Deaf Pilot Meditates His Way to Success

Stephen J. Hopson has been profoundly deaf since birth but he still hears the beat of his own drum. As a result his resume includes stints as a successful and award winning Wall Street stockbroker, inspirational speaker, published author and an instrument rated pilot.

In 1996 he gave up a lucrative Wall Street career to become an inspirational speaker and author. He got his start in public speaking at the Kiwanis, Rotary, Lion's and other service organizations. He’s also won several speech contests as a member of Toastmasters.

As an author he has made contributions to the books: Chicken Soup for the College Soul (July 1999), Heartwarmers (April 2000) and Magical Souvenirs: True Spiritual Adventures from Around the World (March 2002).

Stephen made aviation history in February 2006 when the FAA gave him an instrument rating. His instrument rating requires that he flies with a qualified copilot to handle the radios for him.

In 2010 he graduate from Maharishi University of Management (MUM) with an MA in Maharishi VedicSM Science. While a student at MUM, Stephen became the first deaf practitioner of the TM-Sidhi® program and received an Outstanding Student Award as well as a Development of Consciousness Award.

“The Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs continue to change my life and move me forward,” he said. “I feel my life has made a huge internal, shift where I've been placed on what feels like a jet stream propelling me forward with astonishing speed, the likes of which I've never before experienced.”

His new book, Obstacle Illusions is an account of his life experiences and is scheduled for release in early 2011.

This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresInTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.

Ed Norton: Philanthropy Goes High Tech

You’ve seen him in the The Incredible Hulk, The Illusionist, and Rounders but personally, I liked him best as the con man opposite Robert Dinero in bank heist movie, The Score.

Two-time Oscar nominated actor Edward Norton has wowed audiences not only with his acting chops but you can also see him dance and sing in the Woody Allen musical, Everyone Says I Love You.

It seems this guy can do it all and so I wasn’t too surprised to find out Norton is a conservation and social activist too. It seems that as Norton moves up in life, he’s bringing thousands of the world’s less fortunate people right along with him.
His most recent project is called Crowdrise, a self described “social fundraising, online giving and volunteer community”. I particularly like the website’s slogan which says: “If you don’t give back, no one will like you”. Ha! I guess there are all kinds of ways to create motivation!

According to Norton, "We wanted to give people a platform to say, these are the causes I care about, I am volunteering and sponsor me. We wanted it to be something with the substance of activism and engagement but the fun, ease and dynamism of social networking”. The web site is free to join and also gives points and prizes to people for their online participation.

These days a lot of celebrities are using Crowdrise in promotion of their favorite causes. Recently, comedian Russell Brand created a Crowdrise web forum to raise funds for the, non-profit, David Lynch Foundation and their joint efforts to teach the Transcendental Meditation technique to at-risk children in Africa.

Norton is a social and environmental activist not only in the tradition of Paul Newman but his father and grandfather as well. Norton’s dad, who bears the same name as his son, is a well known conservation advocate and Norton’s grandfather was a real estate developer who moved impoverished families into affordable housing through his, non-profit, Enterprise Foundation.

"Technology has allowed for a kind of engagement between people with a public life and the people who are interested in them which is entirely new and potentially very powerful" says Norton.

So whether it’s the Crowdrise web site or the Maharishi Channel, the technologically savvy are using the Internet to help people to communicate, grow and help others, in ways they never imagined.

This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresInTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.

Making Better Choices

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Life is a series of choices that when repeated, become automatic habits and routines. Some of these behavioral habits are valuable and life supporting; such as going to bed early, eating nourishing foods and other activities that bring prosperity, health and joy to one’s self and others. But there are also other habits, like alarm clocks, junk food and tobacco which may not be life supporting and which we may find difficult to change.

According to radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, “Being stuck is a position few of us like. We want something new but cannot let go of the old - old ideas, beliefs, habits, even thoughts. We are out of contact with our own genius.”

This is certainly the situation for criminals or any individual who consistently makes deeply wrong choices and develops behaviors that bring suffering and misfortune to both themselves and their victims.

So how do criminals and prison inmates change? Do they want to change? And are they capable of better choices? In this insightful, 3 minute video, Tom O’Connor, Research Manager for the Oregon State Department of Corrections describes what he feels are the mechanics of change and self control for prison inmates.

According to Mr. O’Conner, the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program is a valuable tool in “creating an environment of healing” and allowing the inmate’s inner “goodness, to ripple back up” thereby creating new behavior patterns.

In his book the Science of Being and Art of Living, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation technique, describes crime as “a shortcut to satisfy a craving—a shortcut which goes beyond normal and legal means” and that “patterns of anti-social behavior arise from a deep discontent of the mind and unbalanced emotions.”

