Good News

African Refugee PTSD Relief Through Meditation

2013-04-14T09:53:00.000+02:00

The David Lynch Foundation offered Transcendental Meditation to African refugees in November 2011 to help relieve their post-traumatic stress.

"The soldiers took me and my brother with them. They dragged us away in the bush and gang raped me in front of my brother."

"It was around 7:00pm soldiers came to my house. They started to rape me. Meanwhile in the living room, they had already killed my husband. Since we came here, we've been suffering."

Bill Duke (Actor/Director, African PTSD Relief Ambassador): Even after escaping immediate danger, many continue to suffer the consequences of these horrors through post-traumatic stress disorder.

Norman Rosenthal, MD (Psychiatrist and Author): Post-traumatic stress disorder is a cluster of symptoms that occurs in a person who has been exposed to very major trauma, which may include withdrawal from other people or flashbacks, devastating recollections of the trauma itself. In their minds they're often stuck at the time of the trauma.

Monte Harris, MD (Surgeon): Transcendental Meditation is a technique you perform with your eyes closed, it's mantra-based, where there's a sound that's in your mind, that allows you to go deep inside yourself to a place where there's quiet. It's something that gives you a sense of restful alertness. And with that restful alertness there becomes a sense of rejuvenation.

Fred Travis, PhD (Brain Researcher, Co-Author, African PTSD Research Study): In our research with refugees in Uganda what we found is after 30 days the individuals in the TM group went from severe post-traumatic stress symptoms to a-symptomatic... they were free of post-traumatic stress.

"When you start meditating it's like, somehow, something is going off you. Your mind and your body relaxes. You are just in your peaceful world."

"Before, I could not even imagine myself being capable of taking care of my children, of raising them. I used to think I should die and leave them behind. That is why I am so happy about TM. It has saved me."

To contribute to the African Refugee PTSD Relief Campaign:http://bit.ly/Donate2AfricanPTSDRelief

For more information on the African Refugee PTSD Relief Campaign: http://davidlynchfoundation.org/africa

For information on how to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique please visit http://www.tm.org

Operation Warrior Wellness NYC Launch Event at the Urban Zen Center

2011-08-07T13:48:00.000+02:00

In June 2011 The David Lynch Foundation teamed up with Donna Karan's Urban Zen Foundation to launch Operation Warrior Wellness NYC - an initiative to aid veterans suffering with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder through the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique.

In this video you hear from distinguished veterans who have experienced first-hand the powerful effects of Transcendental Meditation, as well as scientific research from Dr. Norman Rosenthal and Dr. Fred Travis.

Russell Simmons, Donna Karan, and David Lynch also share the effects the TM technique had on their lives.

Operation Warrior Wellness has the goal of teaching 10,000 veterans and their families to meditate.

www.davidlynchfoundation.org

Mike Love speaks about Transcendental Meditation

2011-01-05T17:49:00.001+01:00

Beach Boys' Mike Love talks Transcendental Meditation with Vicki Broome of the Houghton TM Centre in Johannesburg in South Africa (www.tminjoburg.co.za) about TM and how it will lead to a better world by the process of evolution. Hear his advice about drug and alcohol for aspiring musicians.

Meditating students from around the world | David Lynch Foundation

2011-01-02T08:55:00.002+01:00

Filmmaker Introduces Veterans to Meditation

2010-11-26T08:00:00.000+01:00

David Lynch is looking to make the world a little quieter.

The filmmaker behind the movies "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive" is giving $100,000 to launch Operations Warrior Wellness, an initiative to help 10,000 veterans overcome Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other war-related illnesses through transcendental meditation, which he says creates "professional peacemakers."

View Full Image

drawn by Noli Novak

David Lynch

Backed by the likes of actors Clint Eastwood, directors George Lucas and Martin Scorsese, Mr. Lynch will announce the new program next month at a gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In 2005, Mr. Lynch started the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and Peace and since then has donated half a million dollars to help finance scholarships for 150,000 students who are interested in learning transcendental meditation. The foundation has also funded research at institutions such as the University of Connecticut and the University of Michigan on the health benefits of the meditation technique.

Called "Quiet Time in Schools," students and teachers meditate for 10 minutes at the beginning and end of each day. The funds pay to train educators and parents on how to administer and teach the method.

"Soon grades and attendance go up 20% to 30% and suspensions and expulsions go down," Mr. Lynch says. "Instead of giving the kids drugs like Ritalin that just numb them, we give them a technique to reduce stress and focus better."

Mr. Lynch, who is 64 years old, began meditating about 40 years ago using this method, which was introduced to the West nearly half a century ago by Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The technique is typically practiced twice a day for 20 minutes and used to eliminate stress, promote good health and gain deep relaxation.

Adapting the technique for college campuses, elementary schools, after-school clubs and hospital-wellness programs, Mr. Lynch says he has been able to improve academic performance and creativity in students. It has also been taught to men and women in homeless shelters and in prisons.

Now, Mr. Lynch wants to bring this approach to help the thousands of war veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

"These men and women have a lot of honor for what they have been through and don't want to appear weak or admit suffering," he says, pointing to high suicide rates and incidence of PTSD among veterans.

To that end, he says he wants to work through veteran associations and support groups to bring them this meditation technique.

"Clint Eastwood is about as macho as they get and he's been meditating longer than I have," he says. "We're behind this technique and we think it can help veterans reclaim their lives and save themselves, their families and their friendships."

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Transcendental Meditation boosts Hedge Fund profits

2010-10-27T16:56:00.000+02:00

Ray Dalio Is Too Modest To Admit He Returned 38% YTD Using Transcendental Meditation

Courtney Comstock

It's well known that Ray Dalio enforces extreme "Principles" on the employees of his hedge fund, Bridgewater, and that recently, one of Dalio's funds kicked everyone's ass in YTD returns, by earning a whopping 38% in one of his portfolios, a ~ $50 billion fund.

But without context, Dalio's proven 300-some Bridgewater Principles are just thoughts floating groundless in a sea of nothing.

Or at least they were, until today, when we found out this: Dalio gave $1.23 million to David Lynch's Transcendental Meditation group.

Now our questions about how Dalio earned 31% through August and 38% YTD are resolved. His mind has special powers.

