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.
Frontline nurses who learned the Transcendental Meditation® (TM®) technique during the COVID-19 pandemic showed rapid and significant improvements in flourishing, PTSD, anxiety, and burnout over 3 months compared to controls, according to a study published today in the Journal of Nursing Administration.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of Transcendental Meditation on nurses’ multidimensional well-being, conceptualized as the presence of flourishing and the absence of PTSD, anxiety, and burnout.
A total of 104 nurses in three Florida hospitals participated. Validated tools included the Secure Flourishing Index (SFI), PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Nurses also completed a Demographic Survey and a Meditation Frequency Questionnaire.
Clinical nurses who were randomized to the Transcendental Meditation group took the instruction with certified TM teachers, which included follow-up meetings over a 3-month period. Adherence to the study protocol was notably strong considering the disruption caused by the pandemic. The control group continued with “life as usual” and were offered the TM course at the conclusion of the study.
Study Results
(Click image to see details or on hyperlinked words below to view each chart on EurekAlert!)
Based on the statistical analysis there was a 62% decrease in anxiety in the TM group from baseline to 1 month compared to 3% in the controls, and a 54% decrease in the TM group after 3 months compared to 17% in the controls.
PTSD decreased 53% from baseline to 1 month in the TM group compared to 9% in the control group, and 57% in the TM group over 3 months compared to a 17% decrease in the controls.
Burnout (due to emotional exhaustion) decreased by 27% from baseline to 1 month in the TM group compared to no change in the controls, and 24% in the TM group over the 3-month study period compared to no change in controls.
In the TM group, flourishing improved by 15% from baseline to 1 month compared to a decrease of 1% in the control group and increased 16% in the TM group compared to a 3% increase in controls from baseline to 3 months.
Authors’ Conclusion
According to lead author Jennifer Bonamer, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, NPD-BC, Nursing Professional Development Specialist at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System: “It has never been more crucial that we support the health of our nurses and other clinical staff. This study is important because it demonstrated that TM was substantially helpful, even during COVID, in reducing PTSD, anxiety and burnoutexperienced by nurses.Furthermore, it helped to improve nurses’ experience of thriving (flourishing) beyond just surviving, even in the midst of today’s challenging healthcare environment.”
The authors conclude this study demonstrates the effectiveness of nurses’ practice of the TM technique to improve flourishing and reduce PTSD, anxiety, and burnout. TM provides nurses with a simple, effective, and evidence-based strategy for enhancing well-being, with the goal of retaining clinical nurses in practice.
About the Transcendental Meditation Technique
Transcendental Meditation is a simple, natural technique practiced 20 minutes twice each day while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. It is easily learned, and is not a religion, philosophy, or lifestyle. It does not involve concentration, control of the mind, contemplation, or monitoring of thoughts or breathing. The practice allows the active thinking mind to settle down to a state of inner calm. For more information visit https://tm-nurses.org.
February 4, 2024:TM Talks host Mario Orsatti interviewed Amy Ruff about this study, an earlier one, and her work of bringing TM to the nursing profession, for which they earn continuing education credit. See Happier Nurses Result in Healthier Patients – Enjoy TM News where you can watch their informative conversation (53:12), which includes video excerpts of health professionals discussing how TM helped them deal with the demands of their profession, especially during the COVID crisis.
— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.
November 2, 2023: Dr. Sanford Nidich was invited to present at a Ukraine Medical Conference, Current Status of Personalized Medicine: Global Issues and Prospects for Research. The title of his talk: Effects of Transcendental Meditation on PTSD, Depression and Sleep Problems in Veterans, Military Personnel and Other High Risk Groups. At 9:15 into the video, Dr. Nidich makes a PowerPoint presentation covering some of the related scientific research on Transcendental Meditation (TM). I selected Transcript, copied his talk leading up to the PowerPoint, and added a few hyperlinks. The whole video presentation is 29:25 minutes.
Thank you very much for inviting me to speak to this very prestigious conference, Current status of Personalized Medicine: Global Issues and Prospects for Research. It’s very important that we look at alternative approaches, including personalized approaches to medicine. The field is changing very rapidly, and it’s changing for the better. We’re able to help people progress with their disorders. We’re able to talk about and apply preventative medicine much more readily in a more accepted way than ever before.
