Interviewer Dylan Ratiga f you work, you know this is true. We are all doing more with less. We see it in the productivity numbers, the unemployment figures, the jobless recovery as it were, the American worker stretched thinner than ever. And what’s being done to ease some of this work place stress? From the lowest corporate ranks to the highest executive echelons, action has been taken and is being taken from encouraging employee meditation to hiring coaches for top executive bosses all in the name of maintaining sanity. Tonight we begin with Arjuna Martlin, who is a successful day trader from Chicago, who is an ardent practitioner of Transcendental Meditation; Gary Kaplan, Director of Clinical Neurophysiology at the North Shore Hospital in NY… He started practicing TM in the 70s and has studied the effects of TM on hypertension and hardening of the arteries. He says it works for both ailments; Phil Roosevelt, the Assistant Editing Manager of Barrons magazine, where the article on stress and meditation appears this weekend; And of course Becky Quick. I will start with you, Arjuna. As the trader in the room, tell us both how you meditate and how the meditation makes you better at what you do. Arjuna Martli practice Transcendental Meditation twice a day and I would say the number one benefit of TM is really just peace of mind. With the volatility of the markets and the intensity of the profession it’s just nice to have that deep rest both morning and afternoon. Secondly, I think the main benefit as a trader is to have a more focused and clear mind. In that way you are better able to asses and take advantage of the opportunities in the market. So it’s very good for focus. Interviewer Becky Quic hil, when we heard that this was going to be in “Barrons,” we realized this must be a trend that‘s taking place because Barrons very infrequently writes about things like this. So what’s going on out there? What’s happening? Phil Roosevel ou’re right, people are stressed out; they are stressed out about a lot of things. One sign of that is that a hundred million Americans have trouble falling asleep at night. When we looked at that, we were wondering what are people doing to try to feel better, get more focused on what counts in their lives. We found a Harvard Medical school study that showed that about 20% of Americans have turned to what are known as mind-body therapies generally, which could be yoga, meditation, visualization, hypnosis, things like that. Meditation right now heads the list of all of them. It’s even more popular than yoga, which has swept all health clubs and all the spas. People are meditating, but you don’t see it because they do it privately. So it’s not as out there as other trends. Our writer Robin Blumenthal found that it seemed especially suited to traders and that’s why we got interested in it. Interviewer Dylan Ratiga nderstood, I want to get to you, Dr. Kaplan. You say that there are also medical benefits. Dr. Gary Kapla here are plenty of medical benefits. It’s really rather exciting. I think many physicians are excited about the benefits particularly in the field of hypertension. Blood pressures are lower and we know it’s a major risk factor for heart disease and for stroke, so we are all rather excited about it. Interviewer Dylan Ratiga s it better or does it matter if one meditates alone or with a group? Dr Gary Kapla ell it’s great to meditate twice a day regularly and most people do that alone, but the effect on the environment and the effect on the individual is even better meditating in a group, so there are larger groups practicing the TM technique in different areas around the country. This is a technique that’s really for anyone in business, out of business. Just twice a day taking the time to perform the TM technique is really worthwhile for one’s health. Interviewer Dylan Ratiga honestly could not agree with you more. Interviewer Becky Quic might take it up myself.