Adult Coloring Pages

April 9, 2013 - , , -

African war refugees practicing a simple, stress-reducing meditation technique experienced immediate reductions in posttraumatic stress symptoms in just 30 days, according to a new study in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, published online on Monday, April 8 and to appear in print in Volume 26, Issue 2. Symptoms went from “severe” at the start of the study to “non-symptomatic levels” after just 30 days of Transcendental Meditation and remained low at 135 days. Refugees who participated in the study came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where they had been exposed to years of combat, sexual assault, torture or brutality and/or forced to witness the abuse or killing of loved ones. The David Lynch Foundation (DLF) visited Africa to speak with some of the study participants, including Esperance Ndozi, a 2009 refugee. “Everyone can benefit from Transcendental Meditation, but perhaps most especially those who have been victims of terrible trauma,” said Russell Simmons, hip-hoppioneer and longtime advocate for bringing meditation to underserved populations. “I congratulate the David Lynch Foundation for their great work in bringing relief through TM to those who need it the most in the world.” “For too many people in the West, the suffering of Esperance and millions of other abused women and children in Africa is, sadly, just a statistic. But they are not numbers. Their suffering is real and they live a nightmare. My hope is that the dramatic results of this new study will ensure the necessary financial support to bring this meditation to everyone in need in Africa and around the world,” added David Lynch, filmmaker and founder and chair of the David Lynch Foundation. The randomized/matched study measured the severity of posttraumatic stress (PTS) in African refugees before and after learning the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique. A total of 42 refugees took part in the study. Half were assigned to learn TM immediately, while the other half were