Of course you know Dalio's guru, David Lynch, the guy who leads a "shockingly peaceful inner life," according to a 2006 New York Times article about Lynch's life.

Lynch's crusade to encourage young people "to quiet - and exploit - their inner demons" through Transcendental Meditation is as well-known as his belief's are abnormal. Like this belief, for example, detailed in the NYTimes article:

[Lynch believes] that a mass demonstration of “yogic flying” — a so-called “advanced technique” in which meditators, seated in the lotus position, begin hopping in unison and theoretically start to hover — can radiate peaceful energy out to the world.

Here's a brief refresher. Lynch's drug of choice, Transcendental Meditation, goes back to the ’60s (of course), when adherents said it's a natural alternative to mind-expanding drugs like LSD, says the NYTimes article.

You can view a 10-minute preview of a documentary about the practice by clicking here >

Anyway, “David [is] a huge promoter of T.M.,” says another Transcendental Meditation fan (who casually calls it, "TM").

And as part of his promotion of TM, Lynch takes donations from people in order to finance scholarships for students who can't afford the $2,500 price tag on admission to his "TM University," to study what he calls, "consciousness education."

Click here to watch Lynch explain why TMU is worth ("a lot more than!") $2,500.

The university already touts Jerry Seinfeld and Russell Simons as some of its successful graduates. Eventually Lynch wants to raise $7 billion to set up "peace universities" all over the world.

Frankly, we should have known Dalio, who it turns out, is a proud graduate who offers to pay for half of Bridgewater employees' studies (all of it if they stick with it for longer than six months, which is a third of the time full behavior modification takes), had special meditation powers based on this picture of him alone:

But we didn't.

It's doubly embarrassing considering that he doesn't exactly hide his beliefs.

(Although there is one small matter of his allowing the promotion of this, a video interview of Ray Dalio talking about TM - and then taking it down. But luckily we still have his personal testimony, which we'll show you later on. Point is, he's a devout TMer.)

Anyway, as far as what quantifying what TM has done for Dalio, let's refer back to the TM guru Dalio thinks is worth $1.23 million, David Lynch.

“If you were a burglar [and you did TM], you’d become a much better burglar,” Lynch told the NYT.

Of course now you get it. Oh that's how Dalio became a billionaire hedge fund manager (because Dalio founded and runs Bridgewater, one of the biggest hedge funds in the world) - it's just like the TM website says in its profile of Dalio - he's a "self made billionaire," he founded Bridgewater in 1975, and at some point before or after that, he got married to Barbara Gabaldoni, a loaded descendant of the Vanderbilt-Whitney family, the doubly-loaded (both the Vanderbilts and the Whitneys were from extreme wealth) family that founded the Whitney Museum. (See Barbara's resemblance to socialite and heiress Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney) But it wasn't the marriage that had anything do with his becoming a self-made billionaire.

It was TM that, as Dalio puts it, "is the single most important reason for whatever success I've had."

And through TM, we too, can easily ignore gaping contradictions like his wife's fortune. All we have to do is imagine that we're Ray Dalio, who'd still be a billionaire if his hedge fund went under, and meditate.

Here's some meaningless fluff to help lull you into not thinking for twenty minutes, Dalio's personal testimony of TM, found in a pamphlet, An Introduction To TM:

I notice a difference from the moment I start to meditate. I can be stressed or tired and I will meditate and immediately I will get very rested and relaxed and the stress will flow off me. I'll finish meditation feeling refreshed and centered, and that feeling will cary throughout the day. It's a heck of a return on an investment of twenty minutes!

Getting sleepy yet?

I want to emphasize: TM is practical. Some people may think it's exotic - that you light candles and burn incense. It's not that - and it's not some religion or dogma. It's a practical tool that makes life go better.

I started meditating over 35 years ago, and I would say TM is the single most important reason for whatever success I've had.

"Whatever success" - typical. Dalio has been incredibly modest since before he made 38% YTD.

FYI, another financier who's a TM fan is Bob Jones, the CIO of Global Investment bank, who left his video testimony online.

Top college athletes meditate for better performance

2010-08-17T09:42:00.005+02:00

The award-winning Trinity Squash team from Hartford, CT is ranked #3 in North America. In the fall of 2009, all of the young women on the Trinity Squash team—as well as their coaches—learned the Transcendental Meditation Technique to improve their athletic performance and reduce their stress. They meditate together every day as part of their training. The team is made up of world-class athletes representing 10 different countries. They also represent different religions; Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist.

This video showcases this phenomenal team’s success and highlights the effects of TM on the student’s stress levels, anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy.

Video credits:
Lynn Kaplan, Producer/Director
Peter Trivelas, Camera

http://dlf.tv/2010/trinity-squash
http://athletics.trincoll.edu

Samadhi - the beginning of Yoga

2010-07-13T09:00:00.005+02:00

Samadhi is the beginning, not the end of Yoga

by NEIL DICKIE on JULY 12, 2010

This article is for yoga people — for the throngs who have re-discovered this ancient yet very sophisticated approach to exercise. Tens of millions have taken up yoga because it’s gentler and kinder to the body, yet fun and challenging, and effective in promoting overall fitness. People also appreciate yoga for its settling effect on the mind. The unhurried pace of yoga practice and the focus on the concrete details of stretching, balancing, breathing, helps a person leave behind the concerns of a busy life and enjoy the present moment.

But enjoyable through practicing the poses, or asanas, of yoga is, many yoga practitioners suspect that they could take their practice to a higher level by learning to meditate. There’s good reason for the notion that meditation can make yoga, a good thing, even better. For one thing, almost every system or school of yoga recommends meditation, at least theoretically. But yoga students often put off starting meditation, perhaps fearing that they lack the steely discipline and laser-like concentration assumed to be essential for success.

One reason many assume meditation to be difficult is a common misunderstanding of the eight-limbed or Ashtanga system of yoga laid out in the revered Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

In the text of the Yoga Sutras, the eight limbs of yoga are presented in the following order:

1) the five yamas or personal virtues, such as ahimsa or non-violence, and satya, truthfulness

2) the five niyamas or rules of life, including shaucha, purification, and swadhyaya, study

3) pranayama, the breathing practices

4) the asanas, the poses of yoga

5, 6, 7,) the three stages of mental practice, pratyahara, dharana, and dhyana or meditation.

