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September 1998
Take
a Weekend for Yourself
by
Jim Karpen
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You'd think that Adriane Bradley would have better sense than to be
planning a vacation. She's a single parent of two teenaged boys, the
proprietor of a highly successful business in St. Charles, Missouri, and on the verge of her busiest season of the year. Yet she’s planning to head to Fairfield, Iowa, for a short vacation.
But it’s not just any vacation she has in mind. She’s planning to attend a Residence Course on the campus of Maharishi University of Management. That course will entail deep rest—just what she needs to recharge her batteries and plunge into her busy season.
"When things are the most demanding, it’s the most important time to go," she says of her intention to attend the Residence Course. She finds that the clarity and freshness, and the feeling of deeper solitude gained during the course prepare her to deal with her business, which is "expanding phenomenally."
She began meditating in the 1970s, and later when the children arrived, she found that there wasn’t much time for rest. As a single mom starting a new business, she faced many formidable tasks. One day a couple that practiced the Transcendental Meditation technique suggested that she take a Residence Course. She hadn’t known that such an opportunity existed and decided to go for it, even though it was the worst possible time. Even in the midst of family and business challenges, she decided not to let anything stop her. Adriane attended her first course in 1995, and things have never been the same since.
"My first course was life-changing for me," she says. "Something just shifted. I felt a tremendous surge of energy and clarity. After that course, things went much better and the challenges were much easier to deal with. I wasn’t as easily ruffled." She found that she was experiencing serenity and that it was time to make life choices to support that serenity.
If you’ve never been to a Residence Course, think of it as a very satisfying structured rest. Participants get plenty of sleep, eat regular meals, and spend extra time practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique. They also view videotapes of Maharishi and have the opportunity to ask questions about their experience of meditation and its benefits. For those who practice the TM-Sidhi program, there are similar courses called World Peace Assemblies.
Courses are offered locally in many cities, and also at facilities such as The Maharishi Spiritual Center of America in North Carolina, Maharishi University of Management in Iowa, Cobb Mountain in California, and Antrim, New Hampshire. Adriane has attended courses near her home in St. Charles, Missouri, but also occasionally goes to Fairfield for a course.
Since her first course, Adriane has tried to attend a Residence Course every three months. "I’m a firm believer in the benefits of going to Residence Courses regularly," she says. "They have definitely and profoundly improved the quality of my life. And like with regular meditation, the benefits add up. They just keep growing."
For more information on Residence Courses in your area call
1-888-532-7686.
Jim Karpen, Ph.D. is director of the Masters in Professional Writing program at Maharishi University of Management. Adriane Bradley is the owner of "The Pampered Chef."
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