Learn Transcendental Meditation for a Happy Mind at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach

Sometimes balmy ocean breezes, clear blue skies and abundant sunshine just aren’t enough to ease our troubled minds.

That’s where Transcendental Meditation comes in.

Everyone can benefit from the many positive effects of Transcendental Meditation (TM), especially people seeking a greater sense of happiness and overall wellbeing.

Palm Beach denizens can learn more about the deep connection between Transcendental Meditation and happiness during A Conversation on Meditation: Happiness and the Brain luncheon seminar at The Colony Hotel next Thursday, March 21.

What is Happiness?

Happiness is attained through a number of factors, says Dr. Tony Nader, a medical doctor and neuroscientist who will be on hand to field questions from the audience and from moderator Bob Roth, CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, which is sponsoring the event with the Joanna Plafsky Foundation and the Palm Beach Island Transcendental Meditation Center.

Chief among those factors contributing to happiness are good health, peace of mind, and an abiding sense of evolving to find meaning in life and fulfill one’s desires, says Nader, who directs the organizations that teach the Transcendental Meditation technique in more than 100 countries.

The force of evolution always pushes us towards more, says Nader, a medical doctor, who trained at Harvard University and MIT, where he received a Ph.D. in neuroscience.

“And if we have a way to achieve more and see we’re evolving, then all of this together leads to a sense of fulfillment, and that’s how we experience happiness,” Nader says.

Happiness, which can either be a continuous state or experienced in distinctly separate moments, can be achieved through TM, by improving health, physical wellbeing, and the ability to see things from a broader perspective, which leads to better life choices and better clarity in achieving one’s desires, adds Nader.

TM and the Mind/Body Connection

By resetting and rejuvenating the entire nervous system function, meditation removes stress, fear and anxiety.

TM actually alters how we perceive and handle information and how we overcome potential difficulties,  filling us with a sense that we’re evolving and able to reach our goals, explains Nader.

“And when there is that sense of growth and development, that’s usually accompanied by a sense of contentment and true happiness,” Nader says.

On a physical level, happiness has been correlated with an uptick in serotonin and dopamine neurotransmitters. Those chemicals can be enhanced through the practice of Transcendental Meditation, which creates coherence in brain functioning, as can be detected through electroencephalography.

TM also enhances the ability to move from lower, limbic level thinking — a fight or flight response geared toward protecting an individual from danger — to higher level cognition, as observed in shifts in blood flow to the brain’s cerebral cortex, where greater problem solving occurs.

“All of these together create a sense of equanimity, of fulfillment, so there is higher resilience, higher ability to deal with the circumstances,” Nader says.

Since the early 1970s, scientific research has explored the mind-body connection and cognitive behavioral affect values, often known as the ABCs: affect, behavior, cognition and sensation, all of which are intricately interrelated.

“Sometimes a situation appears as physical sensation, but it has a mental component and it influences our feelings; it influences our emotions and our behavior,” Nader says.

Studies have shown that thoughts can influence electrical activity and chemistry in the brain, impacting neurons, the endocrine and immune systems.

“What Transcendental Meditation does is to transcend, which means to go beyond the specific thoughts, and awaken the entire functioning of the nervous system,” Nader says. “That’s what we see on  electroencephalography. When practicing this technique, we are able to go beyond specific modes of functioning and allow the entire brain to be nourished and to be in balance.”

This results in our experiencing a sense of wholeness, a sense of expansion, of inner well being. Once insurmountable, problems become solvable. Stress — insidious and pervasive — is dramatically reduced.

Meditation: Beauty in Simplicity

Experts recommend two 20-minute TM sessions each day: once in the morning and again in the evening, typically for anyone 10 years old and over.

Learning TM starts with personal instruction by a qualified teacher, followed by three days of follow-up to ensure proper practice, advises Nader.

Heading the David Lynch Foundation, which teaches TM for at-risk youth, veterans, police, firefighters, doctors and nurses, Roth says Nader, who he called, “the foremost expert on meditation in the world,” will discuss the most recent advances in science, understanding the brain, the realm of consciousness and how that translates to better health and happiness in life in a substantive way.

Recalling his own personal journey with TM, Roth learned about the practice when he was a struggling college student. At first skeptical,  he decided nonetheless to give it a shot.

“Within a day or two, I felt such deep relaxation and I slept better,” Roth says. ”And then I ended up doing much better in my studies.”

The beautiful thing about Transcendental Meditation is its simplicity, notes Roth.

“It’s very simple to learn,” Roth says. “It’s enjoyable to practice and It requires no belief or no change in lifestyle.”

TM works, Roth explains, because the technique gives the body “a profound state of rest and relaxation which allows fatigue and deeply rooted stresses to be dissolved almost immediately. And it also wakes up the creative centers of the brain.”

Having taught TM to thousands of people over the past half century, Roth says he’s seen its positive effects within a couple of weeks, even sometimes within just a few days. Because everyone is hardwired to respond to meditation, everyone can benefit from the technique, Roth says.

“It’s just a simple, powerful technique for unfolding the full potential of mind and body, leading towards happiness,” he says.

A Conversation on Meditation, Happiness and the Brain luncheon seminar will be held on Thursday, March 21 at The Colony Hotel, 155 Hammon Avenue, Palm Beach from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

To register for the event, which costs $300 for an individual ticket, call the Palm Beach Island TM Center: 561-516-0685, go to  lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/46z67pt?mode=preview&source_id=8dc0da16-6478-4ab9-b9ed-0ddc7b6ce70b&source_type=em&c= or scan the QR code below.

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