Research on Transcendental Meditation
“Transcendental Meditation benefits from a vast body of 40 years of research showing very powerful long-lasting reductions in stress and sustained improvements in health.”
Scientific evidence that Transcendental Meditation works
Hundreds of scientific studies have been conducted on the benefits of the Transcendental Meditation program at more than 200 independent universities and research institutions worldwide over the past 40 years. The National Institutes of Health in the US have awarded over $38 million to research the effectiveness of TM for reducing stress and stress-related illness with a focus on cardiovascular disease. Findings have been published in leading, peer-reviewed scientific journals, including The American Journal of Cardiology and the American Heart Association’s Hypertension and Stroke.
In Australia we work with Melbourne University’s Phoenix Centre for Post Traumatic Mental Health, Southern Cross University, Newcastle University, and the University of South Australia.
The TM technique’s benefits start right away and keep growing. Hundreds of independent research studies have found major increases in calmness, creativity, energy, clarity of mind, and happiness.
Research Summary
Benefits to Education
- 21% increase in high school graduation rate
Education 133 (4): 495-500, 2013 - 10% improvement in test scores and GPA
Education 131: 556–565, 2011 - Increased attendance and decreased suspensions for high school students
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 1:10, 2003 - Reduced ADHD symptoms and symptoms of other learning disorders
Mind & Brain: The Journal of Psychiatry 2 (1): 73-81, 2011 - Increased intelligence and creativity
Intelligence 29: 419-440, 2001 - 40% reduction in psychological distress, including stress, anxiety and depression
American Journal of Hypertension 22(12): 1326-1331, 2009 - Reduction in teacher burnout and perceived stress
Permanante Journal 18 (1): 19-23, 2014
Benefits to Veterans
- 40-55% reduction in symptoms of PTS and depression
Military Medicine 176 (6): 626-630, 2011 - 42% decrease in insomnia
Journal of Counselling and Development 64: 212-215, 1985 - 25% reduction in plasma cortisol levels
Hormones and Behaviour 10: 54–60, 1978 - Decreased high blood pressure–on par with first-line antihypertensives
American Journal of Hypertension 21: 310–316, 2008 - 47% reduced risk of cardiovascular-related mortality
Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes 5: 750-758, 2012 - 30% improvement in satisfaction with quality of life
Military Medicine 176 (6): 626-630, 2011
Benefits to Abused Women
and Girls
- Reduced flashbacks and bad memories
Military Medicine 176 (6): 626-630, 2011 - Greater resistance to stress
Psychosomatic Medicine 35: 341–349, 1973 - Twice the effectiveness of conventional approaches for reducing alcoholism and substance abuse
Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11: 13-87, 1994 - 42% decrease in insomnia
Journal of Counselling and Development 64: 212-215, 1985 - Twice as effective as other relaxation techniques for decreasing trait anxiety
Journal of Clinical Psychology 45(6): 957–974, 1989 - Improved quality of life
Military Medicine 176 (6): 626-630, 2011
University and Medical Schools
Research has been conducted on the Transcendental Meditation program at 250 independent universities and medical schools, including:
- Harvard Medical School
- Yale Medical School
- University of Virginia Medical Centre
- University of Michigan Medical School
- University of Chicago Medical School
- University of Southern California Medical School
- UCLA Medical School
- UCSF Medical School
- Stanford Medical School
University of Connecticut
At-risk adolescents reduce stress, anxiety and hyperactivity through Transcendental Meditation
This newly completed study found that 106 at-risk adolescents in three high schools reduced their levels of stress, anxiety, hyperactivity and emotional problems when practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique for four months at school, as compared with controls.
- Robert Colbert, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut
- Annual Meeting of the Society for Behavioural Medicine, March 2008
American University
Transcendental Meditation produces positive effects on health, brain functioning and cognitive development in students
This two-year study of 250 students attending American University and surrounding colleges in Washington, D.C., found that the TM program produced beneficial effects for health, brain functioning, and cognitive development compared to controls.
- David Haaga, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the James J. Gray Psychotherapy Training Clinic, American University
- American Journal of Hypertension, 2009
- International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2009
Cedars Sinai Medical Centre
– Los Angeles
Transcendental Meditation reduces hypertension, obesity and diabetes in patients with coronary heart disease
This study of 103 people with coronary heart disease found that individuals practicing Transcendental Meditation for four months had significantly lower blood pressure, improved blood glucose and insulin levels (which signify reduced insulin resistance), and more stable functioning of the autonomic nervous system compared to controls.
- C. Noel Bairey Merz, M.D., Director of the Preventive and Rehabilitative Cardiac Centre at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre; Professor of Medicine at the UCLA Medical School
- American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine, June 2006
Medical College of Georgia
Reduced high blood pressure among high school students
This eight-month study of 156 hypertensive African American high school students found that the Transcendental Meditation program reduced high blood pressure among the meditating students as compared with little or no change in the control group (twenty percent of African American teenagers suffer from high blood pressure).
- Vernon Barnes, Ph.D., physiologist and research scientist, Georgia Prevention Institute, Medical College of Georgia
- American Journal of Hypertension, April 2004
University of Michigan
Transcendental Meditation reduces stress and increases happiness among middle school students
Two studies on 60 sixth graders at two middle schools found the practice of Transcendental Meditation over four months positively affected emotional development in early adolescent children in a school setting. Meditating students also had significantly higher scores on affectivity, self-esteem, and emotional competence.
- Rita Benn, Ph.D., Director of Education, Complementary & Alternative Medicine Research Centre, University of Michigan
- National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, April 2003
University of California at Irvine
Transcendental Meditation reduces the brain’s reaction to stress
In this pilot study, 12 subjects practicing Transcendental Meditation for 30 years showed a 40–50% lower brain response to stress and pain compared to 12 healthy controls. Further, when the controls then learned and practiced Transcendental Meditation for five months, their brain responses to stress and pain also decreased by a comparable 40–50%.
- David Orme-Johnson, Ph.D., study director, Neuroimaging Laboratory, University of California at Irvine
- NeuroReport, August 2006