After my conversation with Natalia Vodianova, who mentioned transcendental meditation (TM), I began to research this topic: I read several books (links to them at the end of the text), articles, collected the opinions of people, her practitioners, and I realized that this is the strongest remedy fight serious illnesses and mental disorders and an effective way to prolong life. There are also “side effects”: this meditation makes people more creative, positive, calm, self-confident, saves them from doubts, fears and depressive states.
Unfortunately, as with any commercially unpromising method, we do not hear about transcendental meditation from every iron. Meanwhile, the impact of TM on health, behavior and intelligence was studied by specialists from the US National Institutes of Health, Harvard, Yale, UCLA Medical School and more than 200 universities and research institutes in 33 countries around the world. And numerous studies have shown that TM really has a positive effect on the physical and mental state of a person.
This effect can be enumerated for a long time: transcendental meditation strengthens heart health, stimulates brain function, improves memory and concentration, strengthens immunity, slows down aging, helps control your emotions, fights addictions (alcohol, drugs and others), energizes, lowers anxiety and stress. Experts also note the “philanthropic” effect of TM: those who practice it are more inclined to “ethical” thinking and behavior, to empathy and compassion for other people, to creating healthy interpersonal relationships. In general, TM restores balance to the head, body and heart.
By the way, about the heart. I would like to point out that, according to the American Heart Associaion, TM is the only meditation technique that actually helps lower blood pressure. In addition, published studies support TM to be effective in preventing cardiovascular disease. Please note that CVDs are the number ONE cause of death worldwide, and in Russia they account for more than 60% of deaths annually! Regular TM practice reduces the arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, which in turn helps to dilate blood vessels and reduce the production of stress hormones (adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol).
What is TM? This is a special technique of meditation: in the morning and in the evening, sitting in a quiet room in a position convenient for you, you repeat an individual mantra for 15–20 minutes. As simple as that. Yes, I also found it suspicious that such simple actions have such a huge effect. But the scientific research I read haunted me and I decided to study the issue on myself)))
In order to start practicing TM, it is necessary to complete a four-day training course with certified instructors in specialized centers. They will tell you about the benefits of meditation, explain how it works, teach you how to do it correctly and “give out” each individual mantra. In addition, you can return to the center for group meditations and consolidation of the practice.
I found time to study at the Moscow meditation center, here is a link to their website (I called them and signed up for classes at a convenient time for me). And I gave my husband the TM training for the New Year, so he studied at the center in Silicon Valley, where we were in December. (There, by the way, training costs several times more)
In general, we have both been practicing TM for several months now, I do it much more regularly than my husband. I postpone the morning session to the daytime, because in the morning my two-year-old son does not allow me to be alone for the WHOLE 20 minutes! So I put him on a nap and meditate. And in the evening I repeat the mantra, having already put him to bed for the night.
Fortunately, I did not have supercritical conditions, such as panic attacks or bipolar syndrome, so I cannot boast of a noticeable and rapid improvement in my well-being, as the heroes of the book Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation. But I can definitely boast that, for example, the level of my irritability has decreased significantly. In a situation in which before I would violently beat the ATM that had swallowed my card and hung up, now I was surprised to find myself calmly waiting for her return for about 10 (!!!) minutes. In addition, I became calmer, I more easily perceive situations when “everything is not according to plan”, or some setbacks, I rest faster and get enough sleep.
In short, I notice the positive changes from 40 minutes of daily meditation right now and I am sure that over time they will only accumulate. After all, TM practitioners for many years promise to increase creativity, efficiency and productivity, and even the absence of discomfort when flying long distances (there is a chance to say goodbye to the jet-leg!).
If you are interested in transcendental meditation, I recommend reading these books:
— Transcendence: Healing and Transformation Through Transcendental Meditation, Norman E. Rosenthal M.D.;
– Catch a big fish. Meditation, Mindfulness and Creativity. David Lynch.
And also visit the website of the Moscow Meditation Center, or the official website of the TM Organization, which is located in America.