8 ) Samadhi, the union of the busy thinking mind with its deepest, most silent level, the unified field of consciousness, the Self. Think of an individual wave settling down and experiencing the unbounded ocean.

However, despite the fact that Ashtanga translates as eight LIMBS, and not eight STEPS or stages, many have thought Patanjali meant that his eight-fold approach should be practiced only in this step-by-step, sequential order, starting with the personal virtues and observances, and culminating in meditation for the purpose of gaining samadhi.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created a stir in the world yoga community some 40 years ago when he traveled the world teaching Transcendental Meditation, a simple, easily-learned technique to bring the direct experience of samadhi. Maharishi was teaching anyone interested, even if they were completely new to yoga. In Germany, a delegation of yogis came to Maharishi and asked him about this.

Maharishi welcomed the delegation and began by establishing common ground with them—respect for the authority of Patanjali. He then, however, explained his view that Patanjali had, due to the long lapse of time, become badly misinterpreted. The order of Patanjali’s famous eightfold yoga had, he said, become the reverse of what Patanjali intended. “The practice of Yoga was understood to start with yama, niyama (the secular virtues), and so on,” Maharishi said, “whereas in reality it should begin with samadhi. Samadhi cannot be gained by the practice of yama, niyama, and so on. Proficiency in the virtues can only be gained by repeated experience of samadhi.” In other words, it is mistaken to think that improved morality and behavior is required to reach samadhi; rather, Maharishi said that better behavior and morality comes as a result of the experience of that most unified and blissful level of life.

For example, Maharishi said, one can only truly progress in ahimsa or non-violence as one grows in the consciousness that there is a common unity of all things. This unified reality of life is directly experienced in samadhi. Similarly, he said, asteya or non-covetousness can only be truly achieved when one feels fully contented, and the most stable inner happiness naturally comes through repeated experience of the eternal field of bliss-consciousness in samadhi.

Bliss consciousness: this is the higher level that yoga is meant to take us to. Yoga means union. One definition of yoga is the union of body, mind and breath. Although that alone can bring good results, there is a higher level of meaning: the union of the thinking mind, or small “s” self, with the big Self, cosmic intelligence. The result of that, according to the Yoga Sutras, is serious bliss.

Commenting on the experience of union with the Self through meditation, Maharishi says, “The intensity of happiness is beyond the superlative. The bliss of this state eliminates the possibility of any sorrow, great or small. Into the bright light of the sun no darkness can penetrate; no sorrow can enter bliss-consciousness, nor can bliss-consciousness know any gain greater than itself. This state of self-sufficiency leaves one steadfast in oneself, fulfilled in eternal contentment.” (from Maharishi’s translation and commentary on the Bhagavad-Gita, 6:20)

Back to why people could think that this natural, blissful process could be difficult—unfortunately, as meditation is generally taught, this perception is all too accurate. Patanjali defines yoga as “the complete settling of the mind” (Yoga Sutras, 1.2). However, because most types of meditation available today involve some degree of concentration, effort, control, they tend to prevent the mind from completely settling down. Maharishi’s Transcendental Meditation (TM), in contrast, is a technique of no-doing—it does not involve trying of any kind, and so it allows the meditator to easily dive within.

But can an easy, effortless meditation be “real” meditation, leading to enlightenment? Yes. Some have misunderstood that the simplicity of Maharishi’s TM. Transcendental Meditation is actually the revival of meditation in its pure and original form. It is simple and easy because it is natural—in full accord with the fundamental nature of mind and body. That is also why it is so efficient. Nature is always extremely efficient. For example, all motion in nature follows the path of least action or effort. In the same way, one practicing Transcendental Meditation effortlessly dives deep within the mind.

The cultivation of this topmost of the eight limbs of yoga nourishes the whole tree of yoga as no other can. Yoga practitioners who add Transcendental Meditation to their daily routine report that it adds a deeply satisfying dimension of silence, consciousness, and appreciation to their asana practice, and to life. Samadhi is both the beginning and the essential ingredient of a truly blissful yoga practice.

http://www.tm.org/blog/meditation/samadhi-yoga/

Festival of Music for World Peace

2010-06-16T00:37:00.000+02:00

Celebrate Guru Purnima 2010

with Maharishi’s Worldwide Movement Family

in MERU, Holland

Maharishi Gandharva Veda

Festival of Music for World Peace

Live Concerts

https://www.mgcwp.org/concert

Can Meditation help with school bullying?

2010-06-03T23:40:00.003+02:00

By Jeanne M. Ball

A recent report of frequent bullying in American schools has brought national attention to the stressors commonly faced by teens—stressors that many parents and teachers are unaware of. Society is struggling to understand how 'atypical' adolescent peer pressure has escalated into vicious student behavior at school. As educators seek ways to increase compassion and empathy among students, many are finding that meditation offers promising, measurable results for tackling the underlying stressors that give rise to bullying.

The Problem of Bullying
The (US) National Center for Educational Statistics estimates that one third of students ages 12-18 are bullied at school and online. In all socio-economic levels, schools are experiencing heightened security concerns and acts of violence.

High divorce rates among parents, violent entertainment, and drug abuse by youth—even the use of prescription anti-depressants—are suspected of contributing to the problem. However, these factors are now being recognized as symptoms of an underlying cause: the epidemic of stress in our society.

A promising solution: stress-free schools
Hundreds of public and private schools throughout the US and around the world have benefited from a program of Quite Time, [1] where students have the option to sit quietly for a few minutes or to practice meditation to relieve stress. ‘It’s like a washing machine,' says Jody, a meditating student at a Detroit high school previously plagued by violence. 'Disturbing thoughts wash away.'

A recent study, conducted by the University of Connecticut, found that 106 at-risk adolescents in three high schools reduced levels of stress, anxiety, hyperactivity, and emotional problems when practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique over a period of four months at school, as compared with controls. [2] The TM technique is an effortless, non-religious meditation that is easy for students to learn and practice at school or on their own.

According to Dr. William Stixroud, “when the nervous system becomes settled and quiet during meditation, the stress response starts operating normally. As a result, children are simply less impulsive.” The process of quieting the mind and body through the Transcendental Meditation technique increases coherence between the two hemispheres and the front and the back part of the brain. [3] “More integrated brain functioning improves the ability in children to control their impulses,” says Dr. Stixroud. “They get in trouble less; they act without thinking less; they can inhibit the tendency to get distracted better.”

