Life.Culture.Discovery.

How Transcendental Meditation transformed my life, as it did for The Beatles

It’s a simple yet profound way to achieve inner peace and reduce stress, using a personal mantra to guide the mind towards a calmer state – no wonder Hugh Jackman and David Lynch are fans

Reading Time:7 minutes

The Beatles with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in Rishikesh, India, in 1968. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 6:15am, 11 Jan 2025

Just as it did The Beatles, Transcendental Meditation has changed my life – though it’s fair to say that, as far as I can tell, there is no other synchronicity between my life and those of George, Paul, John and Ringo.

Six months ago, if you’d asked me about my meditation practice, I would have shrugged and said it was fine. I wasn’t a beginner. After years of haphazard sessions with well-intentioned teachers – “Empty your mind!” – I had a daily one-hour practice. I followed the breath as best I could, but random thoughts plagued me to the extent that I felt I had the attention span of a goldfish.

A usual meditation session alternated between a fleeting awareness of the breath and long stretches of time when I would find myself involuntarily spinning through a laundry list of random topics.

Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Where am I going for lunch? Martin sent an email and … I like red. Inhale, exhale … What was the name of that woman I met at … Inhale, exhale … Maybe I’ll try that pasta place next … Mother needs to get rid of half her kitchen equipment … Seriously, is that a mosquito? …

Filmmaker David Lynch (left) and Bob Roth, CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, in a still from Shadows of Paradise, a documentary about Transcendental Meditation. Photo: Shadows of Paradise

Most days, I’d achieve a few precious seconds of complete silence, where I would feel like I was floating, completely disconnected from my body. It was as if I’d slipped in noise-cancelling earplugs and shut out the world, contentedly soaking in a cocoon of peace.

From all the books I’d read and teachers I’d talked to, this was the holy grail of meditation – reaching that perfect surrender to bliss and completeness, and union with the universal consciousness. When you are truly in the moment and time feels suspended. Then I’ll wonder who designed the interiors of the Park Hyatt Paris.