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Back in the turbulent late 1960s our guest Bob Hougher was a young man looking to test his personal mettle, so instead of going to university on a football scholarship, he signed up for the Marine Corps and shipped off to Vietnam. He found himself in an infantry company stationed in the Khe Sahn area where he managed for a time to avoid getting killed or wounded; then in late 1970 with only thirty days left before going home, he was hit. He recovered after a short time, though he still suffers to this day from the effects of the injury. Back home in the United States he was having difficulty finding direction in his life—he took to riding a big motorcycle like a character from the movie Easy Rider; he had trouble holding a job; by his own account he wonders if he would have lived past thirty. He recognizes now that he was suffering from the devastating effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is something he still grapples with now. Then Bob discovered Transcendental Meditation and things started to change, slowly at first but it was very clear that he was on the right track. Bob still has a lot of mental and physical pain to manage, but TM has given him the tools to deal with it and take his life back. Since taking up TM he was able to start a successful business, he started coaching baseball, and he also began sharing his experiences with other vets coping with similar problems through his involvement with the non-profit organization, Meditation for Warrior Wellness. Bob’s story is fascinating and at times emotional, and we are deeply appreciative of his taking some time to share it with us.
We live in troubling times. From pandemic to politics it seems we are perpetually confronting physical illness and high levels of emotional stress, anxiety, and depression. The End Anxiety Podcast with James Meade offers a lasting—and often immediate—solution in the practice of the Transcendental Meditation® program, as taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Studies of the effects of Transcendental Meditation® on the mental states of its practitioners have been ongoing for over fifty years, and the findings are conclusive—Transcendental Meditation can have a real and powerful positive impact on our mental health, especially in terms of mitigating anxiety, stress, and depression.