Effective meditation can also help strengthen children that are typically victims of bullying by building self-esteem and resilience to stress. Research studies have demonstrated that the TM technique not only reduces stress, it increases inner happiness, and results in improved flexibility, social ability, and confidence. [4] When adolescents practice mediation they tend to find approval from within rather than needing it from the outside, which leads to greater independence, less influence from peer pressure, and less abusive behavior.

References:
1. David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness Based Education
2. ‘At-risk adolescents reduce stress, anxiety, and hyperactivity through Transcendental Meditation.’ Robert Colbert, PhD, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut (US). Presented at the Annual meeting of the Society for Behavioral Medicine, March 2008
3. ‘Increased EEG Coherence during Transcendental Meditation’: International Journal of Neuroscience 14: 147–151, 1981.
4. 'Transcendental Meditation reduces stress and increases happiness among middle school students.' Rita Benn, PhD, Director of Education, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Center, University of Michigan. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, April

Author's Bio
Jeanne Ball, teacher of the Transcendental Meditation tehcnique for over 35 years specializing in ADHD, ADD, addiction recovery, anxiety, depression, hypertension and other stress related disorders.
www.meditationforwomen.blogspot.com, Transcendental Meditation

http://meditationforwomen.blogspot.com/2010/05/can-meditation-help-with-school.html

Top psychiatrist lauds research on Transcendental Meditation

2010-04-30T08:23:00.001+02:00

A top 20-year medical researcher from theNational Institutes of Mental Health talks about the extensive body of research on the Transcendental Meditation technique, which document its health benefits for all areas of life.

Dr. Norman Rosenthal, M.D., is a very smart man. With a big heart. And a patience that extends well beyond the beyond. He has to be. He is an internationally prominent psychiatrist in private practice in the Washington, D.C. area, clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical School, and author of several top-selling books, including Winter Blues and The Emotional Revolution. And for 20 years, Dr. Rosenthal was a senior researcher at the National Institutes of Mental Health, where he gained fame as the first scientist to describe Seasonal Affective Disorder—the dramatic influence of light on mood.

Two years ago, Dr. Rosenthal began to investigate other possible therapies to treat bipolar disorder. He selected the Transcendental Meditation technique. His preliminary findings show this program to be a fully safe adjunct to conventional therapies, and produces marked benefit for depressive patients.

These findings inspired Dr Rosenthal to deepen and expand his investigation into the applications of the TM technique, including a study on stress and productivity among meditating business executives, as well as homeless veterans who are participating in re-entry programs.

In this first in a series of interviews, Dr. Rosenthal comments on the substantial body of peer-reviewed scientific studies already conducted on the technique; in particular in the area of cardiovascular disease, and says that if the benefits of the TM program for heart health were contained in a pill, “it would be a billion-dollar blockbuster.”

www.tm.org/blog/video/psychiatrist-tm-research

Documentary about Father Gabriel Mejia and Transcendental Meditation

2010-04-21T23:07:00.006+02:00

Professor Stuart Tanner with Father Gabriel Mejia

Father Gabriel visits one of his centers

Filming on the streets of Medellin

A girl practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique

Mayor Ed Malloy reading the proclamation honoring Father Gabriel Photo by Ken West

Professor Tanner's Documentary Premiers in Fairfield

The David Lynch Foundation presented its newest documentary about Father Gabriel Mejia on April 8. Directed by MUM faculty member Stuart Tanner, “Saving the Disposable Ones” shows Father Gabriel’s work in Colombia transforming the lives of thousands of children by providing shelter, love, and the Transcendental Meditation^® technique.

Father Gabriel opened his first shelter in the mid 1980s in the city of Medellin and now his Fundación Hogares Claret runs 54 centers in 8 cities serving 8,500 children across Colombia.

"The basic therapy is love,” said Father Mejia. “Love is the imperial medicine for any illness or disorder. When a child feels they are welcome, when a child feels an educator is concerned about them, the child who came from violence and hostility of the streets, from being mistreated and who became aggressive, they change. The child changes."

The film is part of the David Lynch Foundation Television documentary series and it documents the extraordinary transformation the children go through over time.

“I have a strong interest in telling stories that are based on solutions to the toughest of our current challenges in the world,” said director Stuart Tanner. “Transcendental Meditation is taught to the children as part of a therapeutic process. The children recognize the benefits they get from the TM technique. They once felt hopeless and lost, now they express positivity about their futures and have ambitions. This is such a great achievement when one considers the very tough circumstances they have been through.”

Stuart Tanner is Co-Director of MUM’s Communications and Media department and Executive Producer-Director for David Lynch Foundation Television. Over the past 30 years he has worked for major UK and international broadcasters and his documentaries have won awards from the BBC and Channel Four.

During the premiere, Ed Malloy, Fairfield’s Mayor, presented Father Gabriel with a proclamation and declared April 8, 2010 Father Gabriel Mejia day in honor of Father Gabriel’s selfless work for children.

The documentary was co-produced by Joanna Plafsky, a long-time supporter of the David Lynch Foundation. Assistant Producers of the film were Cullen Thomas and Amine Koudier of DLF.TV who both graduated from MUM. The David Lynch Foundation will be submitting the documentary to film festivals and TV networks. It will subsequently be available on DVD.

The David Lynch Foundation has provided over 120,000 scholarships around the world, including tens of thousands in Latin America, for the teaching of the Transcendental Meditation technique to at-risk populations.

Watch the trailer for the documentary at DLF.TV

Transcendental Meditation an effective way to ease depression

2010-04-09T14:33:00.000+02:00

The Transcendental Meditation® technique may be an effective approach to reduce symptoms of depression, according to two new studies to be presented at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Seattle, Washington April 9th, 2010. The studies, conducted at Charles Drew University in Los Angeles and University of Hawaii in Kohala included African Americans and Native Hawaiians, 55 years and older, who were at risk for cardiovascular disease. Participants were randomly allocated to the Transcendental Meditation program or health education control group, and assessed with a standard test for depression—the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) inventory over 9-12 months.

