Nurses from hospitals around the country discuss the impact of learning and practicing the TM technique during the COVID pandemic. They talk about the vital role daily TM practice has played for those on the front lines of this extended healthcare crisis.

Amy Ruff, R.N., B.S.N., is National Director of Transcendental Meditation (TM) for Nurses, and Education Director of TM for Women. She began her professional nursing career in 1972 and has worked in ICU, Cardiac ICU, Home Care, and as a Wound and Ostomy specialist. She learned the TM technique in 1973 and became a Certified TM Teacher in 1990. Currently, she coordinates the teaching of the TM program to nurses across the country, including implementing the first published research on nurses practicing the TM technique.

Lauren Wooden, R.N., B.S.N., graduated with an associate’s degree in nursing from Northern Virginia Community College in 1993 and earned her bachelor of science in nursing from Chamberlain University in 2020. She worked as an oncology medical nurse for 10 years, and, for the last 18 years, has worked as a nurse in hospice care. As a hospice clinical supervisor, she oversees nurses, certified nursing assistants, social workers, and chaplains. She also supports patients and families and ensures continuity of care between all of the caring disciplines.

Lenka Anderson, A.P.R.N., is originally from the Czech Republic and has been working in the medical field since the age of 20. Currently, she works as an Advanced Practice nurse on a kidney transplant team. She says, “I absolutely love my job and my patients!” She has always been interested in the holistic approach to healthcare and self-care and had tried numerous methods of meditation prior to learning the TM technique.

Julie Yanitor, R.N., B.S.N., graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California, in 1983. She has spent the majority of her nursing career at Scripps Memorial Hospital, La Jolla, California, first in Critical Care, and for the past 26 years, working in the Emergency Department. She learned the TM technique in 2014 and, ever since, has been a leading supporter of the teaching of the TM program to nurses at her hospital.

Jen Bonamer, Ph.D., R.N.-B.C., A.H.N.-B.C., N.P.D.-B.C., is Nursing Professional Development and Research Specialist at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System in Florida. She was a pediatric hematology/oncology nurse after graduating from the University of Florida, Gainesville. She then earned her MS, with a focus in nursing education, and her PhD in nursing at the University of South Florida, Tampa.

Nurses from hospitals around the country discuss the impact of learning and practicing the TM technique during the COVID pandemic. They talk about the vital role daily TM practice has played for those on the front lines of this extended healthcare crisis.

Mario Orsatti, the host of TM Talks and Senior Teacher of the Center for Health and Wellness, a division of the David Lynch Foundation, interviewed this dynamic panel of healthcare professionals on February 27, 2022.

Watch the discussion with frontline health professionals (51:51)


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