About Us
Background
The David Lynch Foundation started when it became clear that special efforts would be needed to bring the benefits of Transcendental Meditation® (TM®) to those who need it most - at-risk and disadvantaged populations who suffer from extreme levels of toxic stress and trauma. In 2005 DLF was founded in the USA to focus on this mission. In July 2017, a chapter of DLF for the three countries in the Caucasus region (Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan) was established: The David Lynch Foundation Caucasus, with Giga Agladze as its Director.
DLF began with a mission of reducing the epidemic of trauma and toxic stress within at-risk populations through the implementation of the evidence-based Transcendental Meditation technique. With both national and international programs, DLF focuses our work on underserved middle and high school students, veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress (PTS), and women and children survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Our work also extends to people living with HIV/AIDS, the homeless, individuals in recovery from substance use disorders, and the incarcerated.
The Foundation’s work started small. David Lynch, who has actively practiced TM for over four decades, would travel the country speaking at film schools, and bringing the idea of the TM technique with him. The organization began to grow significantly in 2009, when DLF put on a large benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City featuring devotees of the TM technique, including Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sheryl Crow, and Eddie Vedder. It was here that our true mission and values came into view: DLF is a survival charity, and the benefits of TM for toxic stress, anxiety, depression, and other symptoms are life-saving for so many.
Since then, DLF’s work has grown and expanded throughout the world. Today, in addition to our program work, we organize and host scientific and professional conferences each year on such topics as business, education, veterans, corrections, brain science, and rehabilitation in relation to the TM technique. DLF works at the government and institutional level to educate both leaders and the general public on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation and our work (a growing and important area leading to the opening of an office in Washington, D.C. in late 2016).
We raise funding for programs as well as for research on our programs and on the impact of TM overall. This research has been conducted at many leading institutions, including the Department of Defense and Harvard Medical School and has received the endorsement of private foundations and government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, the Chrysler Foundation, the General Motors Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, the American Indian Education Association, and Indian Health Services, as well as numerous school districts and state Departments of Corrections.
