Vedic Meditation Turned Anxiety-Ridden Ben Turshen Life Around

By Hayli Harding --
28 May 2015 --

The life of Ben Turshen, a lawyer, was riddled with anxiety through his studying years until he finally tried meditation.

When Ben Turshen was growing up, he was depressed, anxious and suffered extensively from insomnia. He managed to struggle through undergraduate, graduate and reach law school solely on the support of his family, and his incredible work ethic. However, once he was attending St. John’s University, he found that “the way he had coped before just wasn’t working.” That’s when the doctor began prescribing him medication. He took Ambien to sleep, Adderall to focus and hated the way “none of it felt natural.”

One day, he asked his doctor if there was anything else he could do about it. He was sent to a therapist, who asked him questions about his spiritual practices. The Jewish-raised boy couldn’t answer, confused by the difference between religion and spirituality. The therapist suggested meditation to help him relax and be less stressed. He tried a few times at a Buddhist meditation center in the area, but felt uncomfortable and discouraged. “I thought this is my life: medication and therapy,” he told Huffington Post.

He pushed through law school, but found that things weren’t any easier when he started working in a law firm. Instead, he realized he needed to figure out how to manage his problems. He began researching meditation, mindfulness, relaxation and techniques. However, he didn’t have much success until he discovered Vedic Mediation. Vedic meditation is thought to be over 5,000 years old. It has deep ties to ancient India, and involves a spoken mantra that can lead you to that relaxed state of consciousness. Vedic mediation has been found to benefit the body massively from lowering the blood pressure to easing insomnia and improving the immune system.

Turshen found that everything was different once he started meditating this way. It wasn’t religious, it was “a spiritual experience… you don’t have to prescribe to any type of philosophy.” The process of meditating calmed him, and he has been sleeping soundly throughout the night ever since. He experienced an improvement at work, and felt much better in all areas of his life. After a year, he was able to quit his medication and 4 years after, he no longer needed therapy. Two years down the line, he began training to be a meditation teacher, leaving his job and working as a cycling instructor. As of now, he has had his own studio open for six weeks.

While this worked efficiently for Ben Turshen, there are many people who combine Vedic meditation with medication and therapy. Many people struggle with depression, anxiety and insomnia who find that medication is the difference between survival and death.