Meditate LA
Trauma Relief Program

To honor our founder David Lynch in these perilous times for Los Angeles we are partnering with MFUSA to establish the

David Lynch
MEDITATE LA TRAUMA RELIEF PROGRAM
TEACHING TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION (TM) TO LA COMMUNITY MEMBERS DISPLACED BY THE WILDFIRES
AND
CALIFORNIA FIRST RESPONDERS

In the wake of the horrific LA wildfires, more than one hundred thousand Angelenos have been displaced and are desperately seeking help to rebuild their lives.

In addition to rebuilding homes, schools and communities, we must address the epidemic of toxic stress and trauma before the far more dangerous PTSD sets in for these adults and children. This is crucial to the resilience and recovery of Los Angeles.

The day after the Eaton fire destroyed our house and everything we owned, I woke up and meditated. My heart was broken. My mind was in shock. But my body knew what I needed (TM). I’m in deep grief, but I feel grounded. My body is steady. My mornings feel calm, and that helps me be present—for myself, for my family, and for my community. I’m just grateful to have this bit of peace to hold on to.”
-Carola Secada, LA Resident

Our Mission

For more than 20 years, the Institute for Mental Health and Resilience of the David Lynch Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has successfully delivered the evidence-based, trauma-healing Transcendental Meditation ® (TM) technique to several targeted populations in Los Angeles, including Firefighters, Police Officers, EMTs, Healthcare Workers, Domestic Violence Survivors and Familes in need during natural disasters. Extensive research, including numerous randomized controlled trials, has documented the benefits of TM for reducing symptoms of PTS, stress, anxiety, depression, substance use disorder and hypertension.

David Lynch Foundation CEO Bob Roth
On ABC Good Morning America
TM for Frontline Americans

Bob Roth on ABC

The Need for Meditate LA

If we can identify major risk factors that cause PTSD and treat them before they have the chance to develop into full-blown posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, we can improve the quality of life for police officers and perhaps other emergency responders, and better help them deal with the stressors of their work," according to researcher Charles Marmar, MD, the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Psychiatry
atNYU Grossman School of Medicine
.

In a city that had already been experiencing epidemic levels of stress, Los Angeles is now staggering under the weight of the trauma resulting from the 2025 wildfires. 

Even prior to thousands of LA community members being displaced by the fires, the city of Los Angeles was dealing with an unprecedented mental health crises in the wake of the Covid epidemic. The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) hired more mental health counselors, as students and staff grappled with toxic stress. Today that crisis is even worse and the effects can last for years to come. Early-age trauma scars the brain and fuels poor academic performance, sickness, substance use disorder (SUD) and violent behavior.

America’s first responders experience traumatic incidents on the job everyday and the results are devastating. We lose more first responders to suicide than we do in the line of duty. In California where first responders are responding to unprecedented wildfires the mental health strain is even worse, increasing rates of PTSD, addiction, suicide and attrition.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH) the psychological impact of a natural disaster like the LA fires begins immediately after the event and may persist for years – nearly one-third of disaster-affected people may experience serious negative mental health consequences such as PTSD, anxiety, depression and addiction.

More than 400 peer-reviewed published studies on TM have demonstrated TM to be a highly effective intervention for addressing PTSD, anxiety, depression and addiction.

What is TM?

TM is a simple, easy-to-learn, effortless technique, which allows the body to gain a unique state of profound rest and relaxation while the mind simultaneously settles down to a state of inner calm and wakefulness—without concentration or effort. The TM technique is practiced sitting comfortably for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day. To date, more than ten million people of all ages, nationalities, and religions have learned the technique.

The National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense have awarded nearly $35 million in grants to research the benefits of TM on posttraumatic stress, anxiety, burnout, and resilience.

TM is proven to help...

REDUCE

PTSD

Anxiety

Depression

Insomnia

Addiction

Suicidality

IMPROVE

Mental Health

Resilience

Performance

Focus

Energy

Memory

First Responder
Programs

A sustained commitment for addressing our national crisis of posttraumatic stress (PTS), substance use disorder, and suicide among law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other first responders

Los Angeles Fire Captain
The Benefits of TM for First Responders

SWAT Officer Steve Gordon: Overcoming the Nightmare of Traumatic Stress

America's first responders experience traumatic incidents on the job everyday and the results are devastating. In California where first responders were already dealing with year-after-year unprecedented wildfires, the recent catastrophic fires in Los Angeles have pushed the mental health strain to a tipping point.

We now lose more first responders in the U.S. to suicide than we do in the line of duty.

