Watch this Conversation with Cameron Diaz presented by the David Lynch Foundation. Published Feb 7, 2015 on the DavidLynchFoundation channel, actress and author Cameron Diaz was interviewed by DLF Executive Director Bob Roth on her personal practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique. Cameron is sweet and lively as she shares some amazing stories, practical ways that TM helped her deal with personal relationships, acting under stressful conditions, and more. The event took place in New York City at Donna Karan’s Urban Zen, a DLF sponsor.
Prudence Farrow Bruns, PhD, is the daughter of actress Maureen O’Sullivan and award-winning writer/director, John Farrow. She has been practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique for 48 years, and has been a teacher of the TM program for 46 years.
It all started so simply. It was 1966, and 18-year-old Prudence Farrow was sitting on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean at her brother’s home in Los Angeles. She was reading a book on meditation when she heard a voice say, “If you’re interested in meditation, I know just the meditation for you.”
The voice was that of Peter Wallace, a friend of her brother. Peter had spent six months traveling through India, where he met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and began the Transcendental Meditation technique. He told her how simple and effortless the technique was, and yet how profound the experience and benefits could be.
“It was the simplicity of the practice that struck me most,” Prudence said. “I’d been trying different methods of meditation for some time, but they had all been complicated and difficult. When Peter described a simple, natural practice of diving deep within, I knew he was truly onto something.”
So Prudence learned the TM technique at UCLA. After experiencing the positive effects of TM for herself, Prudence wanted more. She wanted to meet Maharishi and to study with him. “At that time Maharishi had courses in India,” says Prudence. “He brought people there, and they studied for three or four months with him. You meditated for long periods under his guidance.”
On January 23, 1968, three days after her 20th birthday, Prudence traveled with Maharishi from New York to Rishikesh, India to attend her TM teacher training course. And that’s when the “Dear Prudence” story really began.
The Beatles Make the Scene
One month after Prudence arrived in Rishikesh, The Beatles showed up to study with Maharishi. While they all spent some time there, John Lennon and George Harrison stayed the longest.
“The Beatles were all very nice, humble, modest, kind, and down-to-earth people,” Prudence remembers. “I was closest to John and George, since they were my ‘course buddies’ during our studies with Maharishi. We were supposed to look out for each other during the course.”
Prudence (left) sat next to Ringo in course photo.
Prudence soon became known for her tendency to keep to herself in her room, focused on her meditation practice. “I was deeply immersed in my studies and meditation, locked away in my quarters. John, as my course buddy, was concerned and wanted to bring me out of my room to enjoy the experience more.”
John and George would come over to her room and play their guitars, encouraging her to come out and sing with them. It was this experience that became the inspiration for their song “Dear Prudence” in which John sings, “Dear Prudence, won’t you come out to play?”
Before he left Rishikesh, George mentioned to Prudence that they had written a song about her, but she had no idea what it was. She didn’t hear the song until it came out on their 1968 album The Beatles, commonly known as the “White Album.”
Prudence’s dedication to her meditation practice did pay off. After four months, she graduated from the course and became one of the first and youngest teachers of the Transcendental Meditation technique at that time.
But that was just the beginning of the “Dear Prudence” story.
Prudence Comes out to Play
Once she completed her teacher training course in India, Prudence definitely did come out to play. Over the past 46 years, she’s instructed thousands of people in the TM technique throughout the United States and Canada. She married TM teacher Al Bruns in 1969, and they have three children and four grandchildren.
She’s produced Hollywood feature films and a play in Manhattan. She was an assistant to the curator of the “Theatre Collection” of the Museum of the City of New York. She has been a magazine writer. She’s written two books.
Prudence earned a BA, an MA, and a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. She received her doctoral degree in 2007, with a major in South Asian Studies and Sanskrit. She has made presentations to conferences at numerous universities, including Harvard, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Hawaii. She’s taught courses at UC Berkeley and Rutgers University.
