People work to find strategies to cope with the stress life brings through exercise, music, journaling and more. A place in Muncie opened its doors to provide more resources to relieve stress.
Transcendental Meditation started a nationwide campaign to help cities learn Transcendental Meditation (TM). The location they started in Muncie is called Meditate Muncie.
Vicki Peterson is a certified TM instructor who moved to Muncie 50 years ago with her husband for his medical residency. Peterson has been practicing meditation since she was 22 years old.
Now, in 2024, she teaches meditation at Meditate Muncie.
TM is a type of meditation that allows the mind to go deeper in thought. Peterson said peoples' minds are always looking for more.
She used a simile to compare the mind to an ocean, explaining how the levels of the ocean correspond with the human mind.
She said the surface level of the ocean is wavy like the surface level of the mind. The lower levels of the ocean get quieter and quieter, and so does the mind.
“It just leaves all the activity behind, and it's just inner stillness — pure consciousness — just the source of thought is not thought. It's consciousness,” Peterson said.
Peterson finds meditation can help relieve some of the worries and stress in the world right now.
“Every place on the planet has its own little special collection of stresses that are unique to that area. But we live on a planet that is suffering right now, and so that causes our nervous systems to be uncomfortable,” Peterson said.
One benefit meditation is supposed to provoke is rest to the mind and body. According to research published by the National Library of Medicine, stress can be taken away which helps calm the nervous system.
Peterson encourages college kids to try meditation due to the changes they’re going through as they transition to the new environment of campus life.
“[College students are] using their nervous system to learn. They're away from home, and they're making all kinds of life decisions and they're learning how to be themselves. And for all of that, you need to have the best possible nervous system,” Peterson said.
According to Mayo Clinic, other benefits of meditation include stress reduction, boosted creativity, enhanced focus and self-discovery.
Nurse practitioner Brooke Ochs, who has been practicing TM for years, said the history of the practice is rich and “easy” to connect with.
“Once you connect into it, it is a very simple process to complete,” Ochs said.
TM was first taught by Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. According to his website, he embarked on a world tour in 1958 to fulfill a vision to “end human suffering” by sharing the Transcendental Meditation technique with the world.
And according to Meditation Lifestyle, when Yogi was in America, he taught the Beatles how to meditate. The band apparently spent several weeks studying with Maharishi in a retreat in Rishikesh, India.
Ochs said TM is “life-changing,” and her life has improved as a result from it.
“My relationships have improved, my mental health has improved [and] my ability to connect with people has improved,” Ochs said.
Ochs explained a TM session typically lasts 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. A TM instructor will say a mantra, “ a word or saying that you repeat multiple times that takes you deeper into consciousness,” Ochs said.
Och recommends just taking a few minutes every day to sit quietly and let your mind wander.
“The beauty is your mind is going to wander, [and] that's OK. The point is that you take that time to be quiet the best you can,” Ochs said.
Advisory board member for Meditate Muncie Heather Collins has been practicing meditation for 10 years and said those in the community should give it a try.
“We live in a society that's very outward, and our energy is taken outward. Meditation is the practice of going inward,” Collins said.
Collins explained the number one thing to know about how the process works is that it should be “effortless.”
Collins also explained how going to an in-person session at a TM center is more beneficial than doing something online. Additionally, sessions on platforms like YouTube might not have the same benefits as in person.
“The legitimacy of something you might find online or on YouTube might not have the benefits that are proven within Transcendental Meditation,” Collins said.
To find a TM instructor, head to the TM website or visit Meditate Muncie. Its office is located at 4006 W. Jackson Street in Muncie, Indiana.
Contact Shelby Anderson via email at sanderson9@bsu.edu.
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