My Super Mind Tour of the United Kingdom

A picture of the night sky in Essex

I arrived back last Thursday from a week in the United Kingdom, during which I delivered three different talks, geared towards different audiences, in London, Colchester, and other towns in Essex. My host Barry Spivack was an excellent guide, connecting me with first-rate organizations and fascinating people.

In speaking to groups of physicians and therapists, I chose “Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation,” the name of my 2011 NY Times bestseller. Transcendence talks about my own rediscovery of Transcendental Meditation at the urging of a young man with bipolar disorder whom I had been treating. He told me that although my medications had helped to stabilize his moods, what was making him “really happy 90% of the time” was Transcendental Meditation. Our exchanges on the subject sent me back to refresh my technique (I had learned TM decades before), to meditate regularly, to research the effects of TM in people with bipolar disorder and ultimately to write about the subject. Transcendence was all about what meditation can do for people who are stressed or suffering from a multitude of stress-related conditions. As such, I thought this talk would be ideal for practitioners so that they could recommend it to their patients.

[Video 2:10] #1 Washington Post Best-Seller Super Mind

As I continued to meditate, I realized that TM can do much more than simply relieve stress. It can help expand consciousness and grow our mental capacity, boosting performance and helping us lead richer lives. That discovery in myself, my patients and in the literature led me to write Super Mind. In a second talk, “From Transcendence to Super Mind,” I chronicled this progression of consciousness in those who meditate, and offered the talk to both meditators and members of the general public. It was especially memorable for me to talk with both experienced meditators and novices in Rendlesham, where a beautiful new Peace Palace has just been built. I was also delighted to return to Alternatives in London, a group devoted to self-improvement and spiritual growth, which I had first visited five years ago. I was deeply moved to find people I had met on my first visit were back again to join me a second time. Several came up to me to describe their lives and spiritual journeys in the interim.

Finally, I prepared a more academic talk called “The Quest for Innovation in Psychiatry: A Personal Perspective,” which I presented at the University of Essex, the Institute of Psychiatry in London, and Cambridge University.

Wherever I traveled, I met friendly and open-hearted people, eager to hear about the expansion of consciousness and new discoveries in brain science and how they can help all of us lead happier and more productive lives.  I reconnected with old friends and made new ones, walked through parks beneath the wide skies of Essex – their soft and magical light trans-illuminating the clouds – and came away once again in awe of that magnificent country and its people.

Wishing you light and transcendence,

Dr. Norm

Media From the UK Super Mind Tour:

Doctor behind seasonal affective disorder brings meditation mission to Britain

Pioneer of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) to give free public talk

Doctor behind Seasonal Affective Disorder is coming to Cambridge