From inflation to health concerns and commuting woes to heavier workloads, employees are increasingly stressed, and CEOs are acutely aware of the dilemma. Practitioners of Transcendental Meditation believe the technique helps alleviate burnout and feelings of being overwhelmed, and improves mental endurance in the workplace.
“The TM technique is a simple, natural, effortless scientific technique that allows the mind to easily settle down and experience one’s essential nature, which is a state of consciousness,” says Dr. Frank DiChiara, director of Naples/Fort Myers Transcendental Meditation Center in Naples (tm.org). “It’s described by physiologists as restful alertness. It is profoundly simple to teach, learn and practice — yet remarkably effective.”
A former family medicine physician who lives on Marco Island, DiChiara believes TM “creates a brighter, more positive state of mind.” He concurred with devotees who believe the meditation form helps alleviate stress and anxiety, and improves brain function and cardiovascular health.
Practice is recommended for two 15- to 20-minute sessions twice a day. A mantra is repeated while sitting in a comfortable position and breathing through the diaphragm in a relaxed way. Accepting and focusing on thoughts and sensations is paramount to success.
The Center for Leadership Performance provides companies and organizations with courses in the Transcendental Meditation technique to help executives and employees overcome stress, promote health and attain high levels of performance. It works with businesses globally, including the TM organization in Fort Myers and Naples.
Bob Farley, managing director of CLP, and DiChiara are long collaborators in two diverse ways. Students at Villanova University decades ago, the duo briefly played together in a rock band. Today, Farley, a longtime TM practitioner, coordinates corporate TM training programs.
“If you are running a company or an HR department and you are worried about your co-workers, this is a practice you can do for them that simultaneously allows the mind to settle down and the body to release stress,” says Farley. “You become more effective going about your day, both at work and at home. That’s the gist of it.
“The practice of TM is different than other kinds of meditation because learning TM is easy. It can take some time. It takes a four-day course for people to go through the course. And this is the real core concept: The actual practice of TM is not easy, it’s effortless.”
Author and business CEO Nancy Slomowitz began using the TM techniques in the work environment nearly 20 years ago. She examines TM in the workplace in the book Work Zone Madness! Surviving and Rising Above Work Place Dysfunction.
Slomowitz recommends the TM technique as a way “for businesses to reduce the negative effects of stress, to help create more focused, positive, priority-driven employees.” It provides answers for company CEOs seeking help for overworked staffs.
DiChiara offers free introductory talks to area organizations and groups, and detailed what he recommended in his 40-year medical career and TM teacher tenure.
“It is a deeply restful, relaxing and blissful experience, but more importantly, it has holistic benefits in everyday life,” he says. “The extensive scientific research on the TM technique has shown significant results in the improvement of an individual’s creativity and intelligence, overall health and social relationships.
“Easy is a different word than effortless. It’s easy to learn TM. It’s easy to through the course. But when you sit down to practice and close your eyes, it’s not about it being easier, it’s more than that. It’s effortless, the settling down that takes place.”
Farley’s teaching to companies encompasses diverse reactions, notably at the beginning of programs. A surprise is commonplace.
“People’s reaction to this is, ‘I couldn’t sit for 20 minutes twice a day, my mind is too busy,’ Farley says. “‘I can’t still my mind. I couldn’t do that.’ But it just happens. That’s what TM is.”
