Hugh Jackman on the Howard Stern Show (1:51)
Howard Stern and Sydney's Hugh Jackman talk about their experience with Transcendental Meditation.
View Transcript >>
Howard Stern: Clearly you feel a lot of pressure in life. Is it true you suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? - that you feel you have to tap on things for good luck, that you have to do certain rituals?
Robin Quivers: Is that true?
Howard Stern: I suffer from this.
Hugh Jackman: I do it less now. Maybe 10 years ago, if I did that (tapping on his knees) I’d have to do it 5 times
Howard Stern: Why though? Why did you have to tap your knee 5 times? What was it telling you? I you don’t tap you knees 5 times what would happen?
Hugh Jackman: I think I have a very active mind – in fact meditation changed my life.
Howard Stern: Transcendental Meditation?
Hugh Jackman: Yes! Because that’s all that it is…basically your mind going “alright I want something to do”. It’s not a line to my mum leaving. It’s basically like when you’re driving, there’s telegraph poles going by. So I’ve got my driving foot but the other foot .. When the telegraph pole is beside me I would lift my foot. It’s as though there’s an invisible line …like I was stepping over lines. I don’t do it now. I used to do that all the time.
Howard Stern: But what if you don’t do that? Is there a fear that something bad will happen to your family or something like that?
Hugh Jackman: No, it’s just to occupy my mind.
Howard Stern: When did you start doing Transcendental Meditation?
Hugh Jackman: 15 years ago
Howard Stern: I’ve been doing it 37 – 38 years.
Hugh Jackman: Really!
Howard Stern: Yeah! As a matter of fact I just recently did a benefit with Paul McCartney and Ringo ..the David Lynch Foundation ….to raise money for Transcendental Meditation. And you feel that a lot of your creativity has emerged because of that?
Hugh Jackman: Without a doubt! It changes your life completely.
Howard Stern: How did you come to meditate?
Hugh Jackman: When I was in Perth studying, there was a mate of mine going to do this course and he had just a quality about him. I kept saying there is something about you man I really dig. I don’t know what it is. And he said come along … and I went along …there was a course and they offered meditation.
Maharishi on the Merv Griffin Show, 1975 (1:29)
Maharishi talks about the "least excited" state of consciousness, where the mind is completely settled and silent.
View Transcript >>
There could be so many systems of meditation - mind control and trying to concentrate here and there - but all these procedures put the mind to strain, some kind of resistance, because if you try to concentrate the mind… holding the mind in once spot… what is necessary is to let the mind move, until all the moving comes to a standstill in a natural way, that state of least excitation of consciousness is gained. It can only be gained in a natural way. Any effort, any trying to accomplish that state of least excitation will always keep the mind in an excited state. So in the name of meditation, so many systems are there - they have existed since all times - but they keep the mind in strain, in stress, they don't relax the mind. Transcendental Meditation, being a very natural procedure, by itself the mind settles down and once it reaches that state of least excitation, then it becomes most orderly. Orderly thinking starts, behaviours become better, everything in life starts from that experience of least excited state of consciousness.
Transcendental Meditation at Work - ABC News (2:32)
ABC 7 News story on The Tower Companies, where employees meditate at work as part of a company wide wellness and stress management program.
View Transcript >>
You're watching ABC 7 News at Five. Imagine an office that looks like this… don't worry, these folks are working for a healthy heart. Live, from the WJLA Broadcast centre, this is ABC 7 News at 5.
KATHLEEN MATTHEWS (REPORTER): Well this is not a site you would expect to see, construction workers, architects and even maintenance men meditating while at work for one local company.
LEON HARRIS (REPORTER): So well, why are they doing it? Well, theres a new study that came out today that might give us some insight. There's now scientific evidence that proves that… what many people have believed for years anyway, that meditation actually does improve your health. Medical reporter, Kathy Fowler is here to enlighten us on this one.
KATHY FOWLER (MEDICAL REPORTER): That's right, well many people might dismiss meditation as a way to improve their overall health, but more and more doctors are recommending it to heart patients. The latest research done by the NIH proves that it's helping. Scientists found that it actually lowers blood pressure, and reduces the need for medication.
WORKER 1: They're going to do the whole thing, they're going to do the oil change as well?
WORKER 2: They're going to do the oil change...
FOLWER: Jim Lewis and Eric Harris have stressful jobs, they're responsible for designing, building and running the most high-tech commercial offices in the metro area. But they say they don't feel a bit of tension.
JEFFREY ABRAMSON (TOWER COMPANIES OWNER): OK, lets go inside and meditate…
FOWLER: That's because of this… they all meditate. The owner of tower companies started group meditations at work, matter of fact he pays for his employees to learn Transcendental Meditation. He's been practicing it for 32 years.
ABRAMSON: I decided well, why don't I offer what was very good for me, and offer that for my employees, and that just took off.
FOLWER: Meditation not only reduces stress but also has been proven to reduce the risk of heart disease. That's according to a new study conducted by the National Institutes of Health. Doctors studied patients with high blood pressure and found that 15 minutes of meditation twice daily actually helped the patient's blood vessels dilate - results many patients didn't get unless they took blood pressure medication.
Dr. ROBERT GINSBERG (FAMILY PRACTITIONER): The people I see least in my practice are people who meditate regularly, because they just stay healthier.
FOLWER: Executive engineer Jim Lewis says that when he started meditating three years ago, it made him feel better instantly.
JIM LEWIS (ENGINEER): When things go wrong, I don't get near as tense as I used to be. I just deal with things as they come and take care of them.
FOLWER: Now, mediation is also a great way to relieve stress, which is a common cause for insomnia.
Claudia De Narvaez on TM (0:29)
Claudia L. De Narvaez talks about her experience with the Transcendental Meditation technique.
View Transcript >>
I sleep really well, and I know a lot of people who don't sleep well. I sleep really well, and I sleep in a more satisfying way since I've started doing TM. I have accessed more creativity than I ever thought I had… and other people may have told me that I had it, but it's not what they say, it's what I experience. I'm happy, it feels good, I really enjoy, I really look forward to my TM twice a day.