Transcendental Meditation

       "Effortless Calm, Infinite Potential."

This meditation involves silently repeating a mantra that’s specific to the individual, aiming to transcend thought and reach a state of restful alertness. There aren’t many subtypes of TM itself, but there are similar mantra-based practices in other traditions.

Mantra-Based Meditation: Found in various traditions, where you repeat a specific word or phrase (often in Sanskrit or other ancient languages).

Primordial Sound Meditation: Similar to TM, but with mantras chosen based on the sound vibrations of the universe at the time and place of your birth.

How to do Transcendental Meditation

Now, let’s get into doing the practice. I’ll run through a step-by-step procedure -

1) Find a comfortable place to sit. Let your backrest against the chair or wall, but let your head be free. Your legs can be crossed or stretched depending on how comfortable you are. 

2) Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Do this about 2-3 times.

 3) For the next 1-2 minutes - focus on all your senses. Hear all the sounds surrounding you. Move on to focus on the subtle smells that surround you. Next, focus on your sense of taste. The key is to make the transition to the mantra as seamless as possible.

 4) Let the mantra bubble up from the back of your brain effortlessly. The mantra is not supposed to be spoken out loudly, just repeated in your mind at whatever pace you’re comfortable with. Do this for the next 15-17 minutes. 

5) As mentioned earlier, you can start with an alarm clock initially but your goal should be to let go of the alarm clock and use your internal clock to gradually come out of the practice.

The thinking behind most people is that their mind needs to be empty during meditation - that’s how they know they’re doing their meditation ‘right’. However, try to think of meditation as a mental exercise for your brain. Your brain will have random thoughts come in during your practice, but train it to get back to your mantra. The more you train it, the better your ability to focus becomes.

Remember you don’t need to be perfect with this practice. Just doing it every day is what matters. As you get deep into the practice of T.M., you stop need an alarm for when 15 minutes is up.