Transcendental Meditation
A few years ago, if you mentioned to a friend or colleague that you practiced transcendental meditation, you probably would have be met with a blank stare in response. The ‘silent mantra’ led form of meditation, of which cult filmmaker David Lynch has long been a proponent, has been garnering awareness recently in the mainstream, as a hugely beneficial way to centre yourself and reach deep levels of ‘pure consciousness.’
However, unbeknownst to many, transcendental meditation has actually been around a long time – Maharishi Yogi, the Indian yoga guru and spiritual leader, founded the practice in the early 50’s. He famously met with The Beatles, in 1967, and captivated them with his TM techniques to rid unhappiness and discontent, as well as his philosophical texts on human potential, ‘"within everyone is an unlimited reservoir of energy, intelligence, and happiness."
Whilst filmmaker Lynch has offered teaching of TM through his foundation, including to trauma struck war veterans, TM is easily accessible particularly in its early stages: other advocates such as famed indie pop star, Lykke Li, credit the meditation with creating a state of relaxed awareness, stress relief, and most importantly an access to a higher consciousness.
Unlike most types of meditation, TM encourages the practitioner to let your mind run free, to bring it back to a peaceful state, TM asks you to think of a one word mantra, that repeated silently in your head will keep your mind in a state that after a few minutes will allow it to ‘transcend’ through ‘matter’ till you reach levels of pure consciousness. Lynch credits TM with giving him a new sense of creativity, peacefulness and decimating inner anger. Li agrees that TM helped her through trauma and heightened her creativity.
Whilst transcendental meditation has up to recently been more practiced in the US – Harvard Medical School corroborated the science behind the TM methods – there are now many transcendental meditation schools in the UK offering one on one, group or online classes.
We suggest a few London based TM groups:
The Meditation Trust – established as a charity in 2000, The Meditation Trust has a mission to make Transcendental meditation accessible and affordable to anyone. They offer private classes and for business.
London North TM Centre – various course packages are available as well as post session follow ups and video tutorials.
Meditate London – Beginner and Advanced classes at locations around London.
