Before I even mention what a life-changer TM has been, you have to know something about me.
When I was 5 years old, I had a profound spiritual experience that became my reference point for everything else; an inner experience of a state of calm, bliss, and expansion unlike any other. In a moment when I least expected it, I felt like I was home. Nothing to be afraid of, nothing to long for; just total fullness, peace, and bliss.
Ulrike Selleck, as a young girl
The experience didn’t last. I continued my young life with the confinements and limitations of a small child. But ever since then, I deeply yearned for that experience of expansion again.
As a little girl, I was so shy that that inner calm and bliss had been a most welcome relief.
I continued being introverted as a teenager, but I wanted nothing more than to be back with that experience of peace and fullness. I just didn’t know how!
The Feeling I Had Been Longing for All Those Years
Then, at 20, as a student in my hometown of Munich, I met a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation® (TM®) technique who offered to teach me TM. I had huge doubts: incense, the picture of a bearded guru, meditation—it all seemed too much for a shy, creative German girl with very practical, conservative values.
I almost chickened out, but decided to suspend judgment until after I had learned.
I sat down, closed my eyes, and followed the simple instructions. To my complete surprise, after just about 15 seconds—there it was again, that feeling I had been longing for all those years!
I was home.
I remember tears streaming down my cheeks. I was home. Peace like I remembered. Bliss like I hadn’t tasted in 15 years. A calm, expansion, fearlessness, and invincibility I had yearned for all my life.
There was nothing wrong with me, or the world, or anything or anyone else. Everything was perfect, and I was at the center of all that perfection. I had been given the practical key to my own inner freedom in a matter of minutes. Deep gratitude has never left me, even today.
Coming Home in More Ways Than One
I cannot imagine my life without this life-saver, especially for someone as naturally introverted as I am. It was as if I had dropped anchor at the bottom of my own inner ocean. No matter what comes my way, I always feel like I’m able to live in the eye of the storm, despite the hurricane all around.
In these past 40 years, I wanted to enhance my practice, so I learned the advanced TM-Sidhi® program. I wanted to share this technique with others, so I became a TM teacher. In 1981, I joined the staff for advanced TM courses for women in Switzerland. Then in 1983, I left Europe with this group to come to the United States, to the only community of thousands of practitioners of the TM and TM-Sidhi programs in the Western world—Fairfield, Iowa, the home of Maharishi University of Management (MUM).
A Fairfield quintet (l. to r.), Donna Nelson, Charles Viola, Ulrike Selleck, Tray Cal-El, and LeAnne Stafford Edgeton
I’ve lived here in Fairfield now for over 35 years. I’ve attended and graduated from Maharishi International University, now MUM. I’ve taught my son Girindra the TM technique and raised him with the help of the wonderful teachers and staff at Maharishi School.
I also became an opera singer and an author. I now teach the healing power of our voice individually, online, in workshops, and on stage.
I like to inspire my students and clients to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique, and I also encourage the guests at The Raj Ayurvedic Wellness Center to learn TM along with their rejuvenating treatments. The glowing radiance on their faces when they’ve started to meditate always reminds me of my own first experience of TM.
I feel so very grateful to be able to practice TM and the TM-Sidhi programs twice a day at home, or even better, in the beautiful Golden Domes here that were built for large group meditation practice. Meditating in a large group gives me a chance to refresh and recharge, while also helping contribute to creating a more peaceful environment.
I feel like I’ve come home in more ways than one.
Ulrike and her son Girindra Selleck, who is attending law school now
Ulrike Selleck is a healing voice expert and author of Sing Yourself Well in 7 Seconds. She lives in Fairfield, Iowa.
So nice to hear from a fellow meditator! Thank you, Lee for your kind words. Yes, so true. The more of us meditate, the sooner collective consciousness rises, and world peace is within reach. Sounds far-fetched, yet this approach of enlivening our common Source is so natural, as you and millions of others who practice TM have found in their own lives.
Practitioner here on the West Coast of the United States. The story is heartfelt and if only more would put their reservations aside and give it a try as the author was willing to do (at an age where many university students have rigid beliefs about politics etc.), we might be on the path to a better world. Instructive is the credit she gives, that much of her fine accomplishments are in part due to a steady practice.
I am one of her “in person” singing students. I was close to being considered tone-deaf, and now sometimes I sing with the most glorious voice. I’m still developing that voice to be consistent. It is amazing how she teaches me to sing from Wholeness. With just one comment, suddenly my voice shifts and it is as if the entire universe is singing through me.
Maybe she should call what she teaches “Singing From Wholeness”. It is amazing.
Oh my Goodness. Thank you Steven for your appreciation. It means a lot. Yes, we are so lucky to be steeped in that wholeness through TM! Everything seems to be better with it. And now expressing that wholeness through the healing frequencies of our voice for our own well-being is so fulfilling. It makes me happy to read your experience. Thank you.
Ulrike is a world-class teacher. Through her professional programs and personal coaching she has helped so many discover the healing power of the human voice. I consider it a blessing that she is a fellow resident of Fairfield, IA.
Thank you Stan, you are so kind. I feel so very blessed to have met you and all the enlightened beings in this wonderful community of ours. Much Love and appreciation for you so generously sharing your light.
Love to take your workshop as an actor, singer voice is key.
Yes! Our voice is key. We’re all actors on the stage of life and deserve to play more roles than just the one. For that, the inward stroke of meditation is so necessary in order to find our center, and our joy. Then, with the outward stroke we express that infinity with our voice — the world’s oldest instrument.