In 2005, after visiting a school in Fairfield, Iowa, and seeing the actual benefits of Transcendental Meditation for students, David Lynch decided to throw his fame as a celebrity director behind the popularization of the technique.
Ten years down the road, the David Lynch Foundation has helped tens of thousands of people. By offering Transcendental Meditation courses to those most in need of inner peace, the foundation has seen its motto come to life in so many different, wonderful forms. Change indeed begins within!
MILITARY PERSONNEL
“For the first time in I don’t know how long, I felt hope. ‘Cause I’d felt so hopeless. I’d tried so many things that hadn’t worked for me. 
I’d consistently thought about suicide before I learned TM. It was the first thing… to get that off my mind.
If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for the people that love you because they deserve it.”
— Luke Jensen, deployed in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army
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INNER-CITY STUDENTS
“Before Transcendental Meditation, I was kind of, you know, tense and angry about coming to school. Like, ‘Ah, I don’t want to be here. I want to be home playing video games…’ But now I wake up and I’m [thinking], ‘Yes! I’m ready to go to school!’ It makes me more relaxed, I feel like I’m loosened up and I’m just ready to rock’n’roll and go to school!
Since I learned to meditate, I feel that, in my classroom, I can sit and focus better and do my work.
I feel as if I can do anything, accomplish anything and there are no boundaries!”
— Shanae, sophomore at New England High School
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VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
“To learn TM has been a life-changing experience.
I feel hopeful. I feel like this is a new beginning.
Life that has been grey for so long got its colours back.
I sincerely wish that everybody had this opportunity [to learn to meditate].
— A former victim of domestic violence
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REFUGEES
“Before, I could not sleep at all for days on end.
Now I can sleep again. Before, I would constantly think about my troubles, constantly think about the children I have lost. I don’t know where they are today.
I meditate and right away I can feel myself relax and calm down. That is why I am so happy about meditation. It has saved me.”
— Pemba, refugee and survivor of atrocities of war
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NATIVE AMERICANS
“There were times when my sugar would elevate up to over 500, which is high. Occasionally, I would have a reaction because my sugar was too low. Since I started meditating, my sugar has been where it should be. So I’m sold on Transcendental Meditation!
I lost my parents to diabetes. I had two sisters that were diabetic – same with them… So I lost four members of my family to diabetes. I don’t want that to happen to my people. That is why I am so grateful and thankful that TM was introduced to us.
I know it is going to help my people, help our children. I have grandchildren, great-grandchildren; I want these things for them.”
— Warner Earth, Tribal Spiritual Leader of the Ho-Chunk tribe, Winnebago Reservation
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HOMELESS PEOPLE
“I feel that inner peace within me, that calm spirit.
The gift of Transcendental Meditation is that it’s another tool for me to deal with life on life’s terms.
This is the best-kept secret in town.”
— A resident at the Doe Fund, a rehabilitation center for homeless people
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STREET CHILDREN
“The first time I did [TM], it was like the most calming experience I have ever had in my whole life!
And pretty soon I started to feel way calmer and more relaxed, and looking less over my shoulder. I started to become a lot happier. Really a lot happier. I felt like my happiness rose to high altitudes. I felt super relaxed, and I felt like a human. When I do it, my anxiety goes away completely, and my heart goes back to normal. Transcendental Meditation helps me to look at things in a different way.“
— A resident at a shelter set up by a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing America’s children from prostitution
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PRISONERS
“The biggest part was that I saw it as a tool for never coming back to this place.
I’ve had anger issues in the past and assaulting behaviour. This has really helped me with my anger issues. I let a lot of things go that I wouldn’t have years ago – even a few months ago I wouldn’t have let them go.”
— James Nelson, inmate at Oregon State Correctional Institution
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VISIT THE DAVID LYNCH
FOUNDATION’S web page
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