Howard Stern Joins the Campaign for Transcendental Meditation in Schools

Howard Stern announced last week that he has accepted an invitation from acclaimed film director David Lynch to appear at the "Change Begins Within" concert to benefit the cause of teaching transcendental meditation to children. Howard Stern reports that he has practiced transcendental meditation (TM) for many years and that it has helped him to be more successful, happy and relaxed in his life. The neurotic talk radio superstar credits TM with allowing him to keep up his rigorous show schedule while maintaining his sanity.

David Lynch has created his own foundation to promote the cause of providing free Transcendental Meditation education in America's schools. The foundation's website states that their goal is to "ensure that any child in America who wants to learn and practice the Transcendental Meditation program can do so." Lynch and other proponents of TM suggest that students who spend 15-20 meditating each morning experience better concentration in school, better academic performance and lower incidences of depression and anxiety.

Despite Howard Stern's repeated self-proclamations that he is the "King of All Media," he rarely makes live appearances in public outside of his radio show. Stern stated that he originally considered declining Lynch's offer to appear because of his discomfort about appearing in public, but changed his mind because he believes in the cause so strongly. He also stated that Transcendental Meditation helped to reduce his mother's symptoms of depression.

In fact, Howard Stern's description of Transcendental Meditation and its benefits made the practice seem so appealing, that even multi-mega-addict Howard Stern show co-host Artie Lange stated he would be willing to try it. Lange has been battling a host of addictions and episodes of deep depression for many years, and recently ignored pleas from his family and friends to enter an inpatient drug rehabilitation center. 15-20 minutes a day of sitting with his eyes closed seems to be on par with the level of commitment that Artie Lange has been able to make to his addiction treatment so far, so there may actually be chance that Lange's off-the-cuff statement of interest in TM might stick.

The sold-out "Change Begins Within" concert will take place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Saturday, April 4th. Other celebrity guests that are scheduled to appear include: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sheryl Crow, Moby and Eddie Veder. Howard Stern is currently slated to make a brief statement about the benefits he's experienced from TM and introduce some of the musical performers.

Sources:
The David Lynch Foundation
http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/

The TM Program Official Website
www.tm.org