Meditation gets cool and sexy makeover aimed at youth

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Max Simon is a man with a mission -- to give the ancient art of meditation a cool, sexy makeover that will appeal to young people who have never heard of Maharishi Yogi.

Forty years after Western baby boomers started dabbling in yoga and Indian transcendental practices, Simon, 25, is ditching some of the traditions in a bid to encourage 1 million young people to connect with their inner selves.

"Almost everything that is out there in the consciousness-based meditation community doesn't necessarily vibe with my generation," said Simon, a former yoga and meditation teacher at The Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Southern California.

"We are taking away all the stuff that appears weird or that scares people away. And we are adding in stuff that my generation thinks is cool, like fashion and music and entertainment," Simon told Reuters.

Out goes the focus on healing, chanting and traditional hand mudras (gestures). In comes dancing, chocolate and meditation in noisy places like the Hollywood street outside the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Meditation and yoga have boomed in the West since first gaining attention in the 1960s through India's Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his association with The Beatles. Numerous studies have shown meditation to be effective in lowering blood pressure and easing depression.

Bob Rose, president of the Meditation Society of America, said it's impossible to quantify the numbers. But he said, "Tens of millions of people meditate in the United States and half the world meditates religiously on a daily basis."

'AUTHENTICITY IS SEXY'