There are hundreds of rowdy at-risk youth in low-income schools that face higher rates of anxiety, stress, and violence in their lives, but when the gong sounds at the start of Quiet Time, students and teachers fall into silence – eyes closed and minds quiet.
The Quiet Time program, started by Twin Peaks director David Lynch, consists of two fifteen minute sessions of transcendental meditation where students are encouraged to breathe deeply, clear their minds, and find their spiritual center.
The results have been staggeringly impressive.
Man meditating at sea / CC IcronticPrime
According to the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace website, the Quiet Time meditation program has shown a 65% decrease in violent conflict, a 40% reduction in stress and anxiety, and an 86% reduction in suspensions over a two year period along with a dramatic increase in self-confidence, creativity, and happiness.
The program has also been used for veterans with PTSD, victims of domestic abuse, and in prisons and homeless shelters. Studies showed reduced flashbacks and stress, a 42% decrease in insomnia, decreased blood pressure, and twice the efficiency in curving alcoholism and substance abuse.
“I started Transcendental Meditation in 1973 and have not missed a single meditation ever since,” David Lynch explains on his website. “Twice a day, every day. It has given me effortless access to unlimited reserves of energy, creativity and happiness deep within. This level of life is sometimes called “pure consciousness”—it is a treasury. And this level of life is deep within us all.”
Since the program was first adopted by Visitacion Valley Middle School in 2007, it has been adopted in Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, and many other schools worldwide.
Author: McKinley Corbley
Source: goodnewsnetwork.org