Twelve healthy long-term meditators who had been practicing Transcendental Meditation for 30 years showed a 40-50% lower brain response to pain compared to 12 healthy controls, reported by a latest NeuroReport journal article, published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (Vol.17 No.12; 21 August 2006:1359-1363). Further, when the 12 controls then learned and practiced Transcendental Meditation for 5 months, their brain responses to pain also decreased by a comparable 40-50%. www.neuroreport.com Current issue (Aug 9)
Transcendental Meditation could reduce the brain’s response to pain because neuroimaging and autonomic studies indicate that it produces a physiological state capable of modifying various kinds of pain. In time it reduces trait anxiety, improves stress reactivity and decreases distress from acute pain.
According to Orme-Johnson, lead author of this research, “Prior research indicates that Transcendental Meditation creates a more balanced outlook on life and greater equanimity in reacting to stress. This study suggests that this is not just an attitudinal change, but a fundamental change in how the brain functions”.
Pain is part of everyone’s experience and 50 million people worldwide suffer from chronic pain. Transcendental Meditation would have a long term effect in reducing responses in the affective component of the pain matrix. Future research could focus on other areas of the pain matrix and the possible effects of other meditation techniques to relieve pain.
The Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention is the Maharishi University of Management.
One of the beliefs of Transcendental Meditation is that Yogic Flying, a cross legged hopping, is a step to true levitation. You can see this stated on a National Geographic Channel program, “Is It Real.”
TM like Qi Gong and Kundalini Yoga uses eyes-open meditation while engaging a group exercise. This copies the “special circumstances” for exposure from Subliminal Distraction. All three forms of exercise produce fixed psychotic-like mental states with impossible beliefs that match the style of the delusions of schizophrenia.
These narrowly focused bizarre belief systems do not seem to hamper their daily life and ability to function in other areas. Under the system of classification used by the DSM this is not considered mental illness. But the belief that Newton’s laws of physics are outdated and can be willed away by meditation is psychotic.
Look at the practice of Qi Gong. Users believe that if they perform slow motion martial arts katas in unison they gain the power to control universal life forces that created the Universe. This force is called Qi (Chee) for users of Qi Gong and Prana for Yogis.
Understanding the effect of subliminal distraction and how it alters thinking is key to understanding this problem.
Researcher “at”
http://VisionAndPsychosis.Net
I am happy to see Tracenet was shutdown.
I guess the laws of Karma came quickly for you
and your organization.
TM is currently in a big upsurge now.
I told you 7 years ago Tracenet was a complete
waste of time!
I wonder how many people were hurt by not starting
TM from reading your suspect website.
I hope you somehow survive your bad deeds.
-Bill
Tom Cruise is not doctor or a medical researcher.
Somehow I think you know this.
Dr. Orme-Johnson’s research is held in high
regard by his peers. Research Studies are not
published without a review process by other
research doctors.
I am happy to see Tracenet was shutdown.
I guess the laws of Karma came quickly for you
and your organization.
TM is currently in a big upsurge now.
I told you 7 years ago Tracenet was a complete
waste of time!
I wonder how many people were hurt by not starting
TM from reading your suspect website.
I hope you somehow survive your anger & bad deeds.
-Bill
Orme-Johnson has been a member of the Transcendental Meditation cult for over 30 years. He typically publishes his research in second- or third-tier journals — but he never reveals his membership in TM. His research should be as suspect as research published by Tom Cruise on Scientology.
John M. Knapp, LMSW