“Clinically meaningful reductions in depressive symptoms were associated with practice of the Transcendental Meditation program,” said Sanford Nidich, EdD, lead author and senior researcher at the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management. “The findings of these studies have important implications for improving mental health and reducing the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality,” said Dr. Nidich.

Participants in both studies who practiced the Transcendental Meditation program showed significant reductions in depressive symptoms compared to health education controls. The largest decreases were found in those participants who had indications of clinically significant depression, with those practicing Transcendental Meditation showing an average reduction in depressive symptoms of 48%.

“These results are encouraging and provide support for testing the efficacy of Transcendental Meditation as a therapeutic adjunct in the treatment of clinical depression,” said Hector Myers, PhD, study co-author and professor and director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at U.C.L.A.

The results of these studies are timely. For older Americans, depression is a particularly debilitating disease, with approximately 20% suffering from some form of depression. Overall, 18 million men and women suffer from depression in the United States. Depression is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, with even a moderate level of depressive symptoms associated with increased cardiac events.

“The clinically significant reductions in depression without drugs or psychotherapy in these studies suggest the Transcendental Meditation program may improve mental and associated physical health in older high risk subjects,” said Robert Schneider MD FACC, director of MUM’s Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention.

“The importance of reducing depression in the elderly at risk for heart disease cannot be overestimated,” said Gary P. Kaplan MD PhD, Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology NYU School of Medicine. “Any technique not involving extra medication in this population is a welcome addition. I look forward to further research on the Transcendental Meditation technique and prevention of depression in other at-risk elderly populations, including those with stroke and other chronic diseases.”

Wholistic brain development

2010-03-30T08:41:00.001+02:00

Transcendental Meditation resets brain

by ADMIN on MARCH 19, 2010

Many people learn to meditate in order to relax and reduce stress, but few realise just how meditation produces these benefits. Often its effects on the mind and body are seen as no different to that of taking a short nap or practising deep breathing.

However, a new study on the effects of Transcendental Meditation, published in the US journal, Cognitive Processing, has added to the considerable body of research indicating that individuals practising the technique experience “restful alertness” — a special state of deep relaxation, quite distinct from ordinary relaxation and sleep.

The researchers at American University in Philadelphia found that during Transcendental Meditation individuals were significantly more able to activate the brain’s “ground” or resting state, known to neuroscientists as the “default mode network“, which refreshes and resets the brain and is believed to be essential for good mental health and qualities such as creativity.

The three-month randomized control study appears in a special issue of Cognitive Processing dedicated to the neuroscience of meditation and consciousness, volume 11, number 1, Spring, 2010, which coincides with Brain Awareness Week in the UK and the USA.

The new study has built on developments in neuroscience in the last decade that have identified a natural “ground state” of the brain to which it returns in order to reset. This has been termed the “default mode network” and is activated when the individual is not focused on the outside world but on internal activity such as daydreaming, envisioning the future, retrieving memories, and gauging others’ perspectives.

It is considered essential to creativity and our sense of ‘self’, and some neuroscientists believe it is deficient in illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, autism and schizophrenia. The ability to control entry to and exit from the default mode is believed to diminish with old age.

Research has already shown that simply closing one’s eyes and relaxing increases the default mode. The three-month American University study found, however, that this natural ground state of the brain is much more fully activated during Transcendental Meditation practice.

“The finding of significant brain wave differences between students practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique and those simply resting with their eyes closed is especially convincing because subjects were randomly assigned to conditions, and testing was conducted by a researcher unaware of the experimental condition to which the subject had been assigned,” said David Haaga, PhD, coauthor and professor of psychology at American University.

“A significant additional finding of this new study is that activity in the default mode increases during TM compared to simple eyes-closed rest,” said Fred Travis, PhD, lead author and director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management.

http://www.t-m.org.uk

TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION IN ARIZONA SCHOOLS

2010-02-09T09:09:00.001+01:00

Students, teachers, and administrators in Arizona schools discuss their experiences and successes through the Transcendental Meditation / Quiet Time program.

Music by Stephen Michael Hogan. StephenMHoganAudio@gmail.com

David Lynch Television

“Meditation” on Meditation

2010-02-03T19:32:00.004+01:00

“If with closed ears and eyes I consult consciousness for a moment, immediately are all walls and barriers dissipated, earth rolls from under me, and I float . . . in the midst of an unknown and infinite sea… We become like a still lake of purest crystal and without an effort our depths are revealed to ourselves… Such clarity!”

--- Henry David Thoreau

(Thanks Bobby)

Why does it cost to learn Transcendental Meditation

2010-02-03T08:51:00.001+01:00

What is TM—and why does TM cost money to learn?

As I wrote earlier, I will periodically use this blog site to answer frequently asked questions—or clarify frequently misunderstood points—about the Transcendental Meditation technique.

The facts about TM are simple and easily understandable and the benefits are medically established by hundreds of scientific studies.

The basics:

TM is a simple, natural technique, practiced for 20 minutes twice a day, which allows your active, thinking mind (e.g., the “I gotta do this and I gotta do that” thinking mind) to settle down to pure consciousness—a state of silent inner wakefulness that is an unlimited reservoir of energy, creativity, and intelligence.

As your mind settles down, effortlessly, your body gains a profound state of relaxation. Scientists call this a unique state of “restful alertness.” Research shows this twice daily experience eliminates deeply rooted stress, tension and fatigue; improves health; and decreases, anxiety, and insomnia

Research also shows TM develops the total brain, creating coherence between the different parts of the brain, which is the basis of the increased creativity and intelligence, and improved memory and decision making reported by meditators.

There is no concentration or control of the mind during the practice, no following your breath, no imaging or contemplation.

The technique is not a philosophy, religion, or lifestyle.

When you learn Transcendental Meditation you receive from your teacher a mantra (a specific sound with no meaning whose effects are known to be positive and life-supporting) and you receive from your teacher exact instructions how to use the mantra properly so that you dive all the way within to experience pure consciousness—your own inner Self.

Anyone can learn and practice the technique as well as anyone else—independent of your education, nationality, belief, etc.

Thus, the question of the day is:

If TM is so great—if it can create peace and reduce stress and all that—then why does it cost money? Or if it costs money, why does it cost so much that it could prevent some people who may need it the most, like the poor, from learning? Is that fair? Is TM a money-making organization?