According to published research, the TM technique can remedy this situation by increasing intelligence, creativity and self esteem over time. Additional research also supports the role of the TM program as an effective tool for criminal rehabilitation. These studies show less prison violence and recidivism as well as reduced use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

According to Mr. O’Connor the TM program can help save the public money, create a more humane prison and a better society. In fact, he says, “the sky’s the limit”!

This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresInTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.
Transcendental Meditation Blog

Ben There Done That

Ben Foster is recognized as one of America’s most intelligent, sensitive, and versatile young actors—and he is one of a growing number of performing artists who credits his daily Transcendental Meditation practice with helping him be creative.
From his popular role in the award-winning HBO series Six Feet Under to the gripping drama The Messenger, Ben Foster has shown the kind of creativity and intensity that critics and audiences love.

In his last three films, he’s played a cowboy, an astronaut, and an Iraq war vet, all to critical acclaim. Foster has done well choosing challenging dramatic roles that keep him from being typecast.

At 19, Foster worked with legendary director Barry Levinson, costarring with Academy Award-winner Adrian Brody in the movie Liberty Heights. In the years following this critical success, Foster shifted over to HBO, where many of us enjoyed watching him play the complex and mysterious character Russell Corwin in the HBO Original Series Six Feet Under (2003-2005). He won praise for showy parts in Alpha Dog (2006) and costarred the same year in a Hollywood blockbuster, playing Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand.

But it wasn’t until he appeared in the film 3:10 to Yuma (2007) that he really caught people’s attention and earned some Best Supporting Actor nominations. And like his character Charlie Prince, a saddle-slick sharpshooter, Foster came on screen with his acting guns blazing. In fact many movie reviewers felt Foster out shined the movie’s star, Russell Crowe.

His next major project, the starring role as an Iraq war veteran in the film The Messenger, earned him two acting award nominations. The movie, conceived by acclaimed Israeli director Oren Moverman, was applauded by film critics. Foster made such an impression on his director that Moverman later said, “Whatever I do, it will be with Ben. I have found my actor. I have found the guy I want to work with.’’

Foster was born in Boston but moved with his parents to Fairfield, Iowa, at the age of four, where he attended the Maharishi School and learned the Transcendental Meditation technique. It was at this award-winning school, where all students and teachers practice meditation and yoga and have strictly organic food in their cafeteria, that Foster began his theatrical career by writing, directing, and starring in his own play at the age of twelve. Later he and his family moved to Los Angeles where he began pursuing his passion full-time.

Recent interviews with Foster suggest his meditation continues to be a regular and important part of his daily preparation for acting. It’s like “hitting a reset button. If my call time’s five in the morning,” Foster says, “I gotta get up at four. But what it gives me during the day is just a resource of energy and the ability to hear what I’m actually thinking, rather than spitting back what I’ve been told.”

I’m looking forward to watching this young man’s career continue to grow!

This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresInTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.

Meditation and Peak Athletic Performance

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO You too can be ‘in the zone’. At least that’s what the authors of the new book: The 7 Secrets of World Class Athletes say. The book describes the mental freedom and powerful, effortless motion that athletes experience with ‘in the zone’.
In fact the book offers a program for athletes to follow in order to reach their highest level of performance. Including drills and concepts that enable athletes to recreate that experience.

Steve Yellin wrote the book with Buddy Biancalana, the starting shortstop for the Kansas City Royals, 1985 Word Series champions. According to Yellin one of the secrets of the zone is to create silence even before the athletic activity begins.

“Without the experience of the Transcendental Meditation® technique, our program never would have developed in its present form,” said Mr. Yellin. “By understanding the subtle nature of the mind, from a very deep and profound level, you can understand how the mind affects the body.”

The authors say they have used these drills with amateur and professional golfers, basketball players, baseball players, and tennis players.

According to John Lyberger, Director of Golf at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, home to the 2011 US Open golf this book “gets you to understand the mind-body connection.” and “unlocks the secrets of how to think in the subconscious, where you can perform at your highest effective level no matter what the sport of choice."

Recent research conducted in Norway by Dr. Fred Travis and Dr. Harald Harung, confirm that peak mental performance is the defining factor for gold medal, Olympic athletes. According to Dr. Travis, members of this elite athletic group score higher on mind-brain development tests when compared to other Olympic athletes who do not consistently place at the top levels during world, international and Olympic competitions.

Dr. Travis, who also recommends the Transcendental Meditation technique, says that elite athletes have a spontaneous and natural ability to suspend the administrative portion of their brain (the pre-frontal cortex) and flow spontaneously in waves of peak performance. This disengagement of the ‘thinking mind’ allows other areas of their brain to lead the body in a complex series of tasks like a conductor leading an award winning orchestra. The result is a near perfect, physical performance devoid of unhelpful analytical thinking.

So check out and check in with the TM technique and get in the peak performance zone!

This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresInTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.

