TM and introducing people to meditation

In the past I have used breath samadhi meditation to introduce meditation practice. I am reconsidering that now. I might be soon teaching meditation to an armed forces veterans group with PTSD. I remember when I learned TM meditation with a mantra many years ago how easy it was for myself and the 40 or so people in the room. I also remember how more difficult it was to learn how to do breath meditation later. Do you think mantra meditation is easier, harder or the same for new people to learn?

I would be introducing metta and 4 Foundations Noting in later sessions.

I remember TM as very easy to learn and practice (some 25 years ago...).
Opposed to breath meditation that was frustrating in the beginning (6 years ago).

TM in my experience is excellent as stress relief, and I have used it as such now and then over the years. (After my 2 years or so of daily practice.)
It is also quite easy to get into formless "realms" with regular practice, but I do not think there is much room for vipassana in TM.

I also think the transition from concentration only to noting can be less natural with TM than going from breathing to noting.

I think using words can help people a lot in the very early stages when they have a terrible time trying to pay attention to the present moment. It can be a phrase, word, counting to ten, or even using words relating to the movement of the breath: iiinnnnn...pause...ooooutttt....pause...

It keeps the chattering mind busy and keeps the attention present.You can teach them to use the words in relation to the breath. For instance saying the mantra on each out breath. Or say the one, two, three, etc slowly with each exhalation. Then they can transition to just watching the breath silently once they are more stabilized, returning to using the word(s) if they become distracted.

+1 on Ona.
A mantra helps breathing meditation a lot and is a good tool to learn to use.

But, TM is something different really and is harder to mix with other techniques. So there is still a choice between them.

Hi folks,

TM was the first formal practice that I learned, many years ago now. At the time, I did it like clockwork, and had some awesome experiences, including what may have been SE, but I didn't understand this at the time.

A mostly practiceless gap followed, for many years.

Then a few years ago, I decided to get back to practice, and make sense of things. I did a bit of TM, but based on a bunch of reading I did, I switched to mindfulness of breathing, but was kind of distressed at how little happened anymore...? I couldn't figure out why I was making so little progress, compared to years earlier.

I've since added noting practice to the mix, and progress began again, though not as rapidly as it had seemed in the beginning.

All this to say that I while agree with the above point about TM vs. breathing, I can't explain it <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_sad.gif" alt="" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( -->

P