Meditation For At-Risk Kids
One million kids. All changing from within. To some parents, this might sound like trouble. Drugs? Puberty? Rock and roll music? To others it might seem like just a natural part of growing up. But what if it was a change toward a self-reflective inner peace that not only brought about a more positive mindset but also improved health, creativity and performance in school?
David Lynch thinks he has the answer to a more productive education and life for at-risk students with Transcendental Meditation and, through his namesake foundation, has set himself the lofty goal of teaching one million children how to do this.
And just last week, Mr. Lynch worked on his dream with a little help from his friends.
Radio City Music Hall was the setting for the Change Begins Within Benefit Concert which brought Lynch together with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sheryl Crow, Donovan, Eddie Vedder and others in an all-star effort to promote awareness of meditation and raise money to pursue the goals of the David Lynch Foundation. Between music sets, Laura Dern did some Q&A with Lynch, Jerry Seinfeld performed some hilarious stand-up and Howard Stern provided a heartfelt albeit raunchy endorsement of meditation which he credits with saving his mother’s life from the grips of a suicidal depression.
I was lucky enough to attend this benefit concert. To be honest, I went for the music and it turned out that it was nothing short of magical. The reunion of McCartney and Starr was historic and everything that I hoped it could be. This was the closest I would ever get to a Beatles concert, a group who last performed live when I was two years old and stand as contemporary favorites in my iTunes playlist.
Ringo did a short set featuring rousing versions of “It Don’t Come Easy”, “Boys” and a rollicking sing-a-long of “Yellow Submarine” before Paul took the stage and did his own greatest hits mini-concert with “Drive My Car”, “Jet”, “Got To Get You Into My Life”, “Let It Be”, “Lady Madonna”, “Blackbird”, “Here Today”, “Band on the Run” and “Can’t Buy Me Love”. Paul and Ringo then joined together for a show-stopping presentation of “With a Little Help From My Friends”. The two Beatles continued on in an encore that started with the apropos “Cosmically Conscious” and a rocking send-off with “I Saw Her Standing There”. Although the night was dedicated to quiet meditation, it came in the form of a no holds barred celebration.
Walking in, I had little if any knowledge of meditation and didn’t really feel the need to know more. A little skepticism is always healthy and I would say that I have enough to make me the poster boy for it. But what I heard that night was compelling, if not downright inspiring, especially coming from the artists present and lead by none other than McCartney himself, and spoken in a language that I could understand- measurable results.
First, lets start out with what Transcendental Meditation is not. It is not a religion. It is not a cult. And it is not mind control. In fact, TM seems to be just the opposite of all those things, in that it champions the power of the individual mind and all which it is capable of achieving. Being the cynic, I looked for the New Age kookiness in this but didn’t find it after the first layer of apprehension was removed. The goal is apparently to get its practitioners to think for themselves and reach their maximum potential using the power of their own mind.
At its core, in a simplified layman’s explanation, Transcendental Meditation is a technique to reach a deep level of thought. Physical comfort in a resting state is combined with a clam, quiet location as one allows their mind to settle down to a level described as “pure consciousness” and “enlightenment”.
When performed twice a day, once in the morning and once at night for twenty minutes, advocates of TM claim that it increases creativity and intelligence while reducing stress and promoting health (such as a reduction in high blood pressure and a drop in heart disease). TM also seemingly reduces stress-related behaviors such as smoking (and is far more effective in this than other nicotine addiction treatments such as the patch).
But why is this being discussed on a website dedicated to parenting issues? As always, it is because of the kids.
So far, the David Lynch Foundation has provided the funds to teach 70,000 students worldwide how to meditate, from New England to Brazil and the rest of the world, and he wants to make that number a million. Presented with training in a hybrid session of “Quiet Time” and meditation, children who are able to pursue the practice of meditation show improved educational aptitude, IQ, memory, discipline, behavior and even reduced the symptoms of ADHD. These are compelling claims that, if true, could lead to a direct improvement of your child’s quality of life and prospects for future happiness.
Is it real? Are the claims true? And is it as effective as claimed?
To this effect, the DLF is also funding independent research to study the effects and practical results of Transcendental Meditiation. The foundation’s literature cites 600 scientific studies at 250 universities and medical schools as the source of their claims about the positive benefits of TM.
The president of the David Lynch Foundation, and one of the leading advocates of TM is Dr. John Hagelin, PH.D. He is a Harvard –trained quantum physicist. In the dictionary, “quantum physicist” is defined as “smarter than you can ever be”. A few days after the concert, Hagelin hosted a webcast / PowerPoint presentation about the program with a look at what it is, how it works and the benefit to those who do it with a focus on the health and medical claims and the science behind it. You can find a replay of this here.
However, Transcendental Meditation has it’s detractors that raise concerns of a cultish enthusiasm among proponents, a subliminal religious message or some undefined covert agenda. For some, just the name (let alone the eccentric appearance) of the founder of the technique, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is enough to raise a red flag. Of course, anything is possible but the negatives don’t seem to be here. At worst, if the claims prove untrue, an experience with meditation could turn out to be a dead end, an unfortunate waste of time, but nothing more. The biggest downside would be the cost which, at its top end comes in at roughly $1,500.
I don’t know. The skeptic in me wonders if meditation is really as effective as claimed. The cynic in me wonders if I would ever get past my perception of the silliness of it and be able to get to a state of pure consciousness. And the artist in me dreams of the possibilities that await me if it really works.
Transcendental Meditation seems to have had enough of a spotlight on it for more than four decades to uncover the ingredients of the snake oil if it were there, but the studies and reports of groups like the American Medical Association seems to support this as a legitimate path toward a happier healthier life. And the positive practical experiences of thousands of school-age students infuses the efforts of David Lynch with a mandate for action and support for the effort to bring about change from within for millions of at-risk children.
Learn more for yourself:
The Transcendental Meditation Program
The David Lynch Foundation
Ask the Doctors
Wikipedia
… and, always your friend, Google