Today, I wanted to address you on the effects of Transcendental Meditation on PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and sleep problems in veterans, military personnel, and other high risk groups. We’ll be covering a lot of the research that’s been published on this very specific and effective program of Transcendental Meditation that has been taught and researched around the world for over the past 4 to 5 decades. It’s something that millions of people have been practicing in the United States and around the world, that many, many people are practicing in Ukraine.
There’s some initial research that is ongoing right now in Ukraine dealing with mental health issues in women. And there are other projects, perhaps with the military there at early stages that are being planned with Transcendental Meditation.
For transparency purposes, I started Transcendental Meditation in my first year of college at George Washington University in Washington, DC. There was hardly any research at the time that I started several decades ago. And since that time, there’s been over 700 research studies alone on Transcendental Meditation and over 400 peer reviewed independent studies on Transcendental Meditation conducted around the world.
Central to that natural system of medicine is the practice of Transcendental Meditation, which is easy to learn, systematically taught to people everywhere in the world in the same way. And it’s really been something that has been a life-changer for many, many people, from veterans and active military to prison inmates to healthcare providers. In terms of women’s health, in terms of the mental health and academic performance of college students and high school students, and in other specific areas of medicine medicine, such as cardiovascular disease, oncology, and other medical disciplines.
It’s been a program that researchers throughout the world have been researching, including very top researchers in the United States at Columbia University Medical School, University of Michigan Medical School, Georgetown University Medical School, and on and on, Howard University in Washington, DC, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
So, it’s a practice that is easy to learn. Produces a unique state of restful alertness whereby during the 20 minutes of practice, the brainwave activity becomes more coherent and orderly, leading to greater executive functioning, memory, other cognitive factors. And at the same time that it’s producing a heightened state of alertness, it’s producing very, very deep rest throughout the whole physiology.
It produces a fourth major state of consciousness beyond waking, dreaming, and deep sleep called a state of restful alertness, or a hypo-metabolic state of wakefulness. Again, where the body noticeably feels and experiences, it exudes a very deep state of rest, while at the same time, we’re still fully alert. It’s not a state of hypnosis. It’s not some program that we just practice once a day, and, you know, and when we feel better, we don’t have to practice it.
We practice it twice a day for 20 minutes. And it’s a lifetime program that we can do once we learn it. And there are people who’ve been practicing Transcendental Meditation for well over 40 years now who have learned it in the 70s and 80s. And the reason they do it is because the human potential is enormous.
Consciousness is the new frontier of medicine. And we can expand consciousness. We can develop our own consciousness, which is the basis of our own thinking and behavior. We can produce greater orderliness and balance throughout the whole physiology, throughout the whole mind and body as a result of enlivening pure consciousness at the very basis of all thought and matter.
So there’s a lot to look forward to. It’s truly a new horizon. It’s causing a new paradigm shift where consciousness is seen to be primary, giving rise to all of our thinking and behavior in a very positive, orderly society, beneficial manner.
So what I’d like to do is, is take my time now to address you and go over some of the key scientific research on Transcendental Meditation. So let me see if I can share my screen so that you can be able to see my slides. So the title of my talk is, Effects of Transcendental Meditation on PTSD, depression, and sleep problems in various high risk populations, and I’ll be covering research principally in these areas.
Go to 9:15 in the video to see the 20-minute PPT containing slides of scientific research presented by Dr. Nidich.
— Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.
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.
Yebba posted this insane clip from one of those shows of her riffing on “It’s just a shot away” from the Rolling Stones classic Gimme Shelter.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
March 13, 2023: Robert Glasper performs “Over,” featuring YEBBA (LIVE on The Late Show) from his Grammy-winning album, “Black Radio III.” That video was taken down, and someone later posted the audio.
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.”
Enjoy this excellent article on how Transcendental Meditation is benefitting Canadians, especially those with medical issues, ongoing anxieties and even PTSD. Click here to see photos of the people journalist Kate Wilson interviewed for an Edmonton News story published in the Edmonton and Calgary issues of the Alberta Prime Times.