The answer is: TM is not a money-making organization. It is a nonprofit, educational organization—and it has been that way for over 50 years. (All financial transactions are public knowledge.

And yes, it would be grossly unfair, cruel even, if someone really wanted to learn to meditate and could not do so because of money. But that is not the case. Scholarships, grants and loans are available to ensure that anyone who genuinely wants to learn to meditate can do so. Case-in-point: During the past four years, the David Lynch Foundation has provided full scholarships for over 100,000 people to learn to meditate who could not otherwise afford to start.

So money is not an obstacle for people to learn.

Then the next question is, why does it cost so much? (For now, let’s leave aside the point that the fee for learning TM and a lifetime of follow-up and mentoring is usually much less than enrolling in a college course, which will be over in 14 weeks, or buying many new computer programs which have an expiration date of a year of two.)

Transcendental Meditation is not “meditation lite”—it’s not some how-to thing you can learn from browsing through a Cosmo or People magazine article on meditation. Yes, TM is a simple technique, but it is also authentic, the real deal. Transcendental Meditation comes from the oldest continuous tradition of meditation in the world. Today, more than six million people of all cultures, religions, and walks of life have learned the technique during the past 50 years.

TM costs what it costs for four main reasons:

1. Your own meditation teacher You learn TM today the same way it has been taught for thousands of years—from a highly qualified, properly trained TM teacher, through personal, one-to-one instruction. Again, you don’t learn it out of a magazine or book or a CD or a DVD. You are unique; you have your own questions and experiences, and your teacher is there to provide the necessary and correct guidance and information at each stage of the instruction, so you can have a clear experience of the transcending process.

2. Lifetime course When you learn TM, not only do you have seven steps of initial instruction (about 90 minutes a day) from your meditation teacher, but you also have access to a lifetime of mentoring and support from your teacher. And if you travel or move, there are highly qualified TM teachers all over the world to provide you with follow-up support—which is all included in your initial course fee.

3. Professional teachers As I said, the teachers are highly-trained professionals, many with families, homes, health insurance, etc. Teaching the technique is a full-time profession; it cannot be done through volunteers alone. To ensure the sustainability of the organization, teachers are paid an appropriate salary (like a high school teacher). Your course fee helps to cover their salaries and the expenses that come from running a local TM center (rent, utilities, phone, etc.).

4. Help those in need Any remaining funds from your tuition are used to provide scholarships for children, teens, and adults who cannot afford any tuition, such as inner-city school kids, American Indians on reservations, homeless men, etc.

The point is:

Money is not an obstacle to learning TM. Yes, money is needed to pay teachers and run the organization. But if you don’t have the funds, don’t let that stop you. Contact www.TM.org and work something out.

Thanks for listening,

Bobby

Bobby standing in front of the press room at the White House ....

http://insidedlf.wordpress.com

Hurdy Gurdy Man Donovan Takes Stage Again 2010

2010-01-24T00:48:00.005+01:00

January 24^thWorld Wide Charity Concert On Line from Germany

Munich (Hollywood Today) 1-23-2010

By Ken Chawkin

Donovan On The Net

Donovan is inviting fans and the online community to watch his sold-out concert live on the Internet this Sunday. He will perform his hit songs and cult classics as well as showcasing songs from his new work RITUAL GROOVE as a run up to his forthcoming world tour 2010/2011. Special guest will be talented musician Claudia Koreck, one of the hottest newcomers in Germany.

The show will be streamed live Sunday, January 24, at 8:30 p.m. CET worldwide thanks to the professional live streaming technology and video production of TV1.EU, and a true broadband connection by BT, British Telecom. This World Wide Charity Concert is to benefit ‘Schools Without Stress’ (Germany). Also see the DLF, and the David Lynch Foundation.

The Link to the Live Stream will be on Donovan’s new Website http://www.donovan.ie/live/. News of the free live webcast concert is also on Donovan’s Facebook and Twitter page. His fans just love the idea of streaming the concert to their computers at home. While watching the concert Donovan’s Online Friends can share their experience on facebook or twitter”, says Monty C. M. Metzger, CEO of the Social Media Marketing Agency Ahead of Time.

This “Social Media for Social Activism” musical event will support the charity project “Schule ohne Stress” (Schools without Stress) and will increase awareness about the positive effects of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique on creativity, intelligence, brain functioning and academic performance.

The legendary folk-rock pop troubadour Donovan began his career as an itinerant folk musician and created acoustic hits like Catch The Wind, Colours, Mellow Yellow, and Buffy Saint Marie’s Universal Soldier. Other megahits include Jennifer Juniper, Sunshine Superman, Hurdy Gurdy Man, Season of the Witch, There is a Mountain, Atlantis, and other beautiful songs, which appeared on later albums, like Sutras, produced by Rick Rubin.

Dr. Donovan Leitch is a Green-Activist and received a Doctor of Letters from the University of Hertfordshire, an honorary medal as “Officer of Arts & Letters” by the French government, and was named BMI Icon in 2009.

Donovan was one of the few artists to collaborate on songs with the Beatles, contributing lyrics and vocals to the song Yellow Submarine. Donovan influenced Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison in their guitar styles, and during his career played with folk music greats Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan, as well as rock musicians Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones.

This is Donovan’s first global World Wide Web performance—a musical historic event. The concert is sold out! Viewers wishing to join Team DONOVAN and make a donation are invited to visit betterplace.org. Donations start from 1 Euro!

The Known Universe

2009-12-22T10:44:00.002+01:00

Amazing and fascinating journey through the known universe .....

The Known Universe takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible because of the world's most complete four-dimensional map of the universe, the Digital Universe Atlas that is maintained and updated by astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History. The new film, created by the Museum, is part of an exhibition, Visions of the Cosmos: From the Milky Ocean to an Evolving Universe, at the Rubin Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 2010.

Christianity, Transcendental Meditation and Religion, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

2009-12-14T19:36:00.000+01:00

Interviewer: Maharishi, I start with those main attacks which have been brought up against you and your Transcendental Meditation movement. In relation to the plan to establish an academy for Transcendental Meditation above the lake in Seelisberg - the Catholic inner part of Switzerland.

