Transcendental Meditation

Transcendental Meditation
by Jack Forem
Published by Hay House
288 pages
Genre: self-help
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
5 / 5 cupcakes


When I used to think of meditation, I pictured a bunch of nehru jacket-wearing hippies playing sitars, smoking hookahs and sitting around campfires. But as I've gotten older, I have discovered how short sighted that vision was - and how necessary meditation is.

If you are a naysayer or if you think meditation is a waste of time, this is the book for you. It is more of a historical, "here's why you need this" document than a how-to manual. At its conclusion, you are given resources if you wish to pursue meditation, which, rest assured, you will.

Jack Forem details the many, and surprisingly varied, benefits of TM. Primarily, its regular implementation will reduce stress. But think about it, before you scoff. Wouldn't spending 15 to 20 minutes, sitting alone, focused on your breathing and on a positive mantra, help you feel calmer? More peaceful? If you can put your mind at rest, even if briefly, wouldn't you enjoy it? Don't we all need to take a break from the daily stress and strain of our lives? If you don't think so, then come be me for a day.

But TM does more than just help us minimize stress.

It improves your physical health. Dr. Mehmet Oz says it helps your cardiovascular system, and Forem points to research detailing TM's positive effect on healing.

TM also helps you get in touch with your creativity. Oprah offered it to her staffers, believing that TM opened them up to be their "authentic" selves. If this sounds like a bunch of hippie lingo, then how about research that proves TM's ability to minimize the effects of ADHD and post traumatic stress? Forem provides both.

Like I said, you will not learn how to meditate, but you do learn why it is important. Forem touches on mantras and the like, but his focus here is on convincing the nonbelievers of the benefits of TM.

You will be sold. And you will find yourself pursuing some of the resources he includes.

And now I'm going to go discover a mantra.