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George Stephanopoulos talks benefits of meditation at The Third Metric women's conference

The Huffington Post Translate This Article
30 June 2013

George Stephanopoulos, the acclaimed American television journalist who is anchor of the ABC network's 'Good Morning America' and 'This Week' shows, described the benefits of meditation at an important women's conference in Washington, DC, USA, earlier this month.

Mr Stephanopoulos learned Transcendental Meditation several years ago and last December highlighted* on Good Morning America its scientifically documented benefits for reducing stress and cardiovascular risk factors and improving health and resiliency.

The conference, organized by the Huffington Post, was a groundbreaking event titled 'The Third Metric: Redefining Success Beyond Money & Power'. Speakers included prominent women professionals and thought leaders representing many areas of society.

Announcing the conference the week before, Huffington Post publisher Arianna Huffington explained that it was called to address the need, especially among women, for 'a more humane and sustainable definition of success that includes well-being, wisdom, wonder, empathy, and the ability to give back'. The idea stemmed from widespread recognition of the failings of the prevailing model: 'the conventional, destructive and unsustainable definition of success [which is] bad for people and it's bad for businesses—it's bad for women and it's bad for men'.

Ms Huffington cited the high costs of rising stress levels among business managers and employees, promoted by a culture of 'working to the point of exhaustion and burnout'—not only financial costs ('an estimated $300 billion annually, according to the World Health Organization'), but also in lost productivity and poor health, including 'nearly 70 million Americans with high blood pressure'.

A number of men also participated in the conference, including Mr Stephanopoulos, who was on a panel about 'Managing a Frenetic Life'.

During an exchange with Ms Huffington, he talked about how meditation has been 'a lifesaver for me. . . . I was always overtired, always rushed, feeling a constant low-level impatience that's always ready to burst out.' Initially doubtful, he learned the technique after 'friends talked to me about it in a very scientific way, about the health benefits of meditating.' He hasn't missed a day since.

'It has made a tremendous difference,' he said. One very practical benefit is that the twice-daily practice provides 'the equivalent of a couple hours more sleep'—a welcome boost in a demanding schedule that begins at 2:30 every morning.

Beyond that, he described feeling 'more space in my life even when it's not there'—explaining how this is an especially valuable entity in his high-pressured profession: 'It's easier to tap into that quiet when you have to make a decision . . . especially during big breaking news situations, being able to be calm in pretty frenetic situations—it's easier to find that space.'

Watch a 2-minute video of George Stephanopoulos talking about the benefits of meditation during The Third Metric conference.

* Click here to watch Mr Stephanopoulos interviewing Jerry Seinfeld (practising Transcendental Meditation 40 years) and Bob Roth, executive director of the David Lynch Foundation, about Transcendental Meditation on 'Good Morning America', 13 December 2012. (Ms Huffington quoted from this interview in her extended Huffington Post blog announcing The Third Metric conference.)

For information about the Transcendental Meditation programme for women:
∙ Transcendental Meditation for Women
∙ TMwomenprofesssionals.org

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