Transcendental Meditation

Today is Info Friday where I highlight anything that is relevant to meditation. I’m not involved in any of these products or areas. They are simply something that I thought was interesting and thought you might enjoy too.

David Lynch is a well-known film producer and his current project is taking him into areas far from the world of Hollywood. As one of the biggest proponents of Transcendental Meditation, (TM) he is promoting TM through concerts and videos using well-known musicians such as Paul McCartney and Sheryl Crow via his David Lynch Foundation.
David has practiced meditation for decades and believes it has helped him tremendously in his career and also by increasing his creativity and intuition.

David is currently raising funds to place TM in schools and using his foundation to support Universities of World Peace that will “train the coming generation in a new profession: that of professional peacemaker.”

These schools are open to everyone, regardless of culture or religion and by offering a Consciousness-Based education to children in both elementary and high schools, he believes that a strong foundation for a healthy, harmonious, and peaceful world can be created. Funding is also being streamed into colleges that specialize in this form of meditation, offering classes on philosophy and aspects of meditation and spirituality.

He states, “In today’s world of fear and uncertainty, every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence—bliss—the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence that is deep within all of us. This is the way to save the coming generation.”

Dr William Stixrud, Ph.D., is a clinical neuropsychologist in Silver Spring, Maryland, and specializes in working with children and adolescents. He has studied and lectured frequently on the effects of stress on the brain, particularly the developing brain. “The effects of stress are not pretty. Not only does stress interfere with functions such as attention, memory, organization, and integration, but prolonged stress actually kills brain cells and shrinks the brain’s main memory structures.”

Studies show that schools where the students and teachers participate in meditation are generally free from bullying and aggression. Students are calm, grades improve, and there is an overall positive feeling within the schools.
This program is an innovative tool to eliminate stress and promote healthier physical and learning environments for both students and teachers.

In the following video David explains why meditation and TM in particular, is so important to him personally and why he believes it is important for the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2UHLMVr4vg

Transcendental Meditation has been successfully implemented in public and private schools and in after-school programs across the U.S. and around the world, with thousands of students enjoying its benefits (see www.mum.edu).

What role does meditation play in your life and what do you think about schools integrating meditation into the curriculum?