Transcendental Meditation—A Successful Investment

Marnie Abramson, Principal and Director of Marketing, Tower Companies said that the Transcendental Meditation technique has given her the performance leadership skills she needs in her business transactions and relationships.

“TM has given me the opportunity to have more free time by sharpening my focus and allowing me to work smarter, Abramson said. “There’s a sense of calm in me that allows me to hear other people better. And I can hear more clearly what is important to somebody else. I think that makes it easier for us to kind of come together. There’s something about the quietness of my mind; it doesn’t stop the energy and enthusiasm. It just allows me to funnel all of my energy and my actions into where I am.

Abramson said that any executive, manager, or business leader can benefit from investing in the time to learn the Transcendental Meditation technique.

“Taking the time to learn Transcendental Meditation is going to pay off in your professional career, in terms of how you relate to people, how productive you are, how efficient and effective,” Abramson said. “ It’s like making an investment that pays dividends, except, over time, the more you do it, the dividends just get larger and larger; the payback increases. I can’t think of another investment that you could make that has so little risk for so high a reward.”

Transcendental Meditation and Competition

Howard Settle, President of Century Explorations International, recently talked about the Transcendental Meditation program and keeping the edge in the oil and gas business.

“The oil and gas business is a very competitive business. It’s a highly regulated, high tech business. People would not think of it in that way, but it requires that you be on the leading edge of technology.”

Mr. Settle found that the Transcendental Meditation technique is the technology he needed to maintain himself in the rush-a-day world market.

“The first reason I practice TM twice a day is that it makes me feel good. It makes me feel clear; and it makes me feel ready for whatever I may face in a given day. But second, and perhaps as important, I see it as a technology that allows me to maintain a competitive advantage in the industry.”

Mr. Settle explained that the simplicity and ease of the Transcendental Meditation technique gives him the required clarity for the decision-making process.

“With TM, the mind rids itself of the clutter. It becomes very quiet and very relaxed, and very comfortable, and so I’m starting fresh, and I’m just taking in the information that I deem to be important,”

Mr. Settle explained that in the fast-paced market place you must make and change decisions quickly to keep your competitive edge.

“With TM you’re going to have the ability that as soon as you realize that the direction is not precisely accomplishing your goals, you can make those crucial mid-course corrections. With the mind working in a very relaxed manner, in a very clear manner, it allows you to feel comfortable that you’re going in the right direction”

Transcendental Meditation for Women in the Workplace

Dr. Nancy Lonsdorf, national health specialist and the author of The Ageless Woman: Natural Health and Beauty after Forty, recently spoke on the benefits of the Transcendental Mediation program for reducing stress in the workplace and at home.

“The Transcendental Meditation program is not simply another stress management technique. It actually changes the way your nervous system processes stress, and makes it process it in a non-harmful way,” said Dr. Lonsdorf. “You know the kind of pressures that women are under on the job every day—deadlines; time pressure; learning new technologies; getting along with co-workers, clients, and the boss. All of these put tremendous pressure on us. In addition, when we go home at the end of the day, we face another set of responsibilities and potential stressors.”

Dr. Lonsdorf emphasized that the stressors in the lives of women do not go away in time. In fact they increase as responsibilities increase and families grow. She also explained the dangers of exposure to constant and chronic stress.

“At times the stress can be overwhelming, and that can result in fatigue, chronic health problems, and burnout. Chronic stress leads to elevations in cortisol, or the stress hormone, and norepenepherine and epinephrine, which are the fight or flight hormones. These neurochemicals can be very deleterious over time. They can cause premature aging, unwanted weight gain, memory problems, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and more serious health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease, or even cancer. Therefore, controlling cortisol is an important factor in our health, and that comes by processing stress differently.”

Dr. Lonsdorf said that with the Transcendental Mediation program, relief from stressors is readily available.

“With just four months of practice of the Transcendental Meditation program, baseline cortisol levels, meaning the amount of cortisol in our blood day by day, drops significantly, compared to a control group who simply learned about health education or how to management stress better. Stress simply becomes less stressful. And that means that we enjoy our work more. And research corroborates that job satisfaction improves with the practice of Transcendental Meditation, as does job productivity, and relationships with co-workers.”

