(Glasgow) Herald, Monday 18th May 2005 Think about what we're missing out on�
Britain's role in the Iraq war means we'll no longer be able to enjoy the excellent benefits of transcendental meditation. By Beth Pearson TYPICAL. Just when the secret to enjoying a long, healthy life is revealed, it is withdrawn in Britain because Tony Blair went to war in Iraq. The founder of transcendental meditation (TM), Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, called a press conference to announce that he doesn't wish to give "longevity to the dragon" just days after the publication of long-term research that showed the practice of TM over five years or more can cut death rates by almost a quarter. The TM community is still reeling, albeit rather calmly, from the news. David Fawcett works at the Maharishi Foundation in Lancashire. "It's very unusual," he says. "It's not happened in the 50 or so years it's been in the UK. It's a very surprising announcement, but I think it was prompted by the re-election of Blair. He doesn't want a destroyer of the world to enjoy longevity. "Before he has said that where a country is an aggressor it needs more meditators to soften it, but now he says we have been nourishing that destructive quality. He said that now we're withdrawing from Britain, we would expect more negativity to occur, not wishing there would be more negativity. It'll be interesting to see if we do have more problems from now on." Those working in TM widely expect the withdrawal of teaching to be a temporary one. However, British teachers are reported to be traveling to former eastern bloc countries to help begin a TM movement there. In the meantime, Brits can contemplate what they'll be missing out on. The study published in the American Journal of Cardiology showed the results of a trial that followed 202 men and women with an average age of 71 and mildly elevated blood pressure. Subjects were randomly assigned to a TM programme, behavioral therapy (including mindfulness and progressive muscle relaxation) or health education and tracked by researchers; some for up to 18 years. Compared with control groups, the TM group showed a 23% reduction in the rate of death from all causes, a 30% reduction in the rate of death from cardiovascular disease and a 49% reduction in the rate of death from cancer. This isn't the first research to quantify TM's life-promoting benefits. More than a decade ago, the International journal of Neuro-Science published a study that claimed people who begin TM in their 50s and continued it for five years had a biological age of 12 years less than their non TM peers. Dr Robert Schneider is the director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at the Maharishi University of Management (MUM) in Iowa. "What we knew from the 600 previous scientific studies was the practice of TM creates a unique state of restful alertness, just from 15 to 20 minutes twice a day," he says. "We knew it increased orderliness in brain function, decreased the stress hormone, reduced blood pressure, smoking, alcohol abuse and other risk factors for heart disease and we knew it reduced the natural correlates of biology of ageing, but we didn't have strong data on its effects on longevity or mortality. "The missing link was filled in by this new study. It's restorative: sometimes you can affect one system and not another, but for longevity you need all the systems working better." While the biological benefits of TM are often explained with reference to its stress-reducing action, Schneider thinks this is too simplistic. "Reduction of stress is there, but when you look more carefully there are changes in brain functioning," he says. "It seems that basic restoration of the body's inner order and self repair mechanisms is a more fundamental explanation. on the basis of experiencing this deep rest every day. Future research will certainly look at mechanisms of these effects for more physiological explanations " Although TM is widely associated with spiritual practices, it has always been intended as a scientific way to bring about physiological, psychological and sociological benefits (the latter being why Maharishi could not make a distinction between practice of TM in Britain and Blair's going to war). After giving TM up John Lennon described it as "a waste of time", but the worldwide estimate for practicing meditators is four million and each person who learns TM must be taught. "You can't learn from a book", says David. "The person learns during a four-day course. It's a very natural, simple technique and must be taught individually. A mantra is used but there's a subtlety to it � it's not just saying it over and over again. It's a way of allowing the mind to settle down. It's a bit like learning to fall off a log � you just let go. "As it settles down, it settles into pure awareness or pure consciousness. This has a nourishing effect and that's how it helps to dissolve stress in the nervous system" TM is now attracting funding from major research institutes in the US and research on it is being published in top medical journals. The latest investigation was a collaborative effort by Harvard, University of Iowa, Medical College Georgia and West Oakland Health Centre, as well as MUM. As interest and credibility from the medical establishment grows, Schneider hopes this will begin to disseminate and increase awareness of TM. "What I would like to see, based on research and the couple of hundred other studies, is people learning anf practicing the TM technique as a preventive modality," he says. "I believe the UK is an ageing population like the US, with the baby boomers reaching their senior years now. I'd like to see TM being used for prevention of chronic diseases, like cardiovascular disease, which is the number one cause of death in the UK and US and the world". __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------ End of Forwarded Message To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
