By Helen Hamilton
What do a business executive with high blood pressure, an anxious mother, a boy with ADHD, a college student with an alcohol problem, an easily upset office worker, an Iraq war vet suffering from PTSD and a prisoner all have in common? They have all experienced life changing results by practicing the effortless, stress-reducing meditation technique known as the Transcendental Meditation® program.
In the last 50 or so years since Maharishi Mahesh Yogi brought the ancient Vedic technique to the west, over 5 million people have been taught this easy to learn, simple technique which is practiced 15 to 20 minutes twice a day, sitting comfortably with the eyes closed.
People who have learned the TM® program have experienced how the mind settles down effortlessly to experience the simplest form of awareness, transcendental consciousness, a fourth state of consciousness, which is beyond thought, or the unified field. They have experienced this most silent and peaceful level of consciousness — their innermost Self. It is in this state of restful alertness, that their brain functions with significantly greater coherence and their body gains deep rest.
The deep rest experienced during the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique is what allows the body to naturally dissolve stress and strain. It is a common occurrence for meditators to feel less stressed and to notice that they deal more calmly with tense situations. When stress is reduced in the nervous system during meditation, benefits like better sleep and clearer thinking also naturally develop. Over 600 research studies have verified that the daily practice of the TM technique produces a wide range of positive effects on a person’s mind, body, and behavior.
For example: as reported in Forbes magazine (3/4/05), “Transcendental Meditation (TM) may help blood vessels relax as it relaxes the mind, reducing heart disease risks along the way. That’s the main finding of an eight-month study involving 111 black teens on the threshold of becoming hypertensive adults. Researchers report that just two 15-minute TM sessions per day were enough to trigger an average 21 percent increase in the ability of the teens’ blood vessels to dilate. In contrast, black teens who did not meditate experienced an average 4 percent decrease in blood vessel dilation over the study period.”
The LA Times (1/6/09) wrote that, “A small pilot study published in the journal Current Issues in Education suggests that for children diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, the twice‐daily practice of Transcendental Meditation in school improves attention and reduces stress, anxiety and impulsive behavior [by over 50 percent]. And unlike other forms of meditation, which require levels of concentration that are difficult for most with ADHD, the students in the Washington, D.C.‐area study were able to learn, master and practice Transcendental Meditation easily, said the study’s lead author.”
Another study reported in American Journal of Cardiology (5/1/05), followed 202 people (average age 72) for up to 18 years after they participated in two studies that had randomly assigned them to practice TM or other relaxation methods intended to reduce stress and lower their high blood pressure. In each study, an additional group was given standard health education information. The TM group recorded about 30 percent fewer deaths from cardiovascular disease and 23 percent fewer deaths overall than did the health education group.
A study which showed increased coherence and peace throughout society was first reported in 1976, which found that when 1% of a community practiced the Transcendental Meditation program, the crime rate dropped by an average of 16%. This phenomenon was named the “Maharishi Effect” in honor of Maharishi, who first predicted it in 1960. This term now includes the influence generated by group practice of the TM-Sidhi program, through which even the square root of 1% of a community is sufficient to create measurable changes in social trends.
The unique effectiveness of this approach in preventing social violence, terrorism, and war has been confirmed by more than 50 demonstrations and 23 scientific studies. The reduction of violence and war through group practice of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program is the most extensively researched and thoroughly established phenomenon in the history of the social sciences.
Thanks to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who began as a reclusive monk, the effects of this one simple, effortless technique can affect so many areas of life—body, mind behavior and the environment.
The movement to teach TM began so very innocently in the 1950’s after Maharishi’s teacher, Guru Dev had passed on, but the effects are immeasurable.
Helen Hamilton is the Director of the Maharishi Invincibility Center in Summit, NJ.