According to Dr. Lonsdorf, the bottom line for women in the workplace is to reduce stress easily and effectively with practice of the Transcendental Meditation program.

“If stress is affecting your life or affecting your health, I strongly encourage you to learn the Transcendental Meditation Program,” said Dr. Lonsdorf. “It’s a gift you can give yourself that will give back to you day by day and will also give to the others in your life, both at work and at home.”

Key Points for Leadership Performance

Bob Brown, with 20 years of marketing and management experience for Fortune 500 companies, serves as Executive Director of the Center for Leadership Performance at Maharishi University of Management. He spoke at a national conference on the Transcendental Meditation program in the workplace where he detailed the value of the Transcendental Meditation program for developing effective leaders in a company or business.

“I want to cover three points,” said Brown. “The first is, what do you mean by leadership, and how can the Transcendental Meditation program claim a mantel for a leadership program when there are so many others out there? The second is, I’m asked all the time: ‘Am I going to lose my competitive ability if I’m doing something passive like meditating?’ And third, what can you expect when you implement TM in your business?”

To address his first point, Brown said that the most effective business leaders work behind the scenes, on the level that underlies a business or company. “That’s similar to the way the Transcendental Meditation program can work in your business,” Brown says. “It’s working with the platform behind the activity that people do in business, and that’s why it’s successful.”

Second, Brown said that the TM technique is not something that makes leaders lose their competitive edge. In fact, the opposite happens when people practice the technique. “TM is designed for people in the active world. It’s very effective that way. When you practice this technique, you’re diving in twice a day for 20 minutes. You get that intense rest, and your nervous system throws off the reasons why negative aspects happen., Suddenly you find that you’re much more able to intensify what it is that you’re doing and be able to do it with more energy and drive.”

To address his third point, Brown said that when implementing the Transcendental Meditation program in your company, you can expect concrete results immediately. “What we find with TM is that when people spend that 20 minutes gaining deep rest, they’re able to gain perspective on problems and challenges. So suddenly their innovation and problem solving levels shoot up. They have that platform for activity that they’re establishing deep within themselves. And this gives that perspective.”

To summarize, Brown said that both the individual and the company benefit from the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique. “You’re not so caught up in the activity; you’re not overshadowed with what’s going on. So, it’s a wonderful practice for the individual, but it’s also collectively wonderful for an organization.”

National Conference on the Transcendental Meditation Program in the Workplace

Leadership Performance experts report that the Transcendental Meditation technique develops CEO capabilities in anyone.

An executive leadership performance program with the Transcendental Meditation technique at its core was launched in Washington D.C. Hosed by John Hagelin Ph.D., superstring physicist and director of the Center for Leadership Performance, the conference featured business and health experts from around the U.S. and announced that the Transcendental Mediation technique, a simple, natural mental technique, is the most effective means for reducing stress in the human nervous system. The byproduct of stress reduction—optimal brain functioning—is essential for effective decision-making and leadership performance development. See http://www.tmbusiness.org/ to view the entire conference.

Breaking News on TM and Hypertension

CONTACT: Ken Chawkin, (641) 470-1314
Ann Blackford, (859) 323-6363 ext. 230

FOR RELEASE

Transcendental Meditation More Effective in Reducing High Blood PressureCompared to Other Stress Reduction Programs, Study Shows

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Dec. 4, 2007) − People with high blood pressure may find relief from Transcendental Meditation, according to a definitive new meta-analysis of 107 published studies on stress reduction programs and high blood pressure, which will be published in the December issue of Current Hypertension Reports.
The Transcendental Meditation technique produces a statistically significant reduction in high blood pressure that is not found with other forms of relaxation, meditation, biofeedback or stress management.

The new meta-analysis reviewed randomized, controlled trials of all stress reduction and relaxation methods in participants with high blood pressure that have been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Blood pressure changes for the Transcendental Meