Are You A Game Day Performer?

By Ben Turshen. 

Our ability to perform at our potential is proportional to our stress levels. Stress is not a given situation or demand, but rather our reaction to a given situation or demand. It's how we respond.

Growing up, I came to understand this all too well. Whether on the playing field or in the classroom, I found myself sabotaged by stress. As an athlete, you could label me a "practice player." I had the skills and the ability to perform, but when the game was on the line, my anxiety would get the best of me and I would "choke" under pressure. I would let my coaches and teammates down. This was apparent in my schoolwork as well. I would go into a test fully prepared, but get so nervous that I would not be able to recall the material I had memorized or apply the knowledge I had acquired. These experiences did a number on my self confidence and left me feeling miserable.

Through the practice of Vedic Meditation we can efficiently and effectively reduce our stress levels. The result is that our ability to perform at our potential is dramatically increased. This makes us feel really good about ourselves. It's a game changer. 

How Do You Manage Stress?

By Ben Turshen. 

With the Fall season arriving, we look for better ways to manage our stress. Before learning Vedic Meditation, I did a number of things to help manage my stress--some healthier than others. One of my healthier pursuits was exercise. I train in a grappling sport called Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a martial art developed by the Gracie family for self-defense. On the mat, I experienced my mind and body at the same place at the same time. Off the mat, I continued to struggle. My anxiety, depression and insomnia were ever present.  

Although exercise might be a welcome diversion, a nice escape or distraction from the demands we face outside of the gym or yoga studio, a way to get out of our heads; the truth is that the legacy of stress we've accumulated in our physiology is still there. And depending on the type and intensity of exercise, we may be loading our bodies with even more stress through our sweaty endeavors. Vedic Meditation provides the mind and body with deep profound rest (exponentially deeper than the rest that can be obtained through sleep). By systematically exposing our mind and body to this deep rest, stress is naturally and efficiently released from our physiology.  

Last week, Well + Good published a story, "5 things you need to know about vedic meditation", featuring myself and two of my students, Courtney Kollmer and Lauren Plate. Like me, before learning Vedic Meditation, Courtney and Lauren used exercise as their way to relieve stress. The three of us still work out regularly, but no longer have the desperate need to escape from our stress-filled lives, we do it simply because we enjoy it. 

Better Than a Band-Aid

By Ben Turshen. 

We are creatures of habit. Our days are filled with rituals and routines. As we approach the end of the summer, many of us move into our "back to school routine" as we shift gears into the fall season. Vedic Meditation is enjoyable and easy to practice, but it's also a routine, a daily practice, and that is a key feature to it's efficacy.

There's a tendency to think of meditation as something to do when you're feeling especially stressed--like a band-aid, a quick fix. Vedic Meditation decreases our stress and increases our happiness everyday, providing immediate and sustainable change. 

Nature asks for change. When you practice Vedic Meditation, you respond with greater happiness. 

The Great One

By Ben Turshen. 

Recently, I've been thinking about hockey. Maybe because the New York Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in twenty years. Growing up, I was completely obsessed with the sport. My parents would spend their weekends driving up and down the East Coast to take me and my teammates to our games and tournaments.

As a native New Yorker, my favorite team to watch was naturally the Rangers, but my favorite player was Wayne Gretzky, who didn't play for the Rangers until 1996. Nicknamed the "The Great One", Gretzky is considered the greatest hockey player of all time. He was small for the sport and despite lacking the speed and strength of the other players, he was able to see the game unfold better than anywhere else. He thrived under pressure and when the game was on the line, he always found a way to put himself in the right place at the right time, "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been". 

Wayne Gretzky's gift was that he played the game with more awareness and presence than anyone else. Vedic Meditation provides that very same gift. It delivers us into the present moment with clarity and allows us to perform at our very best.

FOMO

By Ben Turshen. 

Summer has arrived in New York. With the warm weather, our schedules fill up with outdoor activities and events. We may even be so lucky to travel out of the city on the weekends to spend some time in nature. We are busier than ever. This is not the time to be stressed and miss out on everything wonderful going on around us. As the kids call it "FOMO" (fear of missing out). Worse than missing a barbecue or a day at the beach is actually being there physically but having our mind somewhere else altogether. Vedic Meditation delivers us to a place where we are present, clear, grounded, rested and energized. We are able to fully enjoy all the opportunities that life provides during the summer months and beyond. 

Spring Cleaning

By Ben Turshen. 

It seems that spring has finally arrived in New York. This particular change of seasons often inspires us to do some "spring cleaning". We go through our things and get rid of what we now find irrelevant and redundant. In the same way we accumulate stuff in our homes, we accumulate stress in our bodies. Vedic Meditation delivers our bodies into what the scientific literature describes as a wakeful hypometabolic state, a state of profound deep rest (exponentially deeper than what we can experience in sleep). The experience of this state removes accumulated stress from our physiology. Think of Vedic Meditation as "spring cleaning" for the mind and body, removing irrelevant and redundant structures (stress) at the cellular level. Maybe we go through our belongs once or twice a year in this fashion, maybe less than that. When you practice Vedic Meditation regularly you go through this process of purification every day.

Source of Happiness

By Ben Turshen. 

As we are thawing out from one of the longest and coldest New York winters in recent memory, we turn our attention to the warmer months ahead. With excitement, we begin to plan for the summer, and for many of us this means getting "in shape". We spend a tremendous amount of time, energy and expense using varying means in an attempt to enhance our physiques. The truth is that regardless of what our bodies look like when we're sitting on the beach, happiness comes from a place deep within ourselves. Vedic Meditation is simple technique that delivers us directly to that place where happiness resides.  

Vedic Meditation Gives Us More TIME

Regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, the one commodity we all share equally is TIME. Vedic Meditation gives us more time. The profound deep rest experienced using this meditation technique (exponentially deeper than sleep) heals our bodies of the effects of decades of accumulated stress and provides us with energy and clarity so that we can be infinitely more productive, efficient and available in all of our relationships and endeavors.

My Wish for You This Year

By Ben Turshen. 

Many of us view the new year as a clean slate, a time to re-prioritize our choices and dedicate ourselves to improving our lives and our relationships with our best intentions at hand. 

The challenge is not in the choosing itself--for the most part, we know what we should be doing. Spending time with family and friends, exercising regularly, eating healthy nutritious food, finding time to relax, being patient, kind and compassionate to others. The list goes on. The problem we face is that regardless of our intention, we are destined behave and act according to the baseline level of stress that we've accumulated in our minds and bodies. One of the greatest and most profound benefits of practicing Vedic Meditation is the efficient removal of this stress from our physiology. The result is that we are then able to function in accordance with our intention and the significance of that cannot be overstated. This is my wish for you this year.