American Heart Association Recommends Transcendental Meditation To Reduce High Blood Pressure
There is great news for the one in three Americans who suffer from high blood pressure: You can reduce your blood pressure effectively without medication.
The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted a report titled “Beyond Medications and Diet—Alternative Approaches to Lowering Blood Pressure: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.” In this report, published April 22, 2013, the AHA concluded that the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique lowers blood pressure and recommends that TM be considered in clinical practice for the prevention and treatment of hypertension.
While there is a significant amount of research on the health benefits of TM, according to researcher Dr. Robert Schneider this “is the first time TM has been recognized and recommended for consideration by a national medical organization that provides professional practice guidelines to physicians, health care providers, and policymakers.” The report also states that there is not enough scientific evidence to recommend other meditation or relaxation techniques.
In 2010, high blood pressure was projected to cost the United States $93.5 billion in health care services, medications, and missed days of work. High blood pressure is also a cause of strokes and heart attacks, which also add huge costs to our health care system. According to another statement by the AHA, “Forecasting the Future of Cardiovascular Disease in the United States”:
“By 2030, 40.5% of the US population is projected to have some form of CVD [Cardiovascular disease]. Between 2010 and 2030, real (2008$) total direct medical costs of CVD are projected to triple, from $273 billion to $818 billion. Real indirect costs (due to lost productivity) for all CVD are estimated to increase from $172 billion in 2010 to $276 billion in 2030, an increase of 61%.”
If TM practice can help reduce high blood pressure, and even prevent it in the first place, this cost-effective approach could save our country billions of dollars.
There are over 350 published peer-reviewed studies on TM that have been conducted in over 120 independent research institutes in 30 countries, with the American National Institutes of Health funding over $26 million of research on its health benefits. Research shows improved heart health, reduced anxiety and stress, improved memory and learning ability, increased creativity and emotional stamina, reversal of aging and many other benefits from the simple practice of Transcendental Meditation.
Health insurance companies want to save money, the government wants to reduce our national budget, taxpayers want to pay less taxes, and people want to be healthy!! Many people who take medication for high blood pressure do not like the side-effects that come along with it. Introducing Transcendental Meditation into our health care system is a win, win, win, win situation. This is true health care—Self-care—first preventing disease, and secondly treating disease in a natural and cost-effective way.
Now that the support of the American Heart Association has been added to the already ample body of evidence on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation to reduce high blood pressure, what are we waiting for? Let’s move full speed ahead and demand that insurance companies, Medicare, and Medicaid pay for the cost of learning Transcendental Meditation, just like they cover other complementary and alternative medicine techniques such as acupuncture, massage therapy, holistic psychotherapy, stress management techniques, yoga therapies, and chiropractic care.
In one stroke, no pun intended, we can address the many problems of sky-rocketing health-care costs, and more importantly, stem the tide of ill-health that currently envelops our nation. As individual health improves, consciousness will naturally rise and we will all enjoy living in a more successful, enlightened society.
Health and Happiness,
Ann Purcell
If you’ve experienced lower blood pressure and better health through meditation, please comment below to share your perspective with others!
It is inspiring to see the efcftes of the books content, however I will say that it is a slightly misled assumption to compare NSR to the teaching of the Transcendental Meditation Program. It is not the same and does not, long term especially, give the same depth of understanding and experience that the official training and proper follow up with Maharishi certified TM teachers can offer.As with any serious practice or skill, it’s important to have the complete package and not just one morsel. The motive to improve one’s Self are more often than not pure and genuine, but there is a TREMENDOUS amount of misunderstanding of what the TM Program is and what it offers (as is frequently seen online and in some of the discussion threads on metafilter and beyond). Positive results from TM usually start from the first sitting of meditation after the instruction, but unfortunately even some people have gone through the instruction and have never done follow up with their teachers or have completely missed the point of it all together and have strived to give the program a bad name. Which is even more unfortunate because it is a beautiful and beneficial thing.
Veronica. Somehow I missed your post so pleas excuse the late reply. I am not sure what you mean by NSR? Thank you for all your positive comments about the profound value of Transcendental Meditation and the importance of learning it correctly. The key to the success of the practice is in its effortlessness. Many people are in the habit of trying and sometimes that effort can creep into the practice. anyone who may not be experiencing the benefit of Transcendental Meditation I would recommend going to get their meditation checked.
People who don’t manage stress well can have headaches, stomach pain, sleeping problems, illness, and depression. You can help manage stress by journaling, meditating, exercising, talking to others, or engaging in a hobby.“`*
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You are so right, there are many ways to reduce stress. The research on Transcendental Meditation shows that it is an extremely effective way to reduce stress.
I just want to say. Prior to common beielf mainly among Christians (I myself am one) Yoga is not about worshiping another god. I was always told not to do it, but then I looked into it and talked to yoga teachers. Never was it about worshiping any god. Yes, it got mixed into so religions along it path, but then again most everything has. It is what you make it. Simple as that. During meditation I focus on God, but I don’t make all yoga about that. It is what you make it.