Compassion and Health

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As the medical director at the Oregon State Correctional Institution for 14 years, Michael Puerini knows a thing or two about stressful environments and how they impact our health. He also knows that emotional health is a key ingredient to physical well being.

But how do you increase compassion? According to Dr. Puerini “you can’t teach compassion but there is something about TM that brings compassion out”. He also feels that a “compassionate person is a healthier person”.

According to an article in Psychology Today, compassion is “the ability to understand the emotional state of another person” and “having a desire to alleviate or reduce the suffering of another”.

In his book the Science of Being and Art of Living, Maharishi writes: “It has been found that all kinds of tensions are released and that the hard cruel nature of a man changes to one of tolerance and compassion” with the practice of his meditation technique.

In this three minute video, Dr. Puerini discusses compassion and health as well as his personal practice of the TM technique and its ability to make him calmer and more focused at the same time. In his words: “more put together” and “more present to myself” and others.

In the video, Dr. Puerini also emphasized that we must have the desire to focus on taking good care of our bodies and that the TM program has a “strong potential for benefitting real people”. He feels that its practice could have a positive impact on diseases like hypertension, chronic pain and Crohn’s disease.

According to neurologist Gary P. Kaplan, several studies on both teens (American Journal of Hypertension, 2004) and elderly adults (Hypertension, 1999) have demonstrated that high blood pressure is reduced even after a few months of the Transcendental Meditation technique. The need for antihypertensive medication is also often reduced and sometimes eliminated.

In the end Dr. Puerini feels that the TM program and increased self esteem, self health care and increased compassion could help his patients to stay out of prison and lead more productive lives.

This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresInTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.

Can Meditation Fix the Prison System?

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“The system is broken”, says Kevin Roper, who has been incarcerated for twenty one years. “You can’t change the system, but you can change the people inside it” and Kevin feels that the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program is the way to do it.

Other prison inmates say that the TM technique should be the first program for rehabilitation offered to new inmates, because “you need to change the brain first” in order to benefit from the counseling and other prison programs.

In his book, the Science of Being and Art of Living, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi writes: “many with potential talent are among those who are shut behind bars because of their misguided behavior”. One of the inmates at the Oregon State Correctional Institution explains it this way: “everybody is a good person inside, we just make bad choices”.

In this inspiring video, you will hear eight inmates explain, in their own words, how the TM technique has eliminated their depression, reduced their anger and the stress’ of prison life. Or as one prisoner said, meditation “frees your mind” and “takes me away from the prison completely”.

The TM program has been used successfully by prisoners and prison guards in countries like the United States, Senegal and the Netherlands Antilles. Prison studies show improved behavior and reduced stress and recidivism. A 2003 study at Walpole prison demonstrated that prisoners participating in the TM program were 33% less like to return to prison.

Studies in the maximum security prisons of Folsom and San Quentin found 35% to 50% less recidivism in the five years after prison release.

I think one of the prison inmates says it best. The TM program is “a tool for never coming back to a place like this”.

This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresInTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.

Meditation for Prison Inmates

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Incarceration can be a wake-up call for people who commit crime. It can be a time for introspection and evaluation of one’s life—a time to reflect on the past, present, and future. As a result, prison rehabilitation programs often seek to provide skills in self evaluation and self development in order to help prisoners in their quest for greater self-knowledge.

In this three-minute video, Tom O’Connor, Research Manager for the Oregon State Department of Corrections, discusses his views on inmate introspection, and the positive impact of the Transcendental Meditation program on prisoner rehabilitation.

According to Mr. O’Connor many inmates are looking within and searching for an anchor in their lives. Some look to religion or spirituality, others to humanity or secularism for inspiration and guidance. Mr. O’Connor is excited about the Transcendental Meditation technique as a valuable resource for prisoners in Oregon State Correctional Institutions.

In his work with prisoners who have learned the TM technique Mr. O’Connor says that he’s found that the TM program supports them in their search for higher values and meaning in life, and that this happens regardless of the inmates’ religious or personal beliefs. In his words, it’s a technique to “learn more about yourself and get more in touch with whoever you are.”

In 2003, the Journal of Offender Rehabilitation published a special volume of research called “Transcendental Meditation in Criminal Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention.” It presented a range of research showing the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique can reduce prisoner recidivism while simultaneously developing psychological functioning. The research reviews evidence that crime is linked to stress-induced malfunctioning of in the nervous system.

Web references:
“Transcendental Meditation in Criminal Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention”

Research on Transcendental Meditation at Folsom State Prison in California
This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresInTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.

Dear Prudence: Won’t You Come Out to Play?

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For most people staying in their room on a Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, residence course doesn’t inspire a song by The Beatles. At least it’s never worked for me.

