Most beginner’s guides to meditation start the same way: focus on your breathing, count your breaths, try to quiet your thoughts. For many people, that’s exactly why they can’t get used to it—maintaining concentration is a skill in itself, and just as difficult as the peace of mind you’re actually seeking. Transcendental Meditation (TM) works differently from the very first session: no breathing exercises, no effort to concentrate. This guide shows what that looks like in practice.
Almost every beginner’s guide recommends the same formula: focus on your breath, observe your thoughts, try to quiet the mind. That’s a concentration-based approach—and it requires active effort, precisely at the moment when you’re trying to find peace. TM deliberately takes a different approach: there’s no breath to focus on and no thought to push away.
In TM, you use a mantra, personally assigned to you by a certified teacher. You don’t actively “do” anything with it—you don’t consciously repeat it or concentrate on it. The mantra simply gives the mind something to move toward effortlessly, allowing thoughts to settle on their own rather than requiring you to actively stop or direct them.
TM isn’t learned from a book or app, but is taught in person by a certified teacher over the course of four days. On the first day, during a one-on-one session, you’ll receive your own mantra and learn to apply the technique right away. The following days consist of shorter group sessions of about an hour and a half, during which the teacher checks in on your experience and further refines the technique.
There is no “right” or “wrong” session to aim for. Some sessions feel deeper or calmer than others, and that’s normal—the effect builds up over several weeks, not necessarily within a single session. Since there’s nothing to force, there’s also nothing to do wrong: that’s the biggest difference from concentration-based techniques, where doubt about “am I doing this right?” is often the biggest hurdle for beginners.
The first step is a free, no-obligation introductory session (about one to one and a half hours), held weekly at one of the 20 TM centers in the Netherlands. Afterward, you decide for yourself whether you want to start the course. The cost ranges from €245 to €895, depending on your situation (high school and college students: €245–345), and includes personal instruction and free lifetime guidance.
See also: 9 reasons why meditation doesn’t feel relaxing for beginners → · More about how the TM course works → · Book a free introductory lecture →