One attack I have already mentioned that you are against Christianity and also against the person of Jesus Christ.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: Any TY ending is very close to me with infinity. So my message is that of Infinity and Christianity and Infinity both meet towards the end. So there is a meeting point in the goal towards the end - Christianity and Infinity and therefore if they are two parts they meet in the end. All is well that ends well. All is well that ends well.

There is no opposition to Christianity - I love Christ very much and he must be enjoying with all this growth of infinity in the individual life because "find the kingdom that lies within you" I think has been the main teaching of Christ. And therefore Transcendental Meditation which takes the awareness to that level which Christ wanted every Christian to have is only a friend of Christianity.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi brought Transcendental Meditation to the world more than 50 years ago and now it has been enjoyed by millions of people worldwide from all religious backgrounds.

Transcendental Meditation at a Washington school

2009-12-09T19:03:00.010+01:00

Dr. George Rutherford, one of the most distinguished and beloved principals in the Washington, D.C. area, is credited as being the “Grandfather” of the TM/Quiet Time program in America. In 1993, Doc Rutherford introduced the program to his Fletcher Johnson Learning School in Washington and later expanded it to include the entire school—a first in U.S. education. He also serves as the National Co-Director of the U.S. Committee for Stress-Free Schools.

How did you get started with the TM program?

In 1993, teachers of the Transcendental Meditation program came to the Fletcher Johnson Learning School to give a presentation. I was standing at the back of the room joking with one of the teachers, saying, “I want to get the training.” She knew I was joking but she called my bluff and made an appointment for me. I was scared to death, but I learned the TM technique and loved it! Then I visited Maharishi School of The Age of Enlightenment in Iowa. When I saw how those children were happy and enjoying school I was inspired to give this to my students. I thought this program could really make a difference in their lives and in this community.

How did you introduce this program to the Ideal Academy Public Charter School?

Paulette Bell, the founder of the school, wrote a proposal for a stress management program and the Board of Education signed off on it. We didn’t have any money, but donors came forward and helped get my children where we are now. We shaved off 5 minutes from each class to make time for the children’s TM/Quiet Time program in the morning and afternoon. We knew that once we got rid of the stress, we would have less disruptions and the time would pay off. Now we are seeing the light. Quiet Time changed the whole climate of the school. It was just beautiful.

What have been the greatest benefits for the school?

All the students from 5th grade through 12th grade practice the TM/Quiet Time program. In the morning for those 15 minutes before class the whole school is quiet and the calm is carried throughout the day.

The greatest benefit is relieving the stress. We know that some of the kids would be more hyper without their meditation. Some of our kids have ADHD. A lot of kids are special needs kids. I always say a lot of kids are special needs who don’t have the papers on them. They have not been identified. With Quiet Time the academic achievement has gone up, and behavioral problems and absenteeism have gone down. I could never work in a school that doesn’t have the TM/Quiet Time program.

What is your vision for schools in America?

I would love to see that all students are able to learn in a stress-free environment. You can rest assured that in years to come the transformation in education will take place in schools with the TM/Quiet Time program. People are going to see that the Quiet Time program removes stress and everything else falls right in place. With Quiet Time, the potential of every student is unlimited.

www.tm.org

Using meditation as medication

2009-11-28T03:42:00.004+01:00

A new study suggests that Transcendental Meditation could help to increase brain function and lower stress.

Fifty students took part in the trial at the American University in Washington DC, and after ten weeks of meditation they reported feeling more alert and said they coped better in difficult situations.

Research into the health claims made for meditation has limitations and few conclusions can be reached, but indications suggest that meditation may have a measurable impact on the brain.

Josh Goulding took part in the study at the American University and claims it has helped to get him off a cocktail of drugs he was taking to control Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

View the video at the BBC site: http://news.bbc.co.uk

Can Meditation Curb Heart Attacks? - NYTimes.com

2009-11-20T20:44:00.002+01:00

By RONI CARYN RABIN

Richard Patterson for The New York Times
Recent research suggests transcendental meditation may be good for the heart.

When Julia Banks was almost 70, she took up transcendental meditation. She had clogged arteries, high blood pressure and too much weight around the middle, and she enrolled in a clinical trial testing the benefits of meditation.

Now Mrs. Banks, 79, of Milwaukee, meditates twice a day, every day, for 20 minutes each time, setting aside what she calls “a little time for myself.”

“You never think you’ve got that time to spare, but you take that time for yourself and you get the relaxation you need,” said Mrs. Banks, who survived a major heart attack and a lengthy hospitalization after coronary artery bypass surgery six years ago.

“You have things on your mind, but you just blot it out and do the meditation, and you find yourself being more graceful in your own life,” she said. “You find out problems you thought you had don’t exist — they were just things you focused on.”

Could the mental relaxation have real physiological benefits? For Mrs. Banks, the study suggests, it may have. She has gotten her blood pressure under control, though she still takes medication for it, and has lost about 75 pounds.

Findings from the study were presented this week at an American Heart Association meeting in Orlando, Fla. They suggest that transcendental meditation may have real therapeutic value for high-risk people, like Mrs. Banks, with established coronary artery disease.

After following about 200 patients for an average of five years, researchers said, the high-risk patients who meditated cut their risk of heart attacks, strokes and deaths from all causes roughly in half compared with a group of similar patients who were given more conventional education about healthy diet and lifestyle.

Among the roughly 100 patients who meditated, there were 20 heart attacks, strokes and deaths; in the comparison group, there were 32. The meditators tended to remain disease-free longer and also reduced their systolic blood pressure by five millimeters of mercury, on average.

“We found reduced blood pressure that was significant – that was probably one important mediator,” said Dr. Robert Schneider, director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, a research institute based at the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, who presented the findings. The study was conducted at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, in collaboration with the institute.

An earlier study of high-risk Milwaukee residents, many of them overweight or obese, also found transcendental meditation, along with conventional medications, could help reduce blood pressure. Most of those in the study had only high-school educations or less, about 40 percent smoked and roughly half had incomes of less than $10,000 a year.

The participants found transcendental meditation easy to learn and practice, Dr. Schneider said.

“Fortunately, it does not require any particular education and doesn’t conflict with lifestyle philosophy or beliefs; it’s a straightforward technique for getting deep rest to the mind and body,” he said, adding that he believes the technique “helps to reset the body’s own self-repair and homeostatic mechanism.”