Transcendental meditation (TM) provides benefits to those with medical issues, ongoing anxieties and even PTSD.
By: Kate Wilson for AlbertaPrimeTimes.com (Edmonton and Calgary)
At the Edmonton TM Centre, Ami Stadnick helps clients from all walks of life to better manage a range of issues. Photo Kate Wilson.
Wade McKinley recalls the day he first stepped into a class on Transcendental Meditation (TM). As a young man in Vancouver, he’d been experiencing anxiety and depression, and a friend had recommended enrolling.
“I strolled in not knowing anything and said, Hi, I’d like to learn,” said the Calgary resident.
Now 54, McKinley has been practicing TM for 33 years. He says he values the rest it brings to his nervous system and body.
“There are times when distractions interrupt my peace of mind,” he said, but the stability that twice-daily meditation brings stays with him. “I still do TM exactly the way I was taught, but there’s growth in my experience. The quality of silence and settled-ness, it’s expanded into more aspects of my day.”
Setting the mind to rest
TM is a simple technique based on ancient yogic practices from India and renewed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the middle of the 20th century. It aims to bring the body and mind into a settled state of rest, without any concentrated effort.
A 1978 study in Hormones and Behaviour showed TM reduced cortisol–the ‘stress hormone’–by 30 per cent. A 1987 study published in Psychosomatic Medicine showed TM reduced hospitalizations and doctor visits among seniors, with the biggest reduction–about 70% –in people over 40.
In his 2018 book Strength in Stillness, longtime TM practitioner Bob Roth said the surge in interest in TM is partly due to an epidemic of chronic stress and related illness, and medication’s inability to prevent or cure it. He points to four decades of science showing TM’s capacity for improving brain and cognitive functioning, cardiovascular health and emotional well-being.
Help with medical issues
For Ruth Yanor, TM provides a priceless “reset button”. Seven years ago, she was weathering the debilitating effects of sleep apnea, in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.
“I was wrung out from poor quality sleep, and pretty close to not being able to function. Nothing was helping,” said the Edmonton resident.
An incident at a cross-walk–where she was hit and dragged by a truck–sent her to the hospital with rib fractures and lung punctures. An allergy to opioids meant Yanor was only given extra strength Tylenol to deal with her pain, so her physician suggested enrolling in a TM program.
“Meditating would clear things. I could keep the pain out of my mind, until someone would ask ‘how’s your pain’,” she said.
Now 63, Yanor concedes that while TM hasn’t corrected her sleep apnea it has been invaluable in allowing her to function over the day.
“I calm my mind down with TM. It’s so wonderful to have this practice.”
Yanor’s instructor, Ami Stadnick, says the simplicity of TM relies on the mind’s natural capacity to settle, despite its tendency to be distracted.
“It may be a favourite piece of music or a conversation. Our attention, at least momentarily, is (wired) to jump to that,” said Stadnick, a registered psychologist. “We know that if given the opportunity, the mind would rather be in a restful state. TM sets the conditions so the mind will move to finer levels of activity. It is nature at work.”
At the Edmonton TM centre (there are centres across Canada, including in Edmonton and Calgary), Stadnick handles requests ranging from people who need to focus in a stressful workplace, to medical referrals to military veterans wanting a medication-free way to deal with anxiety. As a licensed TM practitioner, Stadnick has continuing access to seminars and follow-up training as needed.
TM is now being offered to Canadian veterans and their families thanks to the Canadian Women’s Wellness Institute and a grant from Veterans Affairs Canada. As part of an overall initiative to bring benefits to people in at-risk situations or who are suffering from PTSD, a TM pilot program has been offering veterans and their family members TM instruction and a twice-daily home practice, along with follow-up meetings.
“We know veterans are not prone to sharing their experiences,” said Stadnick, a TM instructor in the pilot program. “Their peer group is always looking for a way to treat PTSD in a more natural way.”
A 2021 report on the program showed participating veterans, who averaged 51 years of age, went from higher levels of stress, depression, anxiety and anger to significantly lower ones after only 3 months of TM practice. Family members also experienced significant decreases in stress and anxiety levels.
Out of the 36 participants, half reported improvements in general health, depression and fatigue. About 60% indicated a better relationship with their spouse and family members, while 86% reported a considerable reduction in stress.
