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''TM saved my life'' - Afghanistan war veteran who suffered from PTSD
by Mario Orsatti

www.TM.org/blog and Operation Warrior Wellness    Translate This Article
2 August 2012




The article below was written by Mark Newman and published in the Ottumwa Courier in southeast Iowa, USA, on July 30, 2012.

[Highlights of the article follow:]

FAIRFIELD, IOWA Military police sergeants, civilian police officers and SWAT team members are all supposed to be tough. Luke Jensen was all three, so when the stress of combat began eating away at him, he felt so ashamed, he wanted to die.

Meditation helped correct that desire—and he believes it could help other soldiers and veterans.

Jensen was asked by Operation Warrior Wellness to speak about his experiences with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during a presentation Saturday [July 28] on PTSD, the military and the advantages of Transcendental Meditation.

''The medical [tents] in Afghanistan were for 10th Mountain Division soldiers who'd been wounded in combat,'' said the Nevada, Iowa man.


How could he possibly walk into that tent and tell a medic that he was sad? . . . the things he saw around him were worse than he felt he could handle.

He couldn't sleep, he was having panic attacks and in addition to worrying about himself, the staff sergeant had his men to lead.

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''I thought I was tough,'' he said.

But in a combat zone, his world was out of control. . . .

Dr. Fred Travis, a psychologist in Fairfield, said PTSD produces an injury as real as any wound. Travis is the director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management. . . .

''Jerry Yellin saved my life,'' Jensen said. Yellin was a World War II fighter pilot who went undiagnosed with PTSD for 30 years. Transcendental Meditation was what helped him find relaxation and peace. When he heard about the young soldier, he called him.

Yellin got support from the David Lynch Foundation in order to provide a sort of ''scholarship'' for Staff Sgt. Jensen and his wife to learn TM. . . .


In a video about their situation, Jensen's wife said TM saved her husband's life. Yellin wants more soldiers to have that opportunity, and is working with the David Lynch Foundation as co-chair of Operation Warrior Wellness. . . .

Presenters said practitioners of meditation are also better able to separate the quiet of inner peace from traumatic situations in the outside world. The military is starting to take notice, as is the Veterans Administration. . . .

For more information, visit www.operationwarriorwellness.org.

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Click here to read the full Courier article, including an in-depth explanation from Dr. Travis about the effects of PTSD on the brain and how Transcendental Meditation allows the brain to circumvent the damaged areas and become more resilient to stress.

You can watch Luke Jensen talking with NBC Channel 13 News in Des Moines Iowa about his experience with PTSD and the TM technique by clicking on the video below:



© Copyright 2012 Maharishi Foundation USA

Related posts:

1. Veterans Show a 50% Reduction in PTSD Symptoms After 8 Weeks of Transcendental Meditation
2. Launching ''Operation Warrior Wellness'' — VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS Bringing TM to Veterans suffering from PTSD
3. TM Helps Women Vets Overcome the Stress of Military Life
4. TM—Helping African War Refugees Overcome PTSD
5. WWII veteran writes book about overcoming PTSD through Transcendental Meditation



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