In a new study, researchers randomly assigned 201 people with heart disease to participate in a Transcendental Meditation stress-reducing program or a health education class about lifestyle modification for diet and exercise. The results showed the group who practiced Transcendental Meditation regularly were 48 percent less likely to have a heart attack, stroke or die from all causes compared with those who attended a health education class over more than five years.
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Those in the meditation program sat with eyes closed for about 20 minutes twice a day practicing the technique, allowing their minds and bodies to rest deeply while remaining alert.
Participants in the health education group were advised, under the instruction of professional health educators, to spend at least 20 minutes a day at home practicing heart-healthy behaviors such as exercise, healthy meal preparation and nonspecific relaxation.
Those practicing Transcendental Meditation also lowered their blood pressure and reported less stress and anger. And the more regularly patients meditated, the greater their survival, said researchers who conducted the study at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
"We hypothesized that reducing stress by managing the mind-body connection would help improve rates of this epidemic disease," said Robert Schneider, M.D., lead researcher and director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention in Fairfield, Iowa. "It appears that Transcendental Meditation is a technique that turns on the body's own pharmacy — to repair and maintain itself."
"Transcendental Meditation may reduce heart disease risks for both healthy people and those with diagnosed heart conditions," said Schneider, who is also dean of Maharishi College of Perfect Health in Fairfield, Iowa.
"The research on Transcendental Meditation and cardiovascular disease is established well enough that physicians may safely and routinely prescribe stress reduction for their patients with this easy to implement, standardized and practical program," he said.
Transcendental Meditation was largely popularized in the late 1960's when The Beatles practiced it and praised its benefits.
For those with heart disease, this is a great natural treatment plan, combined with proper diet and exercise this can be a very powerful alternative or supplement to medication.
Even for those who are in good health, the Transcendental Meditation technique has been scientifically proven to help prevent heart disease.
This new research is published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
More information on using the Transcendental Meditation technique can be found at www.TM.org.
Article by Melissa MillerLabels: Health Tips, New Research
+Heart+Disease+Study.jpg "Meditation Heart Disease Study")