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Comments from last weekends Newcastle TM course :

“Thank you so much for such an enlightening experience over the last few days. I am quite certain this marks a major shift in my life. I’m already enjoying the TM experience and this is only the start !”
John, Sunderland

“Very impressed with TM. Feel like I have something to rely on when feeling anxious and stressed” Damon, Lancaster, Lancashire.

“I’ve been sticking to the 20 mins twice a day and it’s been very beneficial to me, especially at work where I just feel a lot calmer and also which I’m loving, is I’ve slept like a baby for the first time in as long as I can remember!”
Justin, Gateshead. Tyne & Wear

“Yes I am another sceptic converted.  Have been feeling the benefits.” Paul, Newcastle upon Tyne.

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TM, jet lag and psoriasis!

“It was the start of 2012, and it had been the holiday of my life. San Francisco, and my first time in the US. But what a long flight out! Nearly an hour from Newcastle to Heathrow, nine hours from Heathrow to Dallas, and a further three hours from Dallas to San Francisco. Jet lag, said Chris? Not a bit, he said; not if you do your TM a couple of times during the journey.

So, I did the first one not long after leaving the UK. By the time I got on the last plane at Dallas, I was absolutely shattered. But, not long after take-off I closed my eyes and started on the second TM session.

I know Chris says we’re not supposed to concentrate on the mantra, we just take it as it comes, he says, but, honestly, everything was conspiring against me! The hubbub inside the plane, my cramped space by the window, and my feelings of absolute and utter tiredness. On top of it all, I couldn’t relax; I couldn’t rest my head against the wall of the plane, I couldn’t keep my feet still, and my arms were twitchy: much frustration. Until. Until I realised it was TM doing one of its functions.
I’ve had it before, when I’m tired, usually towards the end of an exhausting week; TM gets seems to get rid of stress from the mind in the form of twitching of one or more limbs.
So I stuck it out for the full twenty minutes, and more or less from the moment I stopped the mantra, the twitching stopped and the restlessness went from my mind and my body. I actually slept for a little less than an hour before we flew into San Francisco.

And jet lag? Not a bit of it.

At the end of the holiday I had a direct flight back to Heathrow, all ten hours of it. I did two TM sessions on the plane, and, as before, when I got back home, no jet lag.

I’ve been doing TM for over 26 years now.
What got me into TM in the first place? Seeing some strange marks on a friend’s back. When I asked him what they were he told me they were the scars of what psoriasis had done to his skin. The doctors had tried all sorts of remedies, but only TM had worked: TM was the only successful treatment for his psoriasis.

I didn’t have psoriasis, but, a few years later, hoping it would help me in some way, I took up TM myself, and, as they say, I never looked back. It cleared my thinking so incredibly quickly. By that, I mean that before taking up TM, I could see – in retrospect – that my thinking was like water in a glass, but water that was as cloudy as if a Disprin tablet was fizzing away in the water, making it cloudy. I start doing TM, and almost immediately the water went clear; clarity of thought.
Now I can not imagine my life without TM.”
Ken, Darlington.

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13 years of Transcendental Meditation

“I first stumbled across TM at 29 after finishing a degree and not spending enough time on my own health and general  welfare.  I was anxious, unfit and felt that I had to reconnect with myself on a deeper level and had spent too long on hectic nights out and unhealthy habits.   After attending an introductory talk on TM with Chris in August 99 I realised it was just what I needed and attended the weekend course and follow up sessions which were fun, interesting and shared them  with other everyday people.

I quickly integrated it into my daily routine and from doing TM 20 minutes twice a day I noticed benefits within the first 4 weeks and these quickly cumulated over the first six months and longer.  Over time I found myself to be more at ease and noticed that I slept better, was a lot less anxious, calmer, digestion improved, my mood was more balanced, improved relationships with others and actually found the time to slow down rather than just living life at the usual fast pace.  Ironically I found that I achieved more in less time and enjoyed life more.

Over the past 12 years I still do my daily TM practice and this has totally changed my perspective and quality of life and has opened up new avenues.   I now teach Yoga of which meditation is a key practice and I am always more than happy to recommend TM and Chris to anyone who feels it may be of benefit to them.”

David Atkinson, Yoga teacher, Newcastle upon Tyne

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2 weeks of Transcendental Meditation!

Comment from participant on recent Newcastle TM course :
“Doing really well, do it twice a day. I really enjoy it.”
Brenda, Northumberland.

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40 years of Transcendental Meditation!

I have been practising TM for nearly 40 years, I learned because I was a worrier, and I was at a turning point in my life, and didn’t know quite what to do, I had just left midwifery and couldn’t make my mind up about various things!
Within a few months of learning TM I learned to drive, got married, and commenced pyschiatric nursing, none of which I have regretted ! Everything seemed to be clearer.

I still worry a little but am a much calmer person, and I just don’t seem right – only half awake if I miss meditation.

What has motivated me to write a testimoial is because of what happened earlier this year, my mother who is blind and quite deaf, had a few falls, she was in hospital for a short while, and then back in her own home. I was visiting her daily and looking after her a great deal, as well as helping with my grandsons.

