Research on Transcendental Meditation

The scientific research on Transcendental Meditation is the largest and strongest body of research in the world on any programme to develop human potential. More than 350 peer-reviewed research studies on TM have been published in over 160 scientific journals. These studies were conducted at many US and international universities and research centres, including Harvard Medical School, Stanford Medical School, Yale Medical School, and UCLA Medical School.

This research has so far reported:

• Reduced risk factors for hypertension, diabetes, and obesity (American Medical Association's Archives of Internal Medicine)
• Reduced thickening of coronary arteries (American Heart Association's Stroke)
• Reduced blood pressure in comparison with other procedures (Ethnicity & Disease)
• Reduced heart failure (Ethnicity & Disease)
• Reduced use of hypertensive medication (American Journal of Hypertension)
• Improved brain response to stress and pain (NeuroReport)

In addition here are some highlights of recently published studies:

• Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, November 2012, a journal of the American Heart Association: 5-year randomized controlled study on patients with established coronary heart disease reported a 48% reduction in death, heart attack, and stroke in subjects in the TM group compared to controls.
• Hypertension, June 2013, American Heart Association scientific statement, concluded that the TM technique is the only meditation practice that has been shown to lower blood pressure and recommends that TM may be considered in clinical practice for the prevention and treatment of hypertension.
• Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, October 2013: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) found significantly greater effect of TM in reducing trait anxiety than treatment-as-usual and other alternative treatments, including mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) and other meditation and relaxation practices.