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WebMD: How to Improve Your Physical and Mental Health Naturally

The world's leading medical website explores the considerable body of research on the health benefits of Transcendental Meditation.

WebMD - the Magazine, October 2011

Marisa McGinnis is one of many individuals whose life and health have been transformed by Transcendental Meditation (TM), reports Web MD, the award-winning website for medical and health information.

Two years ago, Marisa, a 63-year-old lawyer, suffered every parent's worst nightmare. Her 14-year-old son took his own life. She turned to Transcendental Meditation to help her cope with her grief and pain. She found a teacher in her hometown in California, and began practising. "It was life-changing," she says.

McGinnis credits TM not only for improving her health but also for motivating her to launch a poetry web site, which helped her move forward. "There are an indescribable number of benefits of being in the present," she says.

Web MD draws on the the findings of 300 peer-reviewed articles, to explore the effects of Transcendental Meditation:

Research shows, for example, enhanced brain activity during Transcendental Meditation, such as increased alpha brain waves, which are linked with rest and reflection. TM increases brain wave coherence too, meaning different parts of the brain work in better harmony.

This – observes Norman E Rosenthal, MD, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, DC, in an interview with WebMD – can lead to greater focus and competence in general: “In seasoned meditators, this coordinated response spills over into other parts of the day."

Meditators

These TM-linked brain changes help interrupt the body’s stress response, helpful for people with problems ranging from anxiety to high blood pressure (HBP) and heart disease. A study of 60 African-Americans with HBP even showed a link between TM and reduced atherosclerosis.

Dr Rosenthal, who is the author of Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation, recently completed a small study of TM’s effects on veterans with combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“Before our research was over, three of our clinicians had gotten Transcendental Meditation training,” Rosenthal told Web MD. “That’s how impressed they were with what they saw.”

"So what is Transcendental Meditation?"

"TM is one meditation technique among many," replies Rosenthal. "It has you silently and effortlessly recite a mantra, a soothing sound without meaning. As a result, muscles unwind, breathing slows, and the pituitary gland releases prolactin, a hormone thought to have a calming effect."

Research also shows enhanced brain activity during Transcendental Meditation, such as increased alpha brain waves, which are linked with rest and reflection. TM increases brain wave coherence too, meaning different parts of the brain work in better harmony. That can lead to greater focus and competence. “In seasoned meditators, this coordinated response spills over into other parts of the day,” Rosenthal says.

Want to give it a try? Dr Norman E Rosenthal offers some tips:

"Learn from an expert. Transcendental Meditation proponents suggest a customized approach to allow for feedback and ensure you’re using the technique correctly. Instruction is a series of seven steps, with teachers providing ongoing mentoring as needed.

"Go easy. With TM, there’s no need to either focus on thoughts or push them away. Simply use the mantra as the means to settle your mind.

“Stick with it," Rosenthal says. "Give yourself a few months of twice-daily meditation for it to become a habit. As with any practice, it’s a skill you need to acquire,” Rosenthal says. “It took me a month or two."

“Be careful. TM should not be used as a replacement for needed health care. Be sure to ask about the training and experience of a teacher, and determine whether TM has been researched for any health issues you need to address.”

Read the full article at WebMD

 

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