With our wishes for a very happy, healthy and fulfilling New Year
Dear Friend,
TM for Women is pleased to present our first mini magazine of 2024, featuring a report on our last achievement of 2023 and a plan for the new year. In this issue:
Last month’s blog written by women for women
Articles
An important study on TM for Nurses published on December 11th
Be one of 10,000 women in our 2024 global peace initiative
Q&A: How does transcending help fulfill intentions?
What women say: women around the nation who learned in 2023
Our twice-monthly articles cover diverse topics considered in the light of the development of consciousness. You can visit our main blog page to search for any topic. If you haven’t read the December 2023 posts, the links are below.
One can hardly watch the news today without being heartsick over the level of trauma and suffering borne by so many—the poverty stricken without food, refugees without a nation, and victims of war and violence of all kinds.
These experiences may be the most extreme forms of stress, but some degree of stress occurs in almost everybody’s life.
Landmark Study on Benefits of TM for Nurses Published December 11th
An important study by TM for Nurses, a division of TM for Women, was published December 10th in the Journal of Nursing Administration. Research onfrontline nurses who learned the Transcendental Meditation technique during the COVID-19 pandemic showed rapid and significant improvements in flourishing, PTSD, anxiety, and burnout over three months.
Lead author Jennifer Bonamer, PhD, RN, AHN-BC, NPD-BC, Nursing Professional Development Specialist at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System: “It has never been more crucial that we support the health of our nurses and other clinical staff. This study is important because it demonstrated that TM was substantially helpful, even during COVID, in reducing PTSD, anxiety, and burnoutexperienced by nurses. Furthermore, it helped to improve nurses’ experience of thriving (flourishing) beyond just surviving, even in the midst of today’s challenging healthcare environment.”
Clinical nurses were instructed by certified TM teachers, including follow-up meetings over a three-month period. Adherence to the study protocol was notably strong considering the disruption caused by the pandemic. The study’s control group continued with “life as usual” and were offered the TM course at the conclusion of the study.
A 62% decrease in anxiety in the TM group from baseline to 1 month compared to 3% in the controls, and a 54% decrease in the TM group after 3 months compared to 17% in the controls.
PTSD decreased 53% from baseline to 1 month in the TM group compared to 9% in the control group, and 57% in the TM group over 3 months compared to a 17% decrease in the controls.
Burnout (due to emotional exhaustion) decreased by 27% from baseline to 1 month in the TM group compared to no change in the controls, and 24% in the TM group over the 3-month study period compared to no change in controls.
In the TM group, flourishing improved by 15% from baseline to 1 month compared to a decrease of 1% in the control group and increased 16% in the TM group compared to a 3% increase in controls from baseline to 3 months.
Amy Ruff, national director of TM for Nurses, said, “Along with the other benefits measured, the fact that this was the first research published on PTSD symptoms in healthcare workers makes this a milestone study of great importance.”
As reported in the Journal of Nursing Administration, organizations of nurses and individual nurses can use TM for support in the difficult and meaningful work of patient care, especially in challenging times.
Our Ten Thousand Women Peace Initiative
As women, our inherent nourishing power uniquely qualifies us to be mothers to our whole world. This is our natural role and our blessing, and in this context, now is clearly the time for us to all join together with a common goal.
The enlightened seer and Vedic scholar, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, once said that if 10,000 women desire something, then that desire must be fulfilled by the infinite organizing power of Nature. This is because the cosmic creative manifesting power of the universe is in our nature. If our mutual desire is to bring all good to life everywhere, it is a powerful and irresistible force.
We invite every woman in the world to join us in creating a virtual community of 10,000 women whose enlightened focus is world peace. This Global Women Initiative, growing to 10,000, will build an invincible foundation for Nourishing Power to reign in this world.
Those who have already learned the Transcendental Meditation technique have experienced the power of attention, the power of thought, and the power of transcending thought to unfold the highest level of organizing power within us. All women, including those who haven’t learned TM, can bring the power of their attention to this collective endeavor to bring the goal of peace-creating technologies to fruition.
The anthropologist Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that’s ever changed the world.”
It is with heartfelt acknowledgement of our shared desire for a kind, gentle and safe world that we invite every woman and every women’s peace organization to join hands as we together transform our world into a safe world for all children for all generations to come.
In order to join this virtual global community of women for peace, please take a minute to visit www.10000globalwomen.org where you will be able to register your name and email address.
Q: How does transcending help fulfill intentions?
A: With a new year beginning, many of us review, renew and create resolutions to live a healthier life. Our intentions can be fulfilled with the support of the organizing power of nature. Here’s how that works:
Nature is, at its deepest level, a field of unbounded intelligence, energy and creativity. It is shown to be so by logical deduction: to run the infinitely variegated universe, it must have those qualities in unlimited supply. It is also shown to be so by science: at the most profound level of creation—deep within the molecular and atomic and subatomic levels—quantum physics the source of all matter and energy is located in the unified field described by quantum physics, And it is also shown by direct experience within our own minds at the source of our own thoughts. Any power that is at the source of anything must also be at the source of our thought.
The Transcendental Meditation technique allows the mind to effortlessly settle within to subtler levels of the thinking process until thought is transcended and the mind is found settled in a wakeful, pure, silent state—pure undivided consciousness—the source of thought and the ubiquitous source of all there is. This is not a dramatic or flashy experience, but rather one of increased ease and naturalness.
In this way, the conscious mind taps into the one and only infinite resource of energy, intelligence and creativity and infuses the mind with these qualities, enabling us to most easily fulfill our intentions in daily life. No matter what our intentions are, if they harmonize with nature then nature’s power will support their fulfillment.
The year 2023 was a year in which many women around the nation found their lives improved, and, in some cases, transformed, by learning the Transcendental Meditation technique. Here are what a few of them told us:
“I was introduced to Transcendental Meditation after sustaining a life-altering event. TM changed my life immediately. The conflicting thoughts I was having disappeared. My mind became enlightened, clearer, while gaining pure consciousness effortlessly. TM gives me a sense of peace that I need to maneuver forward. TM is such a powerful health modality.”
Carla P., Florida
“I completed the TM course over two months ago and already I feel more resilient; the waves of life don’t seem to hit me quite so hard and I bounce back more quickly: TM acts as my anchor. My nervous system has calmed, when it used to operate in overdrive even while completing ordinary tasks like making coffee or feeding my pets. With TM twice a day, feeling more grounded and peaceful is not just a concept to be reached for intellectually, but is now being integrated throughout my entire physiology. I’m deeply grateful for TM.”
Judy B., California
Editor’s note: We’d love to hear your comments on the benefits you’ve received from the TM practice. And, with your permission, we’ll publish them here for other women to enjoy. Send your comment to info@tm-women.org
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