Transcendental Meditation and the Art of Family Maintenance

Several years ago my husband and I were living happily in a quaint rural town with a nice routine, goods jobs and a life that was totally complete. Then on the day of our wedding anniversary we got a pleasant shock; I was pregnant with our first child.

This was an event we had not planned for and considering my age we didn't we would need to. It was, as my friends blandly put it, a "SURPRISE". But the word surprise doesn't accurately describe it. A surprise is when you come home from work and your husband says he's taking you out to dinner. A surprise is when a high school friend unexpectedly shows up for coffee. A surprise is when you win a hundred million dollars dollars on a lottery ticket or when the scientists discover a new planet, adn the name it after you. Things like that. But the arrival of a new human being in the household, whom you'll be attending to twenty four hours a day for next five years, for whom you will quit your job, trade stylish hairstyles and business suits for sweat pants, t-shirts, and food in your hair, is not a surprise, it's a REVOLUTION!!

So how did I manage the transition from corporate attorney to married with children? With the greatest possible joy! That's right, because many years ago, when I was a child, my parents gave me two words that made the rest of my life a breeze: "Transcendental Meditation." I remember thinking 'what does that mean?' Well soon after I found out when my parents, my grandparents, and I, learned the technique of Transcendental Meditation (TM). I cannot say that things changed that much at first, after all I was only ten years old, but I remember feeling a very nice, quiet, deep sort of silence growing within me. I liked doing my TM and the technique helped me during my transition from Italy to the USA as a teenager and through my studies at law school and as a working professional in a law office. During all that time, that inner silence was with me and gave me the resources I needed to rise to any occasion. In my profession I sometimes had to deal with potentially difficult situations, but thanks to that silence within, I was able to handle things effectively while maintaining my sense of compassion and humanity.

To TM I attribute my smooth adjustment to a new life in the US where I stuck out as the new girl in town, during a time when most kids wanted to blend in with their peers. It also helped me to succeed in schools where an entirely new language was being spoken and smoothed my transition from a working professional to a happy full-time mom and a part-time writer. The inner silence that comes from my practice of TM accompanies me wherever I go and has helped me feel at home in all circumstances. When I transcend in meditation, I go deep within, I unfold more and more of my own potential until I eventually discover my Self; my inner best friend. This translates into more ease and comfort with myself, and consequently with the people around me. It makes me better in my career, and makes me better at my new job, which is to love my children even when I'm tired and they refuse to eat their vegetables or lie down and take a nap.

And yes, I do get tired, but TM helps that too. I won't lie to you, the presence of the little ones does make it hard to find time to mediate, but I practice my TM when I can, and boy does it help! After TM I am recharged, stronger and what seemed impossible just a few minutes before is perfectly manageable now. My family seems to know this well and I experienced this recently. One day I was tired and getting discouraged and stressed about completing my work when my four year old son said to me: "Mommy you go rest now and work again later!" So I did, I meditated and thanks to my son's suggestion I had that old familiar feeling that my strength was renewed and I could complete my work for the day with ease.

My son, by the way has now learned TM for himself, and I can already see the positive changes. But I'll have to save that for my next post.......