TM and Yoga
Prudence continues to teach the TM program in Florida. In fact, she’s the most successful teacher in the U.S. at setting up Affiliate Programs in yoga studios. Maybe that’s not so surprising, considering that she’s a lifelong yoga practitioner, and she opened a yoga institute in Boston back in 1967.
Prudence attended India’s Kumbh Mela last year.
Maharishi Foundation created the Affiliate Program to bring TM to yoga studios and fitness centers. When a studio becomes an Affiliate, their members can learn TM at a reduced course fee, and the studio receives a share of the income. Everyone benefits—the new TM student, the yoga studio, and the local TM teachers.
Today most people think of yoga as a series of physical postures. But Maharishi has explained that in the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali identifies eight limbs of yoga, and the eighth limb is Samadhi or transcendental consciousness. Maharishi said that with the practice of TM, Samadhi is actually the easiest limb of yoga to achieve, since no effort is required. We simply tap into the natural tendency of the mind to go within, to transcend, and that transcendence nourishes and supports all the other limbs.
“I do think that Transcendental Meditation is—of the meditations that are available to us—the most direct, and the simplest,” says Prudence. “When you meditate, when you transcend, it allows your heart and mind to balance. And when they’re balanced, that’s when you are really healthy. You are happy. You’re happy mentally, happy emotionally, and happy spiritually. Those three are all components of what make a human being, so that connection to transcendence is absolutely necessary for health.”
Creating a Better World
Fortunately for us all, Prudence did come out to play.
“The years of meditating have enriched my life so much,” Prudence says. “And that’s why at this point in my life, I’m giving back. We need a better world. We need people to be more conscious, to be more evolved. And expanding the mind, like TM does, is absolutely vital to bring about stronger people. If you can strengthen people inside, you’ve changed the world.”
So even today, 48 years later, the “Dear Prudence” story continues.
[In July 2018, this article was updated and published in Enjoy TM News.]
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Last year, Prudence Farrow Bruns participated in a series of Consciousness Talks at Maharishi University of Management, called Our Conscious Future. Here is a clip from her talk where she discusses a conversation she had with George Harrison about his spiritual awakening. Prudence, George and John Lennon said they felt it was happening to many in their generation, and that it would continue long after they were gone. Listen to Prudence describe The “Dear Prudence” Story. For other fascinating presentations, visit ConsciousnessTalks.org.
Years later, The Beatles released many versions of their songs on the 50th Anniversary of The White Album, now out on Spotify, which include The Esher Tapes. There are 3 versions of Dear Prudence there: the Esher version of John Lennon singing on guitar; one of just vocal, guitar, and drums; and the 2018 mix.
Another beautiful song that John Lennon wrote about his experience with Transcendental Meditation was, Across the Universe. Spotify included John Lennon on guitar singing Across The Universe–Take 6.
New Transcendental Meditation Study Published in Education
This week the world press have been reporting on a collaborative study conducted by researchers Robert Colbert of the University of Connecticut and Sanford Nidich of Maharishi University of Management on meditation and graduation rates. The study, Effect of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Graduation, College Acceptance and Dropout Rates for Students Attending an Urban Public High School, was funded by the David Lynch Foundation, and published in the journal Education,Vol. 133, No. 4, Summer 2013.
High school graduation rates remain low with racial and ethnic gaps adding to the decline. Graduating versus dropping out translates into higher earning potential, less crime and incarceration, and less dependence on government assistance. A new study published in the journal Education shows practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique resulted in a 15 percent higher graduation rate compared to controls. In low academically performing students a 25 percent difference in graduation rates was observed.
Colbert, R.D. and Nidich, S. (2013). Effect of the Transcendental Meditation Program on Graduation, College Acceptance and Dropout Rates for Students Attending an Urban Public High School. Education, 133 (4), 495-501.
The mainstream press then reported the news, led by UK’s Richard Gray, respected science correspondent for The Telegraph, and his wonderfully topical and comprehensive piece, Transcendental Meditation may boost student grades. Underneath the top headline was one of the iconic photos of the Beatles with Maharishi in India and this subheading: It may have seemed simply a phase in pop history, but it seems the Beatles may have been on to something after all during their fabled journey to India.
