Award-winning author of Shadows in the Sun, Gayathri Ramprasad overcame severe suicidal depression with the help of Transcendental Meditation.
Ramprasad told Huffpost Live reporter Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani how she literally had to travel to the other side of the world to learn about the practice.
“Unfortunately for me, although I was born and raised in India where meditation, especially Transcendental Meditation originated, nobody in my family practiced it,“ said Ramprasad. “Neither did I.“ 
“When I started struggling with anxiety in India, we had no words to describe my horror or to find any comfort, any tools or practices to help me heal.
It wasn’t until almost a decade later when I was hospitalized here in the U.S. in Portland, Oregon for very severe, suicidal depression that an American intern at the hospital who introduced me to the practice of Transcendental Meditation.”
From the pits of depression to the light of being
“So it was here in Portland that I found a TM teacher who was wonderful in initiating me into this technique,” recalls Gayathri Ramprasad.
“And it has been the consistent practice of meditation for the past 25 years that has absolutely transformed my life.
It helped to calm me. To save me from this acute state of anxiety and panic. With every breath, my body, mind and soul were centered and calm. It’s much like exercising a muscle in our physical body – meditation helped me to exercise the spiritual and the mental realm of my being.“
WATCH VIDEO: Gayathri Ramprasad talking about her struggle with chronic depression
