by (Chopra): For thousands of years, people have used meditation to experience inner quiet and expanded awareness…
As an ever-growing body of scientific data shows, meditation has the power to heal our body, calm our mind, and even rewire our brain for greater happiness, creativity, and love.
During the past five decades, Deepak Chopra has taught countless people throughout the world how to meditate, while maintaining his own daily practice. He once told a reporter, “If you were to ask me what the single most important event in my life has been, I would have to tell you it was learning this technique of meditation.” In almost all of the ninety-plus books he has written on health and wellbeing, he describes the many benefits of meditation and offers instruction in a variety of mindful awareness techniques.
When Deepak first began writing about mind-body health and meditation, he was invited to appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show to talk about his new book, Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. The year was 1993, a time when the mind-body connection and holistic healing approaches were largely rejected by the scientific community. Oprah’s audience was deeply engaged by the interview, however, and bought more than 100,000 copies of his book that day – helping to launch him on his path as a best-selling author and world-renowned authority in integrative medicine.
Almost thirty years after that pivotal interview, Deepak and Oprah have continued to teach and inspire. Both share a deep desire to help people transform their lives, move beyond limiting beliefs, and experience greater happiness and fulfillment. Through Oprah’s Angel Network, the Leadership Academy for Girls, and numerous other philanthropic efforts, Oprah is fulfilling her mission to empower and encourage women, children, and families by furthering education and opening opportunities for communities around the world. Through his work at Chopra Global and the Chopra Foundation, Deepak is committed to transforming the world from the inside out.
“If we want to create a more peaceful, just, sustainable, and happier world, it begins with each of us choosing to heal and transform ourselves,” Deepak said. “The key, as Mahatma Gandhi taught, is to become the change we wish to see in the world. We need to create a critical mass, and it is my personal mission to influence 100 million people to be the change they wish to see, by inspiring them and sharing tools for personal transformation.”
One of the most powerful tools for transformation is meditation. For eight years, Chopra Global and OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network have joined forces to offer 21-Day Meditation Experience programs.
“Meditation is a simple yet profound practice that helps the body release accumulated stress and return to its natural state of balance and health. Those who join us for the 21-Day Meditation Challenge will be guided to develop a daily practice that allows us to respond to potentially stressful situations or encounters from a place of calm, centered awareness. Instead of reacting in a knee-jerk way that only increases the stress in our lives and disharmony in the world, we’re able to tap into our infinite potential for compassion, creativity, insight, and gratitude,” Deepak said.
“If I only had one gift to offer you, it would be STILLNESS. . . . What I know for sure: Being STILL at least once a day will enhance your life. It’s your recharge, your breathing space, your chance to reconnect with you,” Oprah said. “I promise you’ll feel better just making the commitment. If meditation is new to you, Deepak’s gentle guidance and wisdom make this a perfect way to begin. If you stick with it, you’ll notice the subtle and powerful change.”
