Recently a number of studies have been conducted about the health benefits of meditation, including Transendental Meditation.
According to these studies, meditating thus for atleast 20 minutes each, twice daily works miracles on the body and mind.
A study has found that transendental meditation, which involves making oneself comfortable while sitting and meditating, while regulating breathing, works on the genes, producing a enzyme called Telomerase. This enzyme in turn helps in anti-aging, by regulating blood pressure, and other mortality related
issues.
Similar benefits have been found on digestion, mental health, reduction in cancer probability and other issues.
In one of the studies conducted at Howard University Medical Centre in Washington DC, USA, a group of 48 African Americans were divided into two groups. African Americans are known to have a 48% greater risk of hypertension than caucasians.
One group was made to to transendental meditation for sixteen weeks, while the other group was made to alter their lifestyle, focusing on weight management, physical activity, alcohol and salt intake reduction, for a similar period.
What was startling was that both groups exhibited the same improvement in health, with a similar reduction in blood pressure.
This led the scientists to conclude that the increase in telomerase activity during meditation was instrumental in health improvement, which occurred by both methods.
According to Dr. Schneider, associated with the study, “ These findings are very encouraging for prevention. They show tha tboth the Transcendental Meditation technique and active lifestyle modification can contribute to heart health.”
