What is TM (Transcendental Meditation)?

Transcendental Meditation

excerpt:
https://www.mydomaine.com/how-to-do-transcendental-meditation

The Practice

The journey of Transcendental Meditation begins by finding a certified TM teacher and taking courses to learn the practice. As an experienced practitioner, Pink meditates twice a day for 20 minutes. "It's so easy and relaxing, and it's something I look forward to doing," she says. Here's what a typical practice looks like, according to Pink:

1. Sit in a comfortable chair with your feet on the ground and hands in your lap. Leave your legs and arms uncrossed.

2. Close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths to relax the body.

3. Open your eyes, and then close them again. Your eyes will remain closed during the 20-minute practice.

4. Repeat a mantra in your mind. This is typically a Sanskrit sound learned from a TM teacher.

5. When you recognize that you're having a thought, simply return to the mantra.

6. After 20 minutes, begin to move your fingers and toes to ease yourself back to the world.

7. Open your eyes.

8. Sit for a few more minutes until you feel ready to continue with your day.

The Benefits

"When I practice TM, I feel the stress melting away from my body. I feel a sense of calm, and when I'm done, I have more energy and feel more focused and productive. I am more peaceful, proactive, and less reactive to situations beyond my control," says Pink. The practice is said to hold healing benefits for those struggling with stress, anxiety, PTSD, and other types of trauma.

According to Pink, learning how to do Transcendental Meditation can do everything from ease depression and pain to promote better sleep, boost the immune system, and slow the signs of aging. "It is a tool to help people achieve a positive state of mind and a deep sense of inner peace for optimal health."

wikipedia description of practice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_Meditation_technique
Practice
The technique is recommended for 20 minutes twice per day.[19] According to the Maharishi, "bubbles of thought are produced in a stream one after the other", and the Transcendental Meditation technique consists of experiencing a "proper thought" in its more subtle states "until its subtlest state is experienced and transcended".[20][21]:pp 46–52 Because it is mantra based, the technique "ostensibly meets the working definition of a concentration practice"; however, the TM organization says that "focused attention" is not prescribed, and that the "aim is an [sic] unified and open attentional stance".[22] Other authors describe the technique as an easy, natural technique or process,[23][24]:340–341[25] and a "wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state".[26] Practice of the technique includes a process called "unstressing" which combines "effortless relaxation with spontaneous imagery and emotion". TM teachers caution their students not to be alarmed by random thoughts and to "attend" to the mantra.[27] Scottish chess grandmaster Jonathan Rowson has said that his TM practice gives "a feeling of serenity, energy and balance", but does not provide "any powerful insight into your own mind". Laura Tenant, a reporter for The Independent, said that her TM experience includes going "to a place which was neither wakefulness, sleeping or dreaming", and becoming "detached from my physical self".[28] Worldwide, four to ten million people are reported to be practitioners.[29]