Dr. Schneider said other benefits of meditation might follow from stress reduction, which could cause changes in the brain that cut stress hormones like cortisol and dampen the inflammatory processes associated with atherosclerosis.

“What is it about stress that causes cardiovascular disease?” said Dr. Theodore Kotchen, associate dean for clinical research at the Medical College of Wisconsin. “Hormones, neural hormones, cortisol, catecholamines — all tend to be elevated in stress. Could they in some way be contributing to cardiovascular disease? Could a reduction in these hormones with meditation be contributing to reduction in disease? We can only speculate.”

Another recent study focusing on transcendental meditation, published in The American Journal of Hypertension, focused on a young healthy population. It found that stressed-out college students improved their mood through T.M., and those at risk for hypertension were able to reduce their blood pressure. Dr. Schneider was also involved in that study, which was carried out at American University in Washington and included 298 students randomly assigned to either a meditation group or a waiting list.

Students who were at risk of hypertension and practiced meditation reduced systolic blood pressure by 6.3 millimeters of mercury and their diastolic pressure by 4 millimeters of mercury on average.

Can Meditation Curb Heart Attacks? - Well Blog - NYTimes.com

Towards Collective Harmony

2009-11-19T16:53:00.005+01:00

One percent of the population practicing the Transcendental Meditation would produce measurable improvements in the quality of life for the whole population.

Such was boldly predicted by Maharishi Yogi in 1960. However, this phenomenon was first noticed in 1974 and published in 1976. It was found that when 1% of the community practiced the Transcendental Meditation program, then the average crime rate came down by an average of 16%. This phenomenon was named the Maharishi Effect then. Later, the meaning of the term was extended to cover the influence generated by the group practice of the TM-Sidhi program. Now, the Maharishi Effect could be defined as the influence of coherence and positivity on the social and natural environment generated by the practice of the TM and TM-Sidhi programs.

The first statistical analysis of the effects of the TM-Sidhi program was published in 1987. They presented a decrease in violent crimes in Washington D.C., and total crimes in Metro Manila and Delhi by an average of 11%. Further research has confirmed the presence and the universality of the Maharishi Effect.

David Edwards Ph.D., Professor of Government, University of Texas at Austin, says, about the Maharishi Effect, “I think the claim can be plausibly made that the potential impact of this research exceeds that of any other ongoing social or psychological research program. It has survived a broader array of statistical tests than most research in the field of conflict resolution. This work and the theory that informs it deserve the most serious consideration by academics and policy makers alike.”

The basis of the Maharishi Effect is collective consciousness. This involves the sum total of the individual consciousness of the people in a specified group, be it a community or even a nation. Individual consciousness is said to be the basic unit of collective consciousness, influencing collective consciousness and being in turn influenced by it.

Maharishi states, “Just as the consciousness of an individual determines the quality of his thought and behavior, so also there exists another type of consciousness for society as a whole; a collective consciousness for each family, city, state, or nation, having its own reality and the possibility of growth. The quality of collective consciousness of a society is a direct and sensitive reflection of the level of consciousness of its individual members.”

Individual consciousness and collective consciousness hence bear a reciprocal relationship. As collective consciousness is created by the individuals within the group, when the individual consciousness grows, collective consciousness expands.

As a result of this reciprocal relationship between individual and collective consciousness, a group of people practicing the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programme will be able to influence harmony to collective consciousness, thereby enabling the entire population to act more coherently and harmoniously and in one with Natural Law. On this basis, Maharishi has demonstrated the potential for every nation to create invincibility for itself and for all its citizens.

Realizing this power of thought, especially collective thought, Monish Dhawan has seeded the idea of “I Want a Positive Headline, a mass Movement, which aims at convincing the media to provide more positive headlines in an effort towards impacting greater well-being and happiness for each individual and the world.

The logic is simple. The media deeply influences collective thought through the way it portrays news, and affects billions simultaneously through its extensive reach. And this collective thought is what creates the reality we see around.

At present, there are more negative news headlines that cover the front pages of newspapers, and reports of mayhem and terrorism on news channels. All this leads to a collective negativity that manifests itself as ill health, depression and a loss of hope. This in turn creates the negative world that we have become familiar with.

However, the converse is also true. If the media were to portray more positive news, then it would generate positivity among the millions, helping to build a happier, healthier reality.

All it needs is for people to choose for this to happen. “I Want a Positive Headline” gives you that chance for being part of the millions that can come together and cohesively demand for a change in the way the media projects news, ask for more positive headlines with the view that this will bring about a positive change in people and the environment that their collective thoughts will create. It empowers you to change your reality, one thought at a time.

Meditation may lower BP and college stressors

2009-11-18T23:41:00.000+01:00

By Joene Hendry

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - If the stresses of college have put you at risk for high blood pressure, try transcendental meditation.

Blood pressure fell among college students who spent about 20 minutes at least once a day to reach the "restful alertness" state of transcendental meditation, Dr. Sanford I. Nidich, at Maharishi University of Management Research Institute in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa, and colleagues report.

Their study, in the American Journal of Hypertension, found meditating students also had "reduced psychological distress, anxiety, and depression," Nidich told Reuters Health in an email.

He and colleagues randomly assigned 298 healthy students with and without high blood pressure to transcendental meditation training or to a training wait list. The students, 40 percent men, were just under 26 years old on average and attended universities in and around Washington, D.C.

Among the 207 students still participating in the study 3 months later, those in the meditation group had slight reductions in blood pressure, while the wait-listed students had slight increases in average blood pressure from the start of the study.

The meditating students also showed greater reductions in overall mood disturbances, anxiety, depression, anger, and hostility, and better coping skills compared with baseline measures and wait-listed students.

Nidich's team further assessed a subgroup of 48 meditating and 64 wait-listed students who initially had high blood pressure (above 130 over 85 millimeters of mercury) or were at risk for high blood pressure.

In this high-blood-pressure-risk group, the meditating students had blood pressures that were lower, on average, than at the start of the study, while the wait-listed students had increases in blood pressure.

Nidich and colleagues also found these "significant reductions" in blood pressure correlated with lower measures of psychological distress and greater coping measures.

The researchers suggest their findings warrant further investigations into the potential health benefits of longer-term transcendental meditation in college students.

SOURCE: American Journal of Hypertension, December 2009

© Thomson Reuters 2009