  • "I stop to meditate during my breaks from fighting
    the wildfire and it has made all the difference."

    —LA Firefighter
  • "I was a firefighter for 34 years.
    There are a lot of things I’ve seen that I can't unsee.
    When I meditate things are a lot better.
    I recommend TM to all my brothers and sister
    who are first responders."

    —Fire Captain (Ret.) LAFD
  • "I know if every firefighter was trained in TM
    we'd see huge differences in their mental health."

    —Dr. Maribel Contreras
    Psy.D, LMFT, CADAC, EMDR
    First Responder Certified Counselor
    Claremont, CA
  • "There is no doubt in my mind that TM would benefit
    our firefighters and EMTs. It's benefited me."

    —CA Firefighter Matt Weed

Health Families
Healthy Communities Program

After a disaster, healing work needs to be focused on the here and now. Transcendental Meditation takes place in the here and now and fosters increased presence and grounding, decreasing stress responses. Practices like TM that reduce anxiety lessen overwhelming stress responses that might make us more at risk of developing PTSD or other long-term psychological problems."
Nicola S. Persky, LMFT
LA Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Tens of thousands of LA families have been traumatized by being displaced from their homes.

Healing the traumatized brain is a key element of individual and community healing and must be woven into public health efforts to interrupt violence, build strong neighborhoods and recover from natural disasters like the LA fires. 

For 20 years, the David Lynch Foundation has partnered with LA government and civic organizations to bring the evidence-based Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique at no cost to under-resourced adults and children to reduce stress, heal trauma, improve cognitive functioning, and help prevent crime and violence. Extensive published research has documented these wide-ranging benefits to mental and physical health.

LA family doing TM

"As a school psychologist I have used TM to help me stay clear, focused and centered while counseling students in this time of quarantine. It’s helped me let go of the overwhelming feelings that can emotionally engulf me during my sessions with students and families during these trying times."

— Angelica, Los Angeles Frontline Mental Health Provider

TM Family

research & evaluation

Research on TM and PTSD Highlighted by
New England Journal of Medicine
and Journal of the American Medical Association

Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies have been conducted on the benefits of TM at over 100 independent universities and medical schools during the past 50 years. The National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense have provided nearly $35 million to fund research on TM and stress, heart health, and PTSD. The most recent third-party validation of this research came in January 2020 when the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article on the current state of VA treatments noting that TM is as effective as the VA’s first line recommended treatments for PTSD. This was based, in part, on the findings of a $2.4 million DoD-funded randomized control trial at the San Diego VA which the New England Journal of Medicine’s “Journal Watch” listed as one of 2019’s top 10 psychiatry publications. This study of 203 veterans with PTSD compared TM with Prolonged Exposure (PE), one of the VAs first line treatments for PTS, and a PTSD education active control. The study was published in The Lancet Psychiatry in November 2018 and found TM to be at least as effective as PE and significantly more effective than a PTSD education control group.

Results include:

  • 61 percent of the TM group (68 people) had clinically significant symptom improvement
  • 42 percent of those who received PE (68 people) showed similar improvement
  • 32 percent of those who received PTSD education (67 people) showed this improvement

Nidich S, et al. Non-trauma-focused meditation versus exposure therapy in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled trial. The Lancet Psychiatry 2018 5:975-986.

Symposium Highlights
Veterans and First Responders
PTSD and Suicidality

Air Force Veteran LaToya Mack Military Sexual Trauma Survivor Overcoming Suicidal Ideation

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH ON TM AND PTS

  • TM decreased multiple features of post-traumatic stress disorder in US war veterans, with reductions indepression, anxiety, insomnia, severity of delayed stress syndrome, emotional numbness, alcohol consumption, family problems, and difficulty in obtaining employment.

    Rosenthal JZ, et al. Effects of Transcendental Meditation in veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom with posttraumatic stress disorder: a pilot study. Military Medicine 2011; 176:626-630.

  • TM practice decreased PTSD symptoms in war veterans to below clinical levels after one month, withfurther reductions after three months. The study found those veterans who practiced TM twice a day (recommended schedule) had a 30% greater decline in symptoms of PTSD than veterans who practiced TM only once a day, a dose-response effect that suggests causality.

    Herron RE and Rees B. The Transcendental Meditation Program's Impact on the Symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder of Veterans: An Uncontrolled Pilot Study. Military Medicine 2017;1:1-7.

  • Active duty military service members with PTSD or anxiety who learned TM showed reduced medication usage and an overall decrease in severity of psychological symptoms.