The program is now extended into 2023 in Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton, Montreal and Fredericton. If you know any veterans who might like to enrol in the TM program, contact Ami Stadnick at astadnick@tm.org.
. . . . .
Update from Canadian Women’s Wellness Initiative on their extended grant from Veterans Affairs Canada
In 2019, he also trained in Transcendental Meditation, a simple mental technique that teaches practitioners how to settle their minds and their bodies, and reinforce the mind-body connection. “I did lots of research into different ways to care for your mental health, and I read that meditation can be good for you,” he recalls. “After meditation, I feel so chill, so incredibly peaceful. It helps you achieve a position of wellness, so that you can make the right decisions in life for yourself,” says Bruno.
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.
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.
Cliff interviews David Lynch Foundation (DLF) CEO and New York Times best-selling author Bob Roth, and retired US Army Ranger and Boulder Crest Retreat (BCR) Executive Director Dusty Baxley on the power of Transcendental Meditation (TM) to transform the lives of veterans suffering with PTSD, suicide, and depression.
Bob explains the uniqueness of TM, how it differs from other categories of meditation, and the research behind it. The Foundation creates star-studded events to raise the funds necessary to teach this effective stress-reduction technique. DLF has made TM available to over 1 million at-risk students around the world, veterans with PTSD and their families, battered women, and other traumatized groups.
Dusty gives a dramatic firsthand account of how TM saved his life. After learning to meditate he could finally sleep and stopped self-medicating. He cleaned up his act, went to a veterans reunion, and learned of fellow veteran suicides and lost lives. (Suicides are now up 30%!) They saw a huge change in him and asked him what he was doing. He told them about TM and they asked him to teach them. He became a certified TM teacher and has been teaching veterans to meditate and reclaim their lives. TM is at the core of BCR’s veteran and first-responders program to develop Posttraumatic Growth.
Listen to this powerful, and sometimes humorous, enlightening podcast.
Tues, Feb 19, 2019: A study published in Psychological Reports showed that after 3.5 months of practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM), most of the 34 tertiary-level students at Maharishi Institute (MI)—all of whom were initially diagnosed with PTSD by mental health professionals—went below clinical thresholds as measured by standard assessments. Students also experienced relief from depression. A comparison group from University of Johannesburg (UJ) with the same diagnosis received no treatment and showed no change in their symptoms.
College students diagnosed with PTSD at Maharishi Institute (MI) and University of Johannesburg (UJ) were tested at 15, 60 and 105 days. After 3.5 months, the MI group practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM) went below clinical thresholds, while controls at UJ showed no change.
A very high percentage of young people in South Africa suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. A college that offers the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique to its students found this approach helped reduce their symptoms.
A study published today in Psychological Reports showed that after 3.5 months of practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM), most of the 34 tertiary-level students at Maharishi Institute (MI)—all of whom were initially diagnosed with PTSD by mental health professionals—went below clinical thresholds as measured by standard assessments. The students also experienced relief from depression.
A comparison group of 34 students from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) suffering from PTSD and depression received no treatment and continued to show no change in their symptoms throughout the study.
High levels of PTSD
An international research team of seven scientists and psychologists conducted the study. At the start, students at MI and UJ had a score of 44 or more on their PCL-C test and a clinician’s verification of PTSD. A score above 44 indicates likely PTSD and below 34 indicates that one is below the PTSD threshold.
Symptoms included nightmares, flashbacks to traumatic events, anxiety, fear, and hyper-vigilance. They also reported emotional numbness, anger, and violent behavior, as well as abuse of drugs and alcohol. PTSD is a chronic, debilitating condition that may last a lifetime if not treated effectively.
The study showed a rapid and significant reduction of symptoms in the test group, according to lead author Dr. Carole Bandy, professor of psychology at Norwich University, America’s oldest military college. Results were stable over time.
“A high percentage of young people in South Africa, especially those living in the townships, suffer from PTSD,” said co-author Michael Dillbeck, researcher in the Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy at Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa. “To become successful students and productive members of society, they absolutely need help dealing with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Our study shows, that after 3 months of meditation, this group, on average, was out of PTSD. It offers a way for others to effectively deal with this problem.”