One day at the weekend, my other two grandsons and their parents had come across from Cheshire to stay, I was driving back from my mothers, when I felt so tired and I suddenly thought – oh’ horror of horrors, I haven’t meditated, and wouldn’t stand much chance when home, so I pulled in at a little chef car park, meditated for 20 minutes, after which I felt so much better, refreshed and energised! It really hit me then just how beneficial TM is, and that I should share this, in the hope that it will inspire others to learn TM.
It is so easy to practise, and although it is good to do it in a quiet place, I have done it at a busy noisy roundabout in Italy!

Gillian.

Retired Health Visitor
North Yorkshire

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Comment from this weeks TM course in Newcastle upon Tyne

“The course has been great,  I plan to keep meditating.  I thought it would require more focus and concentration so its been enlightening to find its the complete opposite!”

Jenny, Newcastle upon Tyne.

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Testimonial from a medical student

“I first decided to learn TM when I was a final year medical student at Newcastle University. I was feeling tired all the time and was concerned about how actually working as a doctor was going to impact my life.
TM instantly had a profound effect on me. After just the first session I felt so full of energy and as if a haze had been cleared from my mind. I quickly incorporated TM into my daily routine and found that, even after a very tiring 12 hour shift as a junior doctor, 20 minutes of meditation in the evening left me feeling revitalised and clear focused. I have since changed career and lived in different countries all over the world, but TM has stayed with me along the way.”

Andrew, yoga teacher and massage therapist, from Northern Ireland.

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My personal experience of TM!

My Personal Experience of TM. HEALTHY SCEPTICISM

There were the Beatles, on the telly with (what to me) seemed a rather
strange but interesting man with long hair & a beard. It was 1968 and I was
13. The strange man in question was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi the founder of
Transcendental Meditation, little did I realise the major impact this man
would have on my future. The Beatles had taken up T.M and were off to India
to train as teachers of the technique. Like thousands of others over the
next few years, I finally decided to give it a go in 1971, encouraged by a
friend who thought it was wonderful. Skeptical I was, yet aware that there
is more to this world then what we percieve on the surface. Fortunately
skepticism is no bad thing for prospective T.M’ers, because it is a
technique and doesn’t rely on belief.
I must say I didn’t notice anything at first, aged 16 patience was
definately not one of my virtues.. However over the next couple of months
the benefits almost crept up on me, nothing mindblowing, but significant, a
greater ease within myself, more confidence, greater clarity of mind and
perhaps most importantly, the ability too seriously relax on a daily basis.
But as many people will tell you there is more to it then that. As I have
discovered over the years, T.M is a wonderfully simple and uncomplicated
procedure to allow the mind & body to regain a state of balance through a
really profound state of deep relaxation. Yes, it is enjoyable to do and
quickly becomes something that you look forward to doing. It isn’t just
easy, it is completely effortless. Consequently anybody can do it. There
is no effort, no trying, no concentration, no attempt to empty the mind of
thoughts. In other words, you don’t have too work at it, the beauty of
Transcendental Meditation is that rather then trying to force the mind, you
are allowing it to settle. As so many people have said, it’s a nice place to
go… You know that whatever may come up that day, at some stage you will be
able to sit and meditate and come back to that quietest level of yourself,
but ultimately meditation is a preparation for activity, an overall quality
of life enhancer. Something that has it’s origins in ancient India, today
offers huge benefits in a modern stressed world.
Encouraged by my experience and curious too find out more I went out to
Switzerland to work with the T.M organisation for a couple of weeks in the
summer of 1974. Two weeks turned into two and a half years during which I
trained and qualified as a T.M teacher. Being able to mix with thousands of
people from all over the world, of different backgounds & age groups was a
very enriching experience, not to mention attending daily lectures by
Maharishi, boy was I inspired! By now I was a T.M evangelist and really
thought it was the answer to all the world’s problems. Naiveity of youth?
Well nearly 30 years later I still meditate and certainly wouldn’t be
without it. Unfortunately the T.M organisation has become ever more
fanatical and bizarre in promoting itself, convinced that it is right.
Eventually in 1995 I decided to make the break, having taught T.M and worked
with the organisation all over the UK and abroad (including 15 months in
India) . The final straw had come with the huge increase in the course fee
for learning T.M, in 1993 it was raised from £180 to £490 and then £1280!!!
So much for peace and love. Although still high, over the past 3 years the
TM org have twice reduced their fees, free market ah, it’s enough to make
you believe in competition.
I’m no saint, but do enjoy teaching Transcendental Meditation and seeing the
results in peoples lives. In the UK, myself, Colin
Beckley & a growing band of TM teachers continue to teach T.M at affordable fee’s,
independently of the TH organisation. Many thousands of people have taken up T.M
with us, often travelling from distant parts of the UK & abroad and increasingly we
are running T.M courses in business, education authorities & government
agencies.
Yes what started out as a slightly hippyish, quasi/spiritual meditation is
increasingly practiced by ordinary, everyday people who just want something
that actually works, without any “bull”!

Chris Greathead (teaching TM for 42 years)

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A nice comment

Nice comment, must say an awful lot of people feel the same about   their TM practice : “Continue the good work!! The best investment my partner and I ever made. Something every child and every person should be able to learn. So thank you for making it affordable for more people.”

Natalie

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