of schooling and self-esteem.
Q: Do you use TM when you are in the recording studio?
I try to do it a couple of times a day, once in the morning, and once in the evening. It has been really helpful both with creativity and dealing with the stress and deadlines of my upcoming album, “Daytime Dreamer.” It kind of sets the course of my whole day. Once I’m in the studio, I like to take a few minutes, but it’s hard to do it during the day, and that’s my routine. When I do it the morning it helps me focus for the whole day, and shift everything so I have a clearer sense of what I need to do. In the evening I can absorb everything that I’ve done, and refresh my mind all over again.
Q: What do you see for the future of TM and its continuing acceptance in the mainstream?
I think the more people are exposed to TM the more they’re going to realize the benefits of it. A lot of people are not aware of TM, and that’s what David is doing, he’s going around and introducing it to a lot of people that otherwise would never be exposed to it. The more people are exposed to it, the more practitioners there will be, and I think it’s going to be huge. Guys like David Lynch are pioneers in that. I have nothing but respect for him, especially with what he’s doing in schools. I think it’ll make a huge difference.
posted by Omar Akram. Check out his blog: www.omarmusic.com.
RYOT NOTE: Transcendental Meditation not only helps to reduce stress, it also helps with clearing the mind and allowing people to be more creative. The David Lynch Foundation provides millions of dollars of free services every year, implementing these scientifically proven stress-reducing modalities for at-risk populations and communities. See other related articles on David Lynch from RYOT posted at the bottom of this article, and click the gray box to learn more, donate and Become the News!
You can read more about Omar Akram’s background and musical influences in this PRWeb press release: Grammy Award Winning Artist Omar Akram Becomes Latest Entertainment Client to Join YM & Associates PR Marketing Firm at Beverly Hills.
UPDATE
In an April 29, 2019 interview in Thrive Global, Omar was asked:
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
What helps me is meditation. I would highly recommend it to my colleagues. I’ve been doing Transcendental Meditation for many years and it has had a big difference in my life.
This wonderful interview is also available from Ted Henry & Jody Cleary on Vimeo. Retired TV journalist Ted Henry conducts interviews with spiritual people for Souljourns. Last month he interviewed Prudence Bruns Farrow. You can also see the interview on their Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/67166559. Here is their introduction to the video:
SOULJOURNS – PRUDENCE FARROW BRUNS, HER LIFE WITH TM AND MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI
From the very beginning Prudence Farrow Bruns recognized an added layer or texture to her life, a spiritual dimension that would take her deep within.
She was among the first in the West to become initiated into Transcendental Meditation and in the mid sixties she traveled to Rishikesh, India to learn to become a TM teacher. Her own teacher in India, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who is credited for bringing TM to the world.
In India with her at this time, her sister and acclaimed actress, Mia Farrow, The Beatles, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, Donovan and others.
Prudence and her husband, Albert Bruns who is also a TM instructor, live in Seagrove along the Gulf of Mexico in Northwest Florida.
The interview was recorded in Seagrove, Florida in May, 2013.
See this related BBC news item: Prudence Farrow — subject of the Beatles song Dear Prudence — visits India’s Kumbh Mela. And this video: The Beatles “Dear Prudence”: A Portrait of Prudence Farrow Bruns, Maharishi and TM.
Who was Dear Prudence the Beatles sang to in India? What happened to her? Here is her story.
David Lynch: Meditation, Creativity, Peace Q&A
Filmmaker David Lynch, comedian Russell Brand, and David Lynch Foundation Executive Director Bob Roth answer questions about Transcendental Meditation following a screening of the documentary Meditation, Creativity, Peace. (Run Time: 41 minutes, April 2, 2103.)
Published on May 2, 2013 by hammermuseum
See related videos: Russell Brand and David Lynch at LA Premiere of ‘Meditation, Creativity, Peace’ Documentary and Watch the trailer for a new documentary film on David Lynch titled “Meditation Creativity Peace”
Enlightenment, The TM Magazine, also reported on the event: Meditation Creativity Peace: How the David Lynch Foundation Brings Change from Within.
David Lynch speaks with Alan Colmes about his 16-country tour film Meditation Creativity Peace.
Visit the new website, Meditation Creativity Peace, for a list of upcoming and previous screenings: http://meditationcreativitypeace.com.
This article on Transcendental Meditation was one of the rotating stories on The Daily Beast today, April 23, 2013. It was the 9th top story of rotating images in the big box on the upper left corner of the home page. The article appeared as a result of Rupert Murdoch learning to meditate last weekend. It was supposed to be private, but he tweeted about it and drew media attention. Click on the links below to see photos and descriptions of the 14 featured meditating celebs.
Celebs Who Meditate – The Daily Beast – Invision/AP; WireImage
Oprah & More Stars Who Do Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation has made its rounds with celebrities as far back as when the Beatles were a unit, but is once again creeping up as the latest trend among celebrities. Rupert Murdoch recently tweeted on his indoctrination into the mantra meditation movement, Oprah Winfrey devoted an entire show to it, and David Lynch even launched a nonprofit foundation for the practice.
The technique was established in India by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s and has spread worldwide since, used as a means to relieve stress and build personal development. The practice involves twice-a-day, 15- to 20-minute meditations, and courses are taught by certified instructors for a fee. See which other stars are endorsing the practice and taking time for some inner peace!
Read celebrity descriptions and view all (15) photos in fullscreen. Most of these celebrities, in order of appearance, practice and/or are connected with TM in some way: Rupert Murdoch, David Lynch, Russell Brand, Shirley MacLaine, Sheryl Crow, Paul McCartney, Oprah Winfrey, Moby, Katy Perry, Howard Stern, Hugh Jackman, George Lucas, Clint Eastwood, and Candy Crowley.
Read a related article: 14 Executives Who Swear By Meditation–10 do TM.
Also see Why CEOs, actors, and pop stars love Transcendental Meditation | Well+Good NYC and What do Stephen Collins, Ellen DeGeneres, Russell Brand, Russell Simmons, David Lynch and Oprah have in common? and The New York Times: Look Who’s Meditating Now.
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