community, community service, health, healthcare, meditation, military

Beginning: Operation Warrior Wellness Strives to Bring Transcendental Meditation to 10,000 Veterans

Christa Avampato

“1% of the U.S. population serves in the military; that 1% is protecting the other 99%.” ~ Ed Schloeman, Vietnam Marine Veteran; Co-chair Operation Warrior Wellness

I was invited by Kaitlyn Roberts at Social Radius to attend an event at Urban Zen in honor of Operation Warrior Wellness New York City. Operation Warrior Wellness has one, big, audacious – to teach 10,000 Transcendental Meditation (TM) as a means to treat PTSD. 550,000 troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, and it’s estimated that for every one of those vets 10 other people – family members and friends also feel the effects by watching their loved one struggle with this illness. 5,550,000 people – and those are only the ones who have been effected by our most recent wars. There are countless others from previous conflicts who have been suffering from untreated PTSD for decades.

Why our vets need our help
With 1:7 veterans returning from duty with PTSD, the VA is overrun with demands they can’t handle. Medications aren’t working. The suicide rates and divorce rates are through the roof. Drug and alcohol abuse is rampant among returning veterans. 40% of the homeless people in the U.S. are veterans. It is too expensive (approximately $6.2B biannually) and flat-out ineffective to treat veterans with PTSD through traditional Western methods. The VA needs help from another source; it needs a better way forward.

How TM may help
Since the 1950’s people have turned to TM as a form of treatment to reduce a variety of anxiety disorders. Some studies have suggested that TM has reduced symptoms from PTSD by 50%. Further research is needed to explore these initial findings, and The David Lynch Foundation is hoping to conduct larger scale research studies in the coming years. Practitioners have explained that TM provides a way for soldiers to relieve the recall. All these veterans want is an end to the endless noise that replays over and over in their minds. Russell Simmons, an avid supporter of TM and Operation Warrior Wellness, explains, “When the mind is still, the world surrenders. Our vets need meditation, not medication.” Ed Schloeman made a call to action by saying that, “We owe our soldiers their quiet time. They need to feel whole again.”

The David Lynch Foundation and The Urban Zen Foundation, the partners who collaborated to found Operation Warrior Wellness with the inspiration and passionate energy of Jerry Yellin, a World War II Army Fighter Pilot and Co-chair of Operation Warrior Wellness, have taken on an enormous task in beginning this movement. In addition to helping veterans, The David Lynch Foundation also services schools, homeless shelters, American Indians, inmates, and at-risk children in violence ridden regions around the world. Their work is one of the efforts that is turning the tide to join Eastern and Western medicine together into a holistic healing system.

Learn more
For more information on how you can contribute to the cause of Operation Warrior Wellness, please visit http://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/

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Published by Christa Avampato

The short of it: Writer. Health, education, and art advocate. Theater and film producer. Visual artist. Product geek. Proud alumnae of the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia (MBA). Inspired by ancient wisdom & modern tech. Proliferator of goodness. Opener of doors. Friend to animals. Fan of creative work in all its wondrous forms. I use my business skills to create passion projects that build a better world. I’ve been called the happiest New Yorker, and I try hard to live up to that title every day. The long of it: My career has stretched across Capitol Hill, Broadway theatre, education, nonprofit fundraising, health and wellness, and Fortune 500 companies in retail, media, entertainment, technology, and financial services. I’ve been a product developer and product manager, theater manager, strategic consultant, marketer, voice over artist, , teacher, and fundraiser. I use my business and storytelling to support and sustain passion projects that build a better world. In every experience, I’ve used my sense of and respect for elegant design to develop meaningful products, services, programs, and events. While building a business career, I also built a strong portfolio as a journalist, novelist, freelance writer, interviewer, presenter, and public speaker. My writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, PBS.org, Boston.com, Royal Media Partners publications, and The Motley Fool on a wide range of topics including business, technology, science, health, education, culture, and lifestyle. I have also been an invited speaker at SXSW, Teach for America, Avon headquarters, Games for Change, NYU, Columbia University, Hunter College, and the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. The first book in my young adult book series, Emerson Page and Where the Light Enters, was acquired by a publisher and launched in November 2017. I’m currently working on the second book in the series. A recovering multi-tasker, I’m equally at home in front of my Mac, on my yoga mat, walking my rescue dog, Phineas, traveling with a purpose, or practicing the high-art of people watching. I also cut up small bits of paper and put them back together as a collage artist. My company: I’m bringing together all of my business and creative career paths as the Founder of Double or Nothing Media: • I craft products, programs, and projects that make a difference; • I build the business plans that make what I craft financially sustainable; • I tell the stories that matter about the people, places, and products that inspire me. Follow my adventures on Twitter at https://twitter.com/christanyc and Instagram at https://instagram.com/christarosenyc.

2 thoughts on “Beginning: Operation Warrior Wellness Strives to Bring Transcendental Meditation to 10,000 Veterans”

  1. Christa,

    Thank You.

    It seems you have a new photo/image of yourself, up and running. Nice work. It is quite a decent photo of you. It has really come out well. Congratulations.

    What I like about your photo: it is simple and natural. Good job.

    Yes, people need our help. Yes, they need to feel whole again. The past is weighing on their minds and they are finding it difficult to return to civilian life.

    The benefits of TM are well-documented by Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa. It was pioneered by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who trained the Beatles. If you are interested, feel free to order marketing material from them. Reading through that material has been quite an eye-opener.

    We feel grateful for the good work you are doing or planning on doing. Good luck on all your creative work. Best wishes and hope it all works out for you.

    Cheers.

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  2. Christa,

    Just out of curiosity…

    If memory serves, the late, great Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has been an author of several books. Initially, Yogi was a teacher to Dr. Deepak Chopra.

    Maybe it would be helpful to read “The Science of Creative Intelligence?”

    There is also a lot of literature out there about TM. There are TM centers in the Big Apple, and millions of students who have learned this technique.

    TM has helped improve the lives of so many people: it can enhance your quality of life and help you deal with “baggage” we all carry in our minds.

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    Reply

I'd love to know what you think of this post! Please leave a reply and I'll get back to you in a jiffy! ~ CRA

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