In our first video, we learned that TM is a simple, natural, effortless technique that allows us to experience a field of profound calmness and stability. We now want to look in detail at some of the benefits produced by daily contact with this field.
How do we know what is actually happening during Transcendental Meditation,
How do we know something substantive is taking place?
That we're not just imagining this?
We know it from science...and why do we know from science?
Because we know from science, that mind and body are not just interconnected, but in many regards mind and body are basically one.
And if it's true that during Transcendental Meditation your mind is just effortlessly,
comfortably settling down, experiencing quieter and quieter levels of the mind, and then experiencing that source of thought, it must show up in a very profound and dramatic way during the meditation, and it must show up in the body.
What the research shows is that during Transcendental Meditation your body gains a state of rest and relaxation in many regards deeper than the deepest part of deep sleep.
And what that deep rest does...it allows the build up of stress, fatigue, tension, anxiety to be dissolved, to be eliminated.
When we get a state of deep rest that allows the body to repair itself,
there's a hormone probably some of you have heard of called cortisol...cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands when we're anxious.
So when we're anxious the body secretes cortisol, and when we secrete cortisol we feel more anxious...it becomes this vicious cycle...and then we feel more anxious, more cortisol, more anxious, more cortisol.
If we get a good night's sleep, cortisol levels drop a bit...that's why we wake up feeling fresher in the morning.
Research shows that twenty minutes of Transcendental Meditation cortisol levels drop 30%.
Then there’s Serotonin levels. Serotonin is the so called the 'happiness neurotransmitter.'
There's an increase in serotonin, there's an increase in another hormone called prolactin, which is present when there's a feeling of wellbeing.
Other research shows significant reduction in high blood pressure, cholesterol, in reduction in risk of heart attack, stroke, atherosclerosis…. a reduction in all sorts of range of disorders like bipolar disorder, trait anxiety...
In the last 50 years, there have been over 340 scientific studies published in independent, peer reviewed journals around the world.
…A wide range of some of the most respected journals in the world have published research on Transcendental Meditation.
In the USA, the National Institutes of Health have provided $26 million dollars to study the effects of Transcendental Meditation on stress and heart health.
Again, in America, the Department of Defence has provided a $2.4 million dollar grant to study the effects of Transcendental Meditation on post-traumatic stress on soldiers coming back from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan...who have come back from those war torn areas.
Research on Transcendental Meditation shows very clearly the effect that it has on different parts of the brain, including the amygdala, which is at the centre of the brain and that's your fear centre, the frontal lobes, which is the executive functioning, and on both hemispheres of the brain, which is the so called analytical and intuitive aspects of the brain.
And what they find is...what the research shows, is that during Transcendental Meditation there's a strengthening of the connections between the frontal lobe and the back of the brain.
This is important because the frontal lobes govern decision making, planning, judgement, problem solving, sense of self, ethical reasoning...everything good about the brain depends upon the connections between the front of the brain and the back of the brain...between all aspects of the brain.
And stress takes the frontal lobes offline.
And this explains why ...does a stressed person have good judgement?
Does a stressed person solve problems, plan well?
No
Because the frontal lobe goes offline.
During Transcendental Meditation those connections are strengthened.
During Transcendental Meditation the connections between the left and right hemispheres of the brain are strengthened...all parts of the brain connect together during TM.
And because of the mechanism called neuroplasticity, those connections that we have in meditation last in daily life.
This is why people report that they think more clearly, that they make better decisions, they solve problems better, why students find that their grades go up and their test scores go up.
It's not magic, it's how the brain is optimised.
The whole brain is functioning in a coherent, integrated way...in fact there is a spreading of coherent alpha brain waves from the back of the brain to the front of the brain, and alpha brain waves are indicative of a state of restful alertness, and that's what Transcendental Meditation produces, a state of restful alertness.
And when you are feeling more calmer, clearer, more positive — your relationships improve. You will be more tolerant and more appreciative of others.
There is also proven research of a collective effect when people practise Transcendental Mediation, especially in large groups. This concept has been called the Maharishi Effect and it can be defined as the influence of positivity in the social and natural environment generated by the practice of the TM and its advanced programs.
So when you meditate at home or with your friends you do your surroundings a favour as well as enjoying the wonderful benefits for yourself.
What’s important is that the benefits are cumulative over time. Regular practice allows more and more inner calmness to be carried over into activity
Now that we have learned about the wide range of benefits produced by TM, it’s time to look more closely at how TM works and how it differs from mindfulness and other forms of meditation.
