I found Transcendental Meditation (or TM) fairly recently.

I had wanted to learn it for quite sometime, but taking time for myself wasn’t something I really knew how to do.

I’m 24. That sounds young, I know, but I have a lifetime of experiences that started to become a weight on my shoulders, as I have a tendency to hold onto feelings. I wanted to find a way of centering myself, of checking back in with my body and my mind.

I finally contacted Bob Roth at the David Lynch Foundation. He connected me to a wonderful woman, Rachel Katz, who guided me through meditation and gave me my mantra. It was such a beautiful experience; I felt energized and clearheaded after just a few meditations.

Admittedly, there were meditation sessions that were harder to get through and there will be in the future too, but I quickly learned that those are the times I need meditation the most. Thoughts and images pass through my mind, while I meditate, that show me emotions I am not allowing myself to feel. Working through those with meditation helps me to focus during the rest of the day and into the evening. I think that avoiding these feelings is destructive behavior with which we all struggle, but it’s hard to know how to deal with them all. For me, TM is a reprieve from a world of distraction and has become a state that my mind automatically wants to enter.

When I was introduced to Live The Process and their collaboration to support The David Lynch Foundation, it just made sense to get involved. TM has helped me stay clear and centered in the everyday chaos that is my life and has absolutely transformed the way I live. With that reward comes a sense of responsibility to help show the world what TM has to offer.

My brother is an Iraqi war veteran, so seeing the foundation’s work with veterans dealing with PTSD is incredibly uplifting. It’s an issue that is very close to my heart and one that isn’t really addressed in this country. Along those same lines, The Foundation is also helping to bring meditation into schools, prisons, homeless shelters and to anyone else who is open to learning about it.

Live The Process has created a beautiful line of workout wear inspired by Transcendental Meditation, and part of the proceeds go to helping The Foundation reach a larger number of people. I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of a project that brings such beauty and light into peoples lives.

--Alyssa Miller.  Alyssa Miller is an American fashion model represented by IMG, Nous Model Management and Monster Management internationally. Born in Santa Clarita, California, she now lives in New York. She takes care of herself by running and practicing ballet, and believes that happiness is the surest path to true beauty.