Most of us today experience some form of stress almost daily, a condition that has intensely negative effects on our health without us even realizing it. But, transcendental meditation is not just a practice that will help you reduce stress. In reality, transcendental meditation helps you develop inner peace and wellness and can actually help you treat a wide range of specific health conditions. Transcendental meditation promotes general wellness but also helps manage such conditions as hypertension, depression, and insomnia.
What Is Transcendental Meditation?
Transcendental meditation, or TM, is a natural technique for health and wellness. The practice is applied 20 minutes in two different sessions each day. During transcendental meditation, you simply sit comfortably with your eyes closed so that you can establish an inward settling effect. This settling enables you to develop an enhanced self-awareness and to control your thoughts to promote better health and general wellness.
What Are the Health Benefits of Transcendental Meditation?
The Cleveland Clinic states that transcendental meditation isn’t focused on simply breathing or changing, but helps individuals establish a restful state of mind – a benefit that has been found to alleviate stress and reduce blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and anger. Other research has been done that supports TM as an effective practice for general wellness.
Speaking more specifically, daily practice of TM helps individuals maintain a greater level of calm throughout the day. It is also beneficial for reducing cortisol, leveling blood pressure levels, improving sleep quality, lowering your risk of heart disease, improving learning ability and memory, and controlling depression. Additional research shows that transcendental meditation can increase your energy levels, improve your focus, improve your productivity and creativity, and help you lose weight. The practice is even beneficial for strengthening relationships, according to the David Lynch Foundation.
What Specific Conditions Can Transcendental Meditation Benefit?
In addition to offering you general improvements to your health, transcendental meditation can also offer you treatment benefits for specific conditions. According to WebMD, research supports that meditation can treat a variety of conditions including chronic pain, anxiety, high blood pressure, and cholesterol. Nonetheless, we still suggest utilizing holistic care practices that combine conventional medical attention with natural techniques like TM.
1. Chronic Pain
During practice, your brain and body are in a state of “restful alertness.” This state actually reduces the activation of your nervous system – a key component of chronic pain. Additionally, meditation actually dilates your blood vessels to promote more effective blood flow and reduces stress hormones that contribute to pain.
2. Anxiety
TM offers you the opportunity to gain control over your thoughts. Additionally, daily practice helps regulate your stress hormone levels, which also helps ease anxiety.
3. High Blood Pressure
According to the American Journal of Cardiology, transcendental meditation helps reduce high blood pressure and has even had a significant positive impact on death rates for cardiovascular disease. The daily meditative practice helps regulate the circulation of blood and allows the heart to work more effectively, reducing stress on your heart.
4. Cholesterol
The study presented by the American Journal of Cardiology also noted positive benefits on cholesterol levels. In addition to regulating blood flow, TM also reduces hormones in the body that contribute to high cholesterol.
What Is the Best Technique for Transcendental Meditation?
When practicing TM, you learn to settle into yourself and develop an inward sense of peace. The practice is typically broken into 2 different 20 minute sessions completed twice a day. Unlike other meditative practices, TM does not emphasize chanting but rather getting to know you inner peace and calm to help regulate your body.
Keep reading to learn more ways and reasons to try transcendental meditation. If you have tried Transcendental Meditation, please let us know how it worked for you.
References:
Research Validates the Benefits to Health
6 Benefits of Transcendental Meditation (and How You Can Get Started Today)
Transcendental Meditation