But for Prudence Farrow Bruns, that’s all it took for John Lennon to pen the famous tune “Dear Prudence”. Prudence is also the daughter of Hollywood actress Maureen O'Sullivan and film director John Farrow as well as the sister of actress Mia Farrow.

The whole thing started in 1967 when Prudence learned the TM technique in Los Angeles and then moved to Boston and opened a yoga institute. Soon thereafter she and her sister attended one of Maharishi’s public lectures. Then, in January 1968, the two sisters hopped aboard a plane, with Maharishi himself, and flew from New York to India. Their final destination was an in-residence training course to be conducted by Maharishi at his ashram in the village of Rishikesh.

The following month The Beatles, Mike Love and others arrived in Rishikesh and also joined the course. The rest, as they say, is history.

Prudence describes it this way: “I would rush straight back to my room after lectures and meals so I could meditate. John, George and Paul would all want to sit around jamming ”. Prudence’s long meditations in her cottage caught the attention of The Beatles and they wrote a song about it and John Lennon sang, ‘won’t you come out to play?’

Prudence’s dedication to meditation paid off and some months later she graduated the course as a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation technique. Meanwhile, the meditations of Paul McCartney and John Lennon sparked a huge wave of creativity. These two members of the Beatles are reported to have written more than 48 songs during their 8 week stay in India, many of which appeared on The Beatles’ ‘White Album’.

But that, my friend, was ‘all those years ago’. Since then, Prudence has taught the TM technique to hundreds of people and become a Sanskrit scholar with a Ph.D. from the University of California in Berkley. Over the decades she has also produced Broadway plays and several Hollywood movies such as Widows Peak.

Currently Prudence resides in Florida with her husband and fellow TM teacher, Albert. She also has three children and four grand-children who constantly ask her to, that’s right, “come out and play”. Well, I guess some things never change.

This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresInTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.

Ali Stephens on Modeling and Meditation

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Millions have seen her but few know her name. This is the ironic reality of the gifted, young fashion model, Ali Stephens who uses the Transcendental Meditation technique as a tool for success. In three short years, Stephens has gone from open call, beginner to exclusive Paris feature; from awkward high school teen to a clothing designer’s dream.

Discovered by an Elite Model Management scout while shopping with her family, the Salt Lake City resident was initially hesitant about a life in the glamor biz. However, after careful thought and consultation with her family, Stephens has braved the catwalk and grabbed the fashion world by the tail.

In just a few years, her innocent beauty and natural acting skills have propelled her to the top of the cover girl scene. To date, Stephens has appeared on the front page of ten of Vogue’s world-wide publications. In 2009 Stephens graced the runway as an ‘exclusive’ for the Calvin Klein Spring show. She then posed in CK Jeans for world-renowned, fashion photographer, Steven Meisel, which confirmed her place as one of the brightest stars in the fashion universe.

At the same time, Stephen’s meteoric rise has not created the comet-like burn out experienced by many other young talents in the entertainment and fashion industries. Instead Stephens has a rather simple and innocent approach to her work. Her sheepish admission that the first time she bought a fashion magazine was when her picture was on the cover, is a prime example. Stephens also chooses her Mormon faith and the peace of the Transcendental Meditation technique over celebrity events and late night parties.

In a recent interview with DLF.TV Stephens explained that her 10 year practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique is a “big part” of her life. She’s also a fan of award winning director, David Lynch and his initiative to bring the Transcendental Meditation technique to at-risk youth who apply to learn the meditation after obtaining their parent’s permission. According to Stephens, its “incredible what he is doing” and she feels the program could really benefit not only students but their parents as well.

In person, Stephens is unassuming, soft spoken, happy and very, very, relaxed. After a few minutes of listening to her talk, it’s obvious that despite her new found fame, she has retained her small town values and finds comfort in a self image that is humble, healthy and balanced. Not quite what you’d expect from an 18 year old whose face appears on a one hundred foot billboard. It seems that her family values and practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique have helped her adjust to the recent and rapid changes in her life.

Stephens is also a strong supporter of environmental issues and although she hails from the land locked, high desert of Salt Lake City, she is passionate about ocean preservation.

Stephens was a cross country runner in High School and its her athletic legs that have carried her to excellence on the fashion runway as well. It’s ironic then, that the same limbs that propel her career are also found silent, in crossed-legged position, while sitting at home or on a Parisian hotel bed, deep in meditation.

So regardless of whether you see Stephens with her eyes open on the runway or closed in meditation, she is always a memorable sight and the next time you find her on the cover of your favorite fashion magazine, you will also remember her face and remember her name. Because it’s all about the girl they call Ali.

This TM blog article was written by Dr. Keith DeBoer http://AdventuresinTranscendentalMeditation.blogspot.com

® Transcendental Meditation, TM and Maharishi are registered or common law trademarks licensed to Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation and are used under sublicense. Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation, is a non-profit, educational organization.