Has meditation and mindfulness now entered the mainstream? Yes, for sure. I speak regularly about TM at business and medical conferences, including the Google Zeitgeist Conference, which is attended by the top, most innovative thinkers. We are also offering the technique to Wall Street companies. In the 40 years of my practising and teaching TM, it’s really only in the last one to two years where I’ve seen a huge spike in interest. There could be many reasons for this,
but ultimately I think it’s the huge amount of scientific research which shows that meditation benefits the mind and body. People today are plagued by anxiety,
depression and insomnia. Their lives are simply unsustainable. Until now, the answer has mostly been medication, like anti-depressants, which only mask the symptoms. Our foundation wants people to self-meditate, not self-medicate.
What are the foundation’s goals? We have ambitious, but very doable, plans to bring TM to 100 million people around the world in the next 10 years. It’s a huge task but we think we can do it. We’re in discussions with the UN, and talking to NGOs all over the world.
Oprah invited the foundation to work with 400 of her employees and Roth says more firms are starting to realise the value of teaching staff TM
TM is already taught in over 100
countries so all the channels and systems are in place. Our foundation also has a branch in the UK. We want to reach more at-risk populations and work with international thought leaders to spread the teaching of meditation. We’re actively recruiting new TM
teachers at college job fairs and we’re particularly interested in graduates with a masters in education or public health.
How will the field of TM develop? More companies are switching on to its value for their employees and their health. It can save them so much by reducing healthcare costs and absenteeism. We’ve taught 400 employees at Oprah’s
company and all 200 employees at Dr Oz’s TV production company and, as I said, top Wall Street firms. Some companies are even installing meditation rooms. In schools where we deliver TM, it’s been shown to improve academic
performance and behaviour. It’s even had an impact on obesity levels as children reduce stress-related eating.
Do you work with spas and is this a growth area for the future? We work with some spas, as well as with wellness organisations like yoga studios. But we’d love to make more connections. A spa is the perfect environment for
the teaching of TM. People go there for a period of time and want to switch off. So often, when they return to their stressed work or home environments, any cosmetic benefits quickly wash away. If spas can offer their guests TM, they’re giving them a powerful tool to improve their health for the rest of their life. l For spa operators who want to know how they can work with the foundation, email Bob Roth via the David Lynch Foundation website –
www.davidlynchfoundation.org. Or visit
www.tmbusinessnyc.org.
Julie Cramer is a health, hospitality and travel journalist and a former online news editor for the BBC Email:
juliecramer@me.com
©CYBERTREK 2015
spabusiness.com issue 1 2015 41
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/JOE SEER
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