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Transcendental Meditation: Promotes Heart Health

Jan 27, 2014 ● By Carol Morehead

Heart disease accounts for more deaths in the U.S. than the next 16 causes combined. One in two Americans will suffer from heart attack or stroke in their lifetime, given current trends. Recent research published in the American Heart Association (AHA) journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes showed a 48 percent reduction in heart attack, stroke and death in subjects practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM) in an NIH-funded study. They also lowered their blood pressure and reported less stress and anger compared with randomized controls. The more regularly patients meditated, the greater their survival rate.

The AHA has stated, “Transcendental Meditation is the only meditation scientifically demonstrated to reduce hypertension, and thus reduce risk of heart attack and stroke.” It also reported that lower blood pressure through TM practice is associated with substantially reduced rates of death, heart attack and stroke.

The TM technique is natural and easy, practiced for 20 minutes twice a day, and because it’s so enjoyable, people stick with it. The practice is not based on concentrative effort, contemplation, prayer or attempts to be more mindful or alert. Rather, TM allows the conscious awareness, or active thinking, to spontaneously “transcend” to quieter levels of the thinking process, eventually experiencing the most settled state of awareness, in which the mind is fully awake within itself.

During TM, the brain becomes more coherent and integrated. This orderliness of brain functioning grows over time, improving mental health and performance. The deep rest gained during the practice releases stress and improves overall health.

More than 600 studies demonstrate improved mental and physical health. Television’s Dr. Oz had all of his employees begin TM and immediately saw reduced stress and increased creativity in his company.

Stress also affects many children today, and can be a contributing factor in ADHD and other learning challenges. Dr. William Stixrud is a renowned neuropsychologist in Washington, D.C., a faculty member at Children’s National Medical Center and a consultant to the National Institutes of Health. He specializes in the neuropsychological assessment of those with learning disorders and sees the devastating impact of stress on brain development, substance abuse and sleep deprivation, and the problems kids face as they navigate through adolescence.

“All these problems are highly related to stress,” says Stixrud. Chronic stress damages or kills neuronal connections in the prefrontal cortex, which interferes with executive function and behavior regulation. The TM technique creates a response opposite to that induced by stress. It enlivens the executive areas of the brain and is associated with improved psychosocial behavior. “When kids practice Transcendental Meditation, they are less reactive to stress. They generally sleep better, and find it easier to get through life.” Children can learn TM beginning at age 10.


Carol Morehead, who teaches TM the North Shore with her husband, Dr. Paul Morehead, each have more than 40 years of experience in the practice. For a schedule of Chicago TM program weekly complimentary introductory talks, visit Calendar.tm.org/Chicago.

For more information, call or email 847-563-8437, [email protected] (North Chicago and North Shore); 224-735-3191, [email protected] (Greater Chicago and western suburbs); or visit tm.org.