Our study shows, that after 3 months of meditation (TM), this group, on average, was out of PTSD. It offers a way for others to effectively deal with this problem.”
High levels of PTSD are prevalent in South Africa
Up to 25% of the population in South Africa suffers from PTSD, according to Dr. Eugene Allers, past-president of the South African Society of Psychiatrists. Estimates put the same figure in the USA at 8%.
Several recent scientific studies show that adolescents and children in South Africa may be exposed to relatively high levels of traumatic experiences, particularly witnessing or experiencing violence of a criminal or domestic nature, associated in turn with estimates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ranging from 8% to 38% (Ensink, Robertson, Zissis & Leger, 1997; Pelzer, 1999; Seedat, van Nood, Vythilingum, Stein & Kaminer, 2000; Suliman, Kaminer, Seedat & Stein, 2005).
UJ students assessed by expert NGO
The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), the largest mental health NGO in SA, which assists more than 180,000 people each year, interviewed and tested UJ students suffering from PTSD. They were also tested for depression, since it often accompanies PTSD and can in fact be considered a component of PTSD.
Students were only invited to join the study if they met two criteria for having PTSD: a score indicating PTSD on the PCL-C paper test and the opinion of a trained psychologist. Re-testing was 15, 60 and 105 days after baseline testing.
MI students find relief
At 15 days into the study, Maharishi Institute students showed a significant drop of more than 10 points in their PTSD symptoms after learning Transcendental Meditation. They also found relief from depression, judged by Beck Depression Index scores.
Re-testing was also carried out at 60 days and 105 days of their TM practice. By 105 days, the average group score for the MI students was below the PTSD threshold of 34, according to the paper tests. The UJ students showed no significant reduction in symptoms—neither depression nor PTSD. They received no support of any kind.
A binary logistical regression analysis for the effect of TM practice on PTSD PCL-C diagnosis 105 days after instruction was also highly significant, with 7 likely PTSD and 27 unlikely for the experimental group and 30 likely and 4 unlikely for the comparison group.
First study of its kind
This is the first study of its kind to show how Transcendental Meditation can reduce PTSD in college students. “This study shows that there are new tools available for professionals to add to their tool bag,” says Zane Wilson, Founder and Chairman of SADAG.
This is the first study of its kind to show how Transcendental Meditation can reduce PTSD in college students.
Transcendental Meditation® is a simple, natural technique practiced 20 minutes twice each day while sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. It is easily learned, and is not a religion, philosophy, or lifestyle. It doesn’t involve concentration, control of the mind, contemplation, or monitoring of thoughts or breathing. The practice allows the active thinking mind to settle down to a state of inner calm. For more information visit https://www.tm.org.
Ref: Bandy, C, Dillbeck, M., Sezibera, V., Taljaard, L., de Reuck, J., Wilks, M., Shapiro, D., Peycke, R. (Psychological Reports. on-line: February, 2019) Reduction of PTSD in South African University Students Using Transcendental Meditation Practice. DOI: 10.1177/0033294119828036 | US National Library of Medicine & National Institutes of Health: PubMed
In the National Center for PTSD, on page 2 of their December 2018 issue of Clinician’s Trauma Update, there is a report on this study: Transcendental Meditation for PTSD, and another one.
Today the best study to date on the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) on PTSD was published in The Lancet Psychiatry, a leading journal in the field. The study compared TM with prolonged exposure therapy (PE), which is the current treatment of choice for treating PTSD. PE involves having the veterans re-experiencing their trauma through remembering and engaging with situations that remind them of it, in the hope that repeated experiencing of the stimuli associated with the trauma will eventually diminish the patients stress responses to them. PE is very painful for the Vets to go through.
The study was a “non-inferiority clinical trial”, meaning that the objective was to see if TM was at least as good as PE. TM was at least as good. Both TM and PE were significantly better than a Health Education (HE) for PTSD patients, with TM more significantly so (TM, p=.0009; PE, p=.041). 61% of those receiving TM showed clinically significant improvements compared to 42% of those receiving PE and 32% of those receiving HE.
Below is a link to an abstract on the journal website.
The Uncarved Blog 