In Chile, the science journalist from El Mecurio, Sebastián Urbina, emailed questions about the study, which were answered by Sandy Nidich. I also suggested he interview Rafael de la Puenta, the TM national leader, and he did. The article appeared as the top story in their Life, Science and Technology section, A15, with a photo of a member of the Trinity College Women’s Squash Team meditating on the court. See a PDF of the article: www.meditacion.cl/prensa/MT_MERCURIO-Santiago-06-11-2013.pdf.
Some of the previous articles were reproduced on many blogs and websites. Will add any other newer articles as they are found. A few are slated to come out from reporters who asked for the paper, but this report should give you an idea of the kind of news coverage that came out on this promising study. For example, The TM Blog later reported New Study Finds Transcendental Meditation Boosts Student Grades, Graduation Rates.
The legendary Dave Stewart and the lovely, Jihae (pronounced “Jee-heh”) teamed up to create this beautiful song called Man To Man (Woman To Woman) for Transcendental Music (formerly the David Lynch Foundation Music, a charity record label).
The song is the official theme song for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2012 Hours Against Hate—Walk A Mile campaign (www.2012WalkAMile.com), a worldwide initiative to promote tolerance and health. The project is run on smartphones, using the SoFit, a free social gaming application that allows you to earn rewards while staying fit and making the world a better place. Look for WAM at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Here is an earlier version of this song Dave Stewart donated to David Lynch Foundation Music. It’s a great song! Thought it was a hit when I first heard it. I actually prefer this version, but they’re both great. Here are the liner notes.
This track from the prolific performer, producer and songwriter Dave Stewart evokes an awe-inspired contemplation of the human condition. “Man to Man” is a heart-strung symphony about passing the torch of consciousness, the soaring transactions of the heart. This is Muhammad Ali, this is Mother Teresa, this is a canoe trip, a love letter, a photograph with your lover by a geyser. “Man to Man” just might be the courage you need to finally get down on one knee and propose to your Higher Self.
Transcendental Music is committed to releasing unique, high-quality music digital downloads, LPs and meditation branded lifestyle products, to help raise vital funds and awareness to support The David Lynch Foundation.
We are committed to creating a new, trailblazing, charity based music label. Involved in this model will be the creation of strong brands and fresh marketing concepts for our artists, releases and cause. In turn, our image will be reflected by the genres and artists involved with the various releases on the label.
We’ll capture the imagination of the music buying public by leveraging the influence of long established artists, and high profile world leaders and activists. We’ll create market demand by offering exclusive products featuring one-of-a-kind packaging and forward-thinking distribution.
By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on September 13, 2011
Stress can contribute to a wide array of health problems, and finding ways to reduce stress could presumably impact overall health care costs as well. A new study suggests that meditation can do just that.
According to the research, people with consistently high health care costs experienced a 28 percent cumulative decrease in physician fees after an average of five years practicing the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique compared with their baseline.
The study is published in the September/October 2011 issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.
Experts have recognized that in most populations, a small fraction of people account for the majority of health care costs.
In the U.S., the highest spending 10 percent in the general population incurred 60 percent to 70 percent of total medical expenditures annually.
In the Medicare population, the highest spending 5 percent incurred 43 percent of total Medicare costs, and the highest spending 25 percent of seniors accounted for 85 percent of total expenses.
Individuals in these groups have consistently high medical bills year after year.
For many, chronic stress is the number one factor contributing to high medical expenses. Stress reduction may help reduce these costs.
This new study compared the changes in physician costs for 284 consistent high-cost participants—142 Transcendental Meditation practitioners with 142 non-practitioners, over five years in Quebec, Canada.
The non-TM subjects were randomly selected from Quebec health insurance enrollees with the same age, sex, and region to match the TM participant profiles.
The TM participants decided to begin the technique prior to choosing to enter the study. In the year before the intervention began, there were no significant differences between the groups in payments to physicians.
