http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6K9l2nywFE

I'm not familiar with the term nor am I a worshiper of Oprah, but I like that she's talking about scheduling time for all employees to meditate twice a day in the workplace, during work hours. I think this would be a great benefit to our society as a whole.

Still looking up the term....

Can you tell us anything about TM? It seems like any other meditation. I'm wondering why it is different than any other meditation (i.e. Mindful Meditation).

cypress, I had no idea it was an Oprah thing, I dont like her. I havent read the book yet. I used to read all the time, but now I lack the concentration & patience required to read an entire book lol...evidentally, the meditation therapist gives you a "montra", a key word to focus on. You can have NO interruptions while doing it. My son said it is now being taught somewhere back east in the schools..he started doing the meditation & I can tell you, his WHOLE attitude has changed for the better. So, I think I will give it a try, cant hurt anything...

I haven't practiced it as it's officially defined, but to the best of my understanding most meditation is very much the same.

If you run across anything speaking out against TM, here's why...

Transcendental refers to the goal (of some practitioners) of reaching/transcending another 'plane' of existence, of consciousness, or what have you.

Some believe that this opens practitioners up to attack from negative entities (demons). In fact, all meditation carries this danger, but TM got the brunt of the 'warnings' because it happened to be popular.

I do happen to believe in this, but I meditate on a very regular basis. If it freaks you out, say a prayer for protection or hold a religious object.

I don't mean to stray this convo into the religious and offend anybody...just wanted to give you a heads up because there's a decent amount online regarding the 'dangers' of meditation.

Yes, I believe they're real, but I'm not shoving. LOVE to meditate personally, and I hope you get some excellent results :) hugs to ya :)

TM has became popular in the 60's
The Beatles got into it. And many other celebrities.

"Om". Or Aum Is one mantra that many of us have probably heard of. Think of the typical image of someone meditating sitting on floor, crossed legs in yoga position. Hands resting on knees or held in air and thumb and finger touching and chanting "Om". I'm sure most are familiar with this representation of meditation.


I have chanted Om before as I was exploring meditation. It is relaxing and releases negative energy.

I think I will try it again. It's been a while.

It works to the extent you are able to transcend.

It's like asking if swimming works.

wanderingvet, from someone who has never meditated a day in her life, I was just asking for opinions, not sarcasm.
I am going to attempt to read the book, hopefully my concentration will be enough to get me through..
Summerwind, I really appreciate your advice. I am a spiritual person, & will say a prayer before i begin..& hold my crucifix. The thought of demons scare the crap out of me. Thanks.

Shades of the 60's.

I think the point of meditation is not to follow a guru, or a particular structure, but to calm the mind by being still. The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi had a big following back when I was young, and I avoided it like the plague. (I do not follow the crowd!)

Now, I do Christian meditation. I just take a simple verse of the Bible like "Peace, I give you," and relax and repeat it slowly. Over the last 5 years, God has really done an amazing work being able to help me relax and it has really changed my outlook on life.

I believe DBT is a modern form of meditation, or mindfulness which has had a lot of success in treating people with mental illnesses.

Whichever form you chose, be consistent and patient. It takes a while to really begin to see results, but it is done without meds, and their side effects, so I think it is worth a try.

Thanks Kristieblue, Im glad youve had success with it. I am hoping it helps me & my relationships.

I've never followed the crowd, either. ;) But I went through the TM program and learned how to do it back in the early 90's ... long after it had its heyday. You are given a mantra, and a lot of support for how to do it, explanation of how/why it works, etc.

I did TM for years until I got really sick ... in the past couple of months I've been trying to get back into it.

If you can afford the program (it's not cheap), I highly recommend it. A friend of mine also just went through it and is getting a lot of benefit out of it (more relaxed, less stressed out, etc.) Of course, any kind of meditation is good for you.

The difference between TM and mindfulness meditation is that TM uses specific mantras that they give you, while mindfulness does not -- usually mindfulness techniques start with focusing on the breath, or on something in particular like walking, noticing every part of the movement of walking, etc.

It seems to me that other forms of meditation require a little more effort or focus. (Zen meditation requires sitting up straight -- which is a LOT of effort for those of us with bad backs! ;)

The emphasis in TM is that it should be very easy and nearly effortless. The "transcendental" aspect of it simply means that your body is deeply relaxed while your mind is in a very alert state, with an increase in alpha waves. Studies have shown that TM produces this state more consistently than other forms of meditation.

I don't buy the idea that TM or any other kind of meditation opens you up to negative entities or demons, and I've never heard of that occurring to anybody. Certain people may have more developed psychic abilities, and they would be more open to negative entities regardless of whether they meditate or not.

And people who are prone to psychotic episodes may be more likely to experience negative feelings when they get in such a relaxed state -- whether it's from meditation, hypnosis, falling asleep, etc. I agree with Summerwind that if you're worried about this kind of thing, you could do a visualization or say a prayer prior to meditating ...

For me, TM was/is easier than any other kind of meditation I tried (including mindfulness, Zen meditation, etc.) Oh, and yes, regardless of what kind of meditation you do, you should have no interruptions -- no phones ringing, no kids running around, etc. The whole point is to relax body and mind. :-)

It's not an "Oprah thing, but the link was about Oprah talking about TM in the workplace. I was saying that was a good idea despite the fact that it was coming from Oprah.

Here is a site that does guided meditation. I am not quite sure the type, but it does not seem too difficult.

http://susanpiver.com/blog/

I used meditation a lot when I worked. I would go out on my breaks and any time I needed it to think of my favorite place and soon I would feel like I was there. It was very calming. It is very simple, just think of your favorite place and clear the rest of you mind. It takes a little while to get the hang of it, it will be priceless to you.

The book may be very informative, I have never heard of it, but sounds like an interesting read.

I would not worry about the demons, I have never heard of that. But, I am not an expert either. either. And, praying before you start meditation or anything else can't hurt. You know, prayer is a lot like meditation.

I wish you luck, you have your example there with you. You see the changes in your son. If it works for him, it will probably work for you.

I practice TM and I've had good results. After about one week of TM meditation I felt a dark heavy cloud of emotion was lifted. It just happened and it was a huge relief. I finally felt light hearted in a way I had not until then. With TM, your teacher is always supporting you, explaining experiences and answering questions. And that continues. There are always meetings and opportunities to ask questions and go over experiences. You can ask about scholarships if you need to.

i dont know it by that name i call it relaxation therapy and what you do is you take in several realy deep breaths in through the nose and outthrough the moth .................and get comfortable .............some people light a candill and do it sitting in the youga sitting position i do it on the couch especualy when i have a migrain ..................because i can slow dowen my heart and blod flow and so i lesson my pain some times to almost nothing untill i have to get up for somthing than i have to start all over ....................i can now do it ware ever i am standing doesent mater ................time is shortened when i am doing it ......................i count dowen backwards from 100 i have to go that high to give me enouh time to quite my mined enough to get the benifit ...........then you start at your toes and give them permission to relax and just feel them relaxing and then the foot feel all the mussels and tendins relaxing and so on all through your bodie and when you get to parts of you bodie that need healing you tell your badie to heal that earea and you will feel a sensation of healing i cant explain the feeling .................it is good for depreshion and angzitie ....................it is good for your mind and your bodie and being able to let go of some of the migrain pain is a big boness ..............it will take pratice ..........sometimes if you are tired you will fal asleep at first thats fine .....................i hope you try it and let me know if it helps you....................god bless