British rocker Tim Burgess is using his love of Transcendental Meditation (TM) to help him stay free from drugs and find new joy in life.
The Charlatans frontman spent years in a cocaine-fuelled frenzy but eventually managed to give up narcotics after becoming bored with his hellraising lifestyle.
Burgess first spoke openly about his ardous journey to sanity in his autobiography Telling Stories. Since the publication of the extremely honest memoir in 2012, the singer has participated in several charity events raising funds for meditation courses.
He says that practicing the TM technique every day has helped him to stay clean of drugs.
“Part of me always felt I’d be able to stop (taking drugs). It’s one of the most fortunate things because some people just can’t. I stopped for three years before [I started meditating], but it definitely helped to have consistency.”
And as Burgess told The Guardian lately, “TM has kind of revitalised me. It’s definitely had an effect on my day-to-day enthusiasm for things. It just gives you consistency more than anything, consistency and like … maybe a fire.
“Coffee fuels me — and Transcendental meditation! It’s what you put in, isn’t it? A great love of music, coffee and TM!… For me it does (work). It’s part of my physiology now. It’s 20 minutes in the afternoon. The one thing I had in my head when I started was, ‘Will I have time?’ But by doing that, you seem to get extra hours!”
Sources:
“The Charlatans – Tim Burgess Used Meditation To Quit Drugs”, contactmusic.org
“The Charlatans: revitalised by Twitter, Transcendental Meditation and coffee”, The Guardian
“Tim Burgess quit drugs for singing”, The List