During the five-year assessment period, the TM group’s annual health care costs declined significantly (p = 0.004), while the comparison group’s utilization showed no significant changes.
After the first year, the TM group decreased 11 percent, and after 5 years, their cumulative reduction was 28 percent (p = 0.001).
The primary measure for assessing the effectiveness of TM practice in decreasing medical costs was the fees paid by the Quebec health insurance agency to private physicians in all settings for treating study participants.
In Canada and U.S., physician payments have been 20 percent of national health expenditures.
This study’s findings were similar to earlier ones. In a previous Canadian study, the TM group exhibited reduced medical expenses between 5 percent and 13 percent relative to comparison subjects each year for 6 consecutive years.
In a subsequent Canadian study of senior citizens, the TM group’s five-year cumulative reduction for people aged 65 years and older relative to comparison subjects was 70 percent. In a sample of American health insurance enrollees, the TM participants had reduced rates of illness in all disease categories.
An 11-year, cross-sectional study in Iowa found that subjects age 45 and over who practiced the TM technique had 88 percent fewer hospital days compared with controls. Their medical expenditures were 60 percent below the norm.
Other studies, including randomized clinical trials, indicate the TM technique can improve physical and mental health, decrease tobacco use, reduce substance abuse, and decrease other unhealthy habits and risk factors that lead to chronic disease and costly treatments.
“This article has major policy significance for saving Medicare and Medicaid without cutting benefits or raising taxes,” said the paper’s author, Robert E. Herron, Ph.D.
“Almost no intervention for cost containment has decreased medical expenditures by 28 percent over five years from a baseline. Now, it may be possible to rescue Medicare and Medicaid by adding coverage for learning the Transcendental Meditation technique.”
Mercola.com bills its free, twice-weekly newsletter as “The World’s Most Popular Natural Health Newsletter.” Each e-mail has 4-5 timely health tips, most of which seem to be based on recently published research.
Posted by: Dr. Mercola January 09 2010 | 4,653 views
A just-published study suggests the practice of meditation may bring cardiovascular and mental-health benefits.
The research, followed close to 300 students, half of whom practiced transcendental meditation for 20 minutes once or twice daily over three months. A subgroup of subjects in the meditation group who were at increased risk for hypertension significantly lowered their blood pressure and psychological distress, and also bolstered their coping ability.
The average reduction in blood pressure in this group — a 6.3-mm Hg decrease in the top (systolic) number of a blood pressure reading and a 4-mm Hg decrease in the lower (diastolic) number — was associated with a 52 percent reduction in the risk of developing hypertension in the future.
Meditators who were not at increased risk for hypertension saw a reduction in psychological distress, depression, and anxiety as well as increased coping ability. Sources:
As the new year begins and you resolve to make healthier lifestyle choices, I strongly encourage you to add a few minutes of meditation to your daily routine.
Just 20 minutes a day can begin to make a big difference in how you feel mentally, physically and emotionally.
When your mind is calm and your emotions are within your control, you’re in a much better position to tackle all your normal responsibilities plus the goals you’ve set for yourself.
Feelings of stress and overwhelm that keep you stuck in unhealthy behaviors can be greatly relieved by a regular practice of meditation. As the clouds in your head clear and anxiety is minimized, you’ll be amazed at how energized and capable you feel.
… Community Comments Falk Posted On Dec 19, 2009
I suppose for the same reason that history repeats itself we find that a study now shows that meditation can elicit positive changes in our physiology and mental state. This is NOT new news. I learned TM back in the early 90’s and was made aware of studies at that time showing that TM could have a positive effect on hypertension among other things. We seem to forget what we already know, over and over again. BLockton Posted On Jan 09, 2010
Dr. Mercola, I’m curious why when reporting a study citing transcendental meditation as the specific modality used you would then turn around and attribute the results to other meditation techniques that weren’t studied. There was no basis from the study reported to leap to that conclusion. It strikes me as being somewhat akin to quoting research that perhaps found that Lexus has a high safety rating in front-end impacts, and then turning around and recommending that your readers buy Yugos, Fords, and any other car of their choice if they want to stay safe in a front-end collision because the study showed that if you were in a car during a front-end collision, you would be safe. Whatever the merits of the other car manufacturers, even if they are equally safe or safer, the quoted study would only have talked about Lexus, and the results couldn’t be extrapolated to other cars.
