Ever since learning Transcendental Meditation (TM), Katy Perry has made it her go-to tool for rest and relaxation.
“I start the day with Transcendental Meditation. It puts me in the best mood. I wake up and just prop myself up in bed for 20 minutes. It’s the only time my mind gets absolute rest,” the famous singer has described her sanity-saving morning routine. 
Katy Perry’s commitment to the easy-to-learn and practice meditation technique is based on the tangible benefits it brings:
“It’s changed my life, it’s changed how I think about things. I meditate before I write a song and before I perform. I feel my brain open up and I feel my most sharp.”
Katy Perry’s formula for rest and creativity
Katy Perry’s bubbling energy and creativity have been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, her ability to surprise and uplift the audience has kept her on top of her game for almost a decade.
Her accolades, too many to all be mentioned, including being the first woman in US chart history to have five No 1 singles from one album, putting her success on the bar with that of “king of pop” Michael Jackson. She is also one of the most followed people on social media around the globe.
However, being Katy Perry and keeping up with the incredible roller-coaster that’s her life can be incredibly tiring.
“For people that are so creative and have this kind of a creative faucet that never turns off – it just continues and continues – it can be a little exhausting,” one of the biggest pop stars on the planet told Rolling Stone Magazine in 2014.
“And, you know, with the continual responsibility of having 127 people on the road, and always being the point person for everything, my subconscious is going even when I’m sleeping. I’m dreaming about whatever I’m creating next, or relationships, or blah, blah, blah.
So I’m never really off. And meditation is actually the one time I get to really reset,” the singer explained why TM is so vital for her.
David Lynch once said: “Ideas flow through a conduit. Stress squeezes that conduit.”
Katy Perry wholeheartedly agrees with that statement. When asked by W Magazine where and when the creative ‘eureka’ moments strike her, the pop star responded:
“I get them in three different ways. From Transcendental Meditation, where I rest and kind of restart my mind. Or during a massage. Or showering.”
“When I do it, I literally can feel the neuropathways in my mind opening up. It’s almost like a halo is created around my head and things just start vibrating again,” the singer also described the effect of the practice on her brain in an interview with Elle.
How not to be a grabby friend
Transcendental Meditation enables Katy Perry to be a maximalist not only in her work but also in personal relationships.
“My friends will attest to the fact that I am always trying to do the most. That’s why I’m often a little late because I am always doing the most. I love to live the fullest life,” Katy Perry described the conundrum of being her: pulled in all directions at once.
“But my friends will see that I want to be with them and I also want to work and all these things and I sometimes run out of energy and I can get grabby.”
When this happens, she knows exactly what to do.
“I’ll just say: can you give me 20 minutes? I’m just gonna go there and meditate. It changes my mood. It shifts my entire mood. I find this inner joy again and I’m not grabby, not judgmental. And they have seen it happen real-time, and that’s why I think meditation is so powerful,” she explained to Arianna Huffington on a Thrive Global podcast.
Paying forward the gift for life from a past love
Katy Perry’s friends are not the only people reaping the benefits from her passion for Transcendental Meditation.
The mega-star has also generously given her time and resources to ensure that those less fortunate can learn TM too.
During her birthday in 2012, she asked her fans not to bring any presents, but instead to make a donation to the David Lynch’s Foundation (DLF) to teach TM to those most in need, such as inner-city kids, survivors of domestic violence or the homeless.
She’s also supported the DLF by performing at their benefit concert and auctioning off meet-and-greet opportunities on Charitybuzz. Most recently, Katy Perry raised awareness of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in veterans and how Transcendental Meditation can help to return soldiers heal from it during Witness World Wide, her 96-hour live-stream.
In October 2014, Perry offered all road crew members on her “Prismatic Tour” the chance to learn the technique.
“It’s my favorite gift to give. It’s one of those gifts that never goes away,” she explained at the DLF benefit.
Her ex-husband, Russell Brand inspired Katy Perry to learn Transcendental Meditation (TM).
“TM changed my life,” she said to The Guardian. “I studied it five years ago in India during my wedding [to Brand], and it was an incredible thing that I received from that time. Some people get very nervous about the spiritual connotations of things, but TM is very medical and scientific.”
One reason why Katy Perry talks about Transcendental Meditation so often is her realization that living in the age of rampant digital addiction people need peace of mind more than ever.
“This is the new form of sugar,” she told the Guardian pointing at her mobile phone.
“It’s the new dopamine, the new stimulant, and everybody has 20 minutes… When I do it, I can feel the cobwebs lifting and can feel this halo. I think TM is a beautiful way to find real stillness. You should do it,” she sums it up.