    Barnes VA, et al. Transcendental Meditation and psychotropic medication use among active duty military service members with anxiety and PTSD. Military Medicine 2016; 181:56-63.

Selected Studies

Annotated Overview of Research on TM, Stress, Burnout, and Resilience

Summary

Peer-reviewed published studies have documented that TM practice ameliorates the symptoms of burnout as well as the following effects:

  • Reduction in stress and anxiety
  • Reduced depression
  • Improvement in sleep disorders
  • Reduced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Increased psychological and emotional resilience
  • Reduction in substance abuse
  • Reduced high blood pressure

Meta-analyses have shown that TM reduces anxiety and PTSD to a significantly greater degree than other forms of meditation or relaxation. Studies have also shown that TM produces clinically meaningful results often within a few days to two weeks.


Improvement in Clinician Burnout:
Reduction in Emotional Exhaustion

A 3-Month Randomized Controlled Trial
at Duke University Medical Center

Reduction in Emotional Exhaustion

Joshi SP, et al. Efficacy of Transcendental Meditation to Reduce Stress Among Health Care Workers: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open. 2022;5(9):e2231917. JACEP Open 2021;2(6):e12619. 2


Improved Psychological Well-being in
Emergency Medicine Clinicians

A 3-Month Trial at Brigham & Women’s Hospital,
Harvard Medical School

Depression
Effects of TM on Depression
Anxiety
Effects of TM on Trait Anxiety

Azizoddin D, et al. Heal the Healers: A pilot study evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and exploratory efficacy of a Transcendental Meditation intervention for emergency clinicians during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. JACEP Open 2021;2(6):e12619. 2

How to Learn TM

A Three-Phase Program

1

Phase One
Introduction to the TM Technique

This session provides an introduction to the evidence-based TM technique and an overview of the structure and content of the First Responders Program.

Session 1 (Group, on-site or remote; 60 minutes)

Topics include:
  • The urgent need for an evidence-based meditation technique to support veterans’ mental and physical well-being in today’s highly stressful work environment
  • Meditation defined: Understanding the mechanics and scientific research on the three main approaches to meditation: (1) focused attention, (2) open monitoring, and (3) self-transcending
  • Understanding the mechanics of TM practice: How it works, what it does, and how it is taught
  • Highlights of the published research on the benefits of TM for improving mental and physical health, creativity and cognitive function, productivity and performance
  • Questions and answers

2

Phase two
Instruction in the TM Technique

The participant is instructed by a certified TM instructor in how to meditate correctly for maximum benefit in daily life. TM instructions will be carried out in partnership with affiliated institutions.

Four instructional sessions held over four consecutive days (On-site; 60 minutes each)

  • Session 1: Personal instruction in the TM technique (Individual, on-site)
  • Session 2: Ensuring you are meditating correctly and gaining the benefits (Group, on-site)
  • Session 3: Understanding the mechanics of how TM restores balance and reduces stress in the nervous system (Group, on-site)
  • Session 4: Exploring the long-term benefits of regular TM practice for optimizing mental and physical health (Group, on-site)

3

Phase three
foLLow-up semiNARS

These seminars help stabilize correct practice of the TM technique and deepen participants’ intellectual understanding of its mechanics and effects.

Four seminars held once a month (Group, on-site or remote; 45 minutes each)

Each seminar includes:

Deeper knowledge on a range of topics, including:

  • Effects of TM on neuroplasticity: the capacity of the brain to heal stress and trauma and forge new neuralpathways for healthier behaviors and lifestyle
  • Enhancing resilience as the key to reducing the impact of stress and promoting wellness
  • mpact of TM on improving cardiovascular health, strengthening immunity, and slowing the aging process
  • Growth of happiness, self-actualization, and development of consciousness through regular TM practice
  • A review of key points for correct TM practice
  • Questions and answers
  • Group meditation

Lifetime Support and Follow-Up

Following the three phases of the First Responders Program, a lifetime of individual and group refresher courses is available for free, remotely or in-person, through more than 200 TM Teaching Centers within the United States.

Suggested Reading

  • Transcendence: Healing and Transformation through Transcendental Meditation by Norman Rosenthal, M.D. (Tarcher-Penguin 2011)
  • Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life through Transcendental Meditation by Norman Rosenthal, M.D. (Tarcher-Penguin 2016)
  • Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation by Bob Roth (Simon and Schuster 2018)
  • The Resilient Warrior by World War II Veteran Jerry Yellin