In the case of this meditation study, the results were specifically attributed to transcendental meditation and not to all meditation techniques, so the results cannot be legitimately extrapolated to other meditation techniques. Faulty analysis, I’m afraid, but you may not have been aware that there are differences between techniques of meditation, and differences in the physiological response to those techniques. In fact there are myriad studies that show other forms of meditation have not demonstrated the same benefits as TM. – (Oh, and as at least 3 of the researchers are known to me as being instructors of the transcendental meditation program as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, there is no doubt they were referring to the particular form of meditation and not using “transcendental meditation” as a generic term.)
Hope this was helpful. kennyji Posted On Jan 09, 2010
With reference to citing TM studies and comparing them to other forms of meditation, there have been several published meta-analyses comparing the Transcendental Meditation technique to many other relaxation and meditation methods. It was statistically found that the effect size on certain variables like anxiety, and other risk factors, was twice as large with TM than with the other practices, which were no more effective than placebo. A paper, including a visual summary of the meta-analyses, Five Meta-Analyses Comparing the Transcendental Meditation Program with Other Meditation and Relaxation Techniques, can be found at TruthAboutTM.org. http://bit.ly/4TWDIA
Neural imaging and EEG studies indicate that TM practice creates a unique brain pattern: it is the only meditation technique known to create widespread brainwave coherence. The TM technique also produces deeper rest than other practices, and studies show the technique to be more effective at reducing anxiety and depression and increasing self-actualization. A website, Ask The Doctors, discusses results from other forms of meditation and TM at http://bit.ly/5z087e.
Also, take a look at some of the peer-reviewed published studies on the Transcendental Meditation technique at this site: http://bit.ly/RHgA5.
Over 40 years, and 700 scientific research studies later, the TM technique continues to demonstrate the health benefits to mind, body, and behavior, for the individual and society as a whole. Further studies continue to add to this impressive body of research on the most widely studied and practiced technique for health and human development.
Thank you for this opportunity to share this information with you and your readers.
By Deborah Mitchell for the Phoenix Alternative Medicine Examiner
A new study published in the September issue of Integrative Cancer Therapies reports that women who have breast cancer can reduce their stress and improve their emotional and mental well-being by practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique.
According to the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine reports that regular meditation can reduce chronic pain, high blood pressure, anxiety, and blood levels of cortisol, one of the stress hormones.
Transcendental Meditation study
The Transcendental Meditation study involved 130 women aged 55 years or older who had breast cancer. The two-year study was a collaboration between the Center for Healthy Aging at Saint Joseph Hospital, Northwestern University, Indiana State University, and the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management.
The women were randomly assigned to practice the Transcendental Meditation technique or to a group of usual care (control group). All the women were administered quality of life measures every six months for two years. The women who practiced Transcendental Meditation reported significant benefits in their overall quality of life and found that the meditation was easy to practice at home.
Meditation, stress, and breast cancer
Research shows that stress and anxiety are contributing factors in the onset and progression of breast cancer and mortality, according to Sanford Nidich, the study’s lead author and a senior researcher at the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management.
A study recently completed by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston reported that meditation programs are effective at reducing cognitive impairment associated with cancer, as well as stress, fatigue, nausea, pain, and sleep problems. The authors proposed that meditation should be investigated as an adjuvant to cancer treatment.
In the Phoenix area, the Maharishi Enlightenment Center of Phoenix offers introductory lectures on Transcendental Meditation every week. Reservations are required.
Stress can contribute to a wide array of health problems, and finding ways to reduce stress could presumably impact overall health care costs as well. A new study suggests that meditation can do just that.
The Uncarved Blog 