Another in our continuing series of TM testimonials :
I attended my TM course around three years ago (actually this could have been four, a lot has changed since then!). Some years before this I had become interested in meditation whilst at high school; I was lucky enough to have an adventurous religious studies teacher who did a kind of secular guided meditation with her classes, and this was a lovely experience, but I wanted to take it further. After leaving school I researched on the internet around other types of meditation and felt that TM would be ideal for me, because I could easily fit it in with the rest of my time. I visited the official TM organisation website but during that period, to my disappointment, I found that no new TM courses in the UK were being taught. There didn’t seem to be any explanation on why this had happened on the website, but I learned from news websites that they had withdrawn the course because Maharishi had decreed the UK a ‘scorpion nation.’ Later, when the ban was lifted, I found that the fees were unaffordable, so I put my plans to learn on the backburner.

Several years later, after leaving university and getting a job, I found I was experiencing depression. I’m not sure of the underlying reason as to why I had become depressed but I went and visited my doctor, who diagnosed that I had a moderate case of depression. I was provided with SSRI medication but shortly became concerned about the side effects. I began looking around on the internet for alternative ideas and TM sprung up once again. I was intrigued to read some well-researched studies on the benefits of TM on alleviating depression and improving general well being. I took these studies to my doctor. I was pessimistic about the response i’d get from her but to my surprise she had read about TM and of its effects on depression, she thought it would be worth trying. So I went back on the internet and that’s when I came across Twenty Minutes Meditation (Independent TM teacher) and booked myself in..

The course was easy to understand and the technique and background was broken down over three days. Initially I didn’t ‘feel’ anything, but I returned home and it became a part of my routine. After several weeks I began to feel a general sense of wellness. After some months I noticed my depression had gradually lifted. My mood continued to improve and today I have a broad sense of wellness across my life. It is difficult to describe with words – language is a limited tool in dealing with the beauty of TM. The main thing I would say is to follow the teaching and just to let things unfold. The biggest surprise for me was that many people over the years have commented on my unstressed nature. Initially this began with family and, later, work colleagues. I work in an environment which can be testing, it’s the local authority social services line, for which i’m a customer services officer. This involves taking calls and answering enquiries from concerned members of the public, elderly and vulnerable people, police and medical professionals. The content of the calls can be stressful so TM is absolutely invaluable. In the rest of my life, several strangers, including a joiner who was doing work at my house, my dentist and an independent financial adviser, have all commented on my stress free nature. All of which was pretty unexpected.
Craig, Preston