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Lowering blood pressure with TM
by Claire Keeton

The Sunday Times Translate This Article
13 January 2008

On 13 January 2008 The Sunday Times reported: Transcendental Meditation helps reduce your stress levels and lowers high blood pressure better than any other relaxation technique, researchers say. Practitioners of the technique want to introduce the stress-reduction programme into South Africa's schools to help prevent stress, according to the article in the Sunday Times, the largest serious newspaper in South Africa. It is a joy for Global Good News service to feature this news, which indicates the success of the life-supporting programmes Maharishi has designed to bring fulfilment to the field of health.

Researchers say that people who practise Transcendental Meditation (TM) have a 30 per cent less chance of dying from heart attacks or strokes due to high blood pressure. Other stress-reduction programmes could not achieve the same results.

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is seen in almost a quarter of South Africans 15 years or older.

The Times quoted Shân Biesman-Simons, Education Director for the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa, as saying, 'Many people find Transcendental Meditation a means of stress reduction and this may improve their risk profile [for cardiovascular disease].'

He added that to help prevent hypertension his foundation encourages people to follow a healthy lifestyle, which would include stress-management, a healthy, weight-balancing diet, appropriate exercise, and no smoking.

Hypertension researcher Robert Schneider of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, was quoted by The Times as saying, 'South Africa . . . does not only have high rates of hypertension but also of psychological and sociopolitical stress. We think it is very important to institute stress-reduction programmes and this could start in school. Every school has a programme for physical education, and it would also be good to have mind-body education to promote complete health and wellness.'

Cape Town, South Africa is the home of Nigel Kahn, a teacher of Transcendental Meditation, who said that he and his fellow TM colleagues would like to start a programme that teaches Transcendental Meditation to high school students.

The Times quoted Mr Kahn as saying, 'TM is an effortless technique that brings deep rest for both the mind and body, which we practise for 15 to 20 minutes twice a day. The relaxation is a by-product of this deep rest. It is a simple, preventative tool against heart disease.'
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