If you’ve ever wondered “why learn to meditate” before, well wonder no more. The National Institute of Health has spent more than $21 million conducting research on meditation and its effects on the mind and body. Transcendental meditation in particular is one of the most-studied alternative therapies in existence. Over the years, there have been studies on metabolic/biochemical/cardiovascular changes (67), personality development (55), overall health (49), learning/academic performance (49), rehabilitation (44), electro-physiological changes (41), the Maharishi Effect/transcendence (41), motor/perceptual ability (26), psychology (25), physiological changes (24), sociology (17), physiology stability (16), and productivity/quality of life (12).
If you’re an insomniac, then you needn’t ask “why learn to meditate” at all — for the secret lies in deep relaxation meditation. At the June 2009 Associated Professional Sleep Societies meeting, researchers from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Evanston, Illinois reported their findings that daytime meditation improved the quality of sleep in patients with insomnia. Patients noted marked improvement in their sleep latency, total sleep time, total wake time, sleep efficiency, sleep quality and depression symptoms after two months of practicing Kriya Yoga meditation methods. “Results of the study show that teaching deep relaxation techniques during the daytime can help improve sleep at night,” said study leader Ramadevi Gourineni MD.
High blood pressure sufferers who wondered “why learn to meditate” had their questions answered following a University of Kentucky College of Medicine study. Dr. James W. Anderson found that transcendental meditation is an effective treatment for controlling high blood pressure, without the side effects of anti-hypertension drugs. Meditation reduced 4.7 mm systolic blood pressure down to 3.2 mm, he said. “Adding Transcendental Medication is about equivalent to adding a second anti-hypertension agent to one’s current regimen only safer and less troublesome,” Anderson concluded after 9 randomized, controlled trials.
People who once wondered “why learn to meditate” are now finding they are the biggest advocates of meditation. Physicians are using meditation to cut down on fatigue, stress and burn-out. Employers are incorporating yoga and meditation into their employees’ work days to increase productivity and boost office morale. Patients are using different types of meditation to help when traditional medicine has failed them, for everything from chronic joint pain to depression. We’re likely to see many exciting findings in the coming years, given the amount of research being conducted and the advancement of MRI brain scan technology.
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