There are people well-known for meditating– Deepak Chopra, Oprah Winfrey and the Dalai Lama who all have taken on the mission to bring meditation out into greater awareness. Some celebrities have even been trained to be meditation teachers including John Lennon, George Harrison and Russell Brand. With that, there may definitely be some surprises in the list below naming a few of the famous that have found sanctuary in regular meditation practice.
1) Jerry Seinfeld, Comedian
“With ‘Seinfeld,’ I was doing a TV series in which I was the star of the show, the executive producer of the show, the head writer, in charge of casting and editing, for 24 episodes on network television – not cable – for nine years! And I’m just a normal guy. And that was not a normal situation to be in… So I meditated every day. And that’s how I survived the nine years.”
2) Hugh Jackman, Actor
“In meditation, I can let go of everything. I’m not Hugh Jackman. I’m not dad. I’m not a husband. I’m just dipping into that powerful source that creates everything. I take a little bath in it.”
3) Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple
“If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things – that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It’s a discipline; you have to practice it.”
4) Sheryl Crow, Singer/Songwriter
“I started meditating because I felt like I needed stop my life from running me. So meditation for me helped slow my day down.”
5) Russell Brand, Comedian
“I’m quite an erratic thinker, quite an adrenalized person. But after meditation, I feel this beautiful serenity and selfless connection. My tendency towards selfishness—I felt that exposed as a superficial and pointless perspective to have.”
6) Howard Stern, Radio Talk Show Host
Started meditating when he was 18 years old.
7) Ellen DeGeneres, Comedian
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8) Martin Scorsese, Film Director
“For the last few years, I’ve been practicing meditation. It’s difficult to describe the effect it has had on my life. I can only mention maybe a few words: calm, clarity, a balance, and at times – a recognition. It’s made a difference.”
9) Lena Dunham, Television Director, Actor, Screenwriter
“[Meditation] has made it possible for me to weather certain challenges and storms and public moments that I didn’t ever imagine would be in my life. It gathers me up for the day and makes me feel organized and happy and capable of facing the challenges of the world, both internal and external.”
10) Russell Simmons, Entrepreneur, CEO of Def Jam Records
Wrote the book Success Through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple.
11) Rick Rubin, Music Producer (U2, Green Day, Neil Diamond,…)
“Now that I’m in a ’meditation cycle,’ it feels good… Let’s listen to silence. The more you understand silence, that’s where the balance comes.”
12) Katy Perry, Singer
I start the day with Transcendental Meditation. It puts me in the best mood. I wake up and just prop myself up in bed for 20 minutes. It’s the only time my mind gets absolute rest.
13) David Lynch, Television and Film Director (Twin Peaks)
“I became interested in meditation because I heard a phrase, ‘True happiness is not out there. True happiness lies within.’ And this phrase had a ring of truth to me, but the phrase doesn’t tell you where the within is, nor how to get there. One day it hit me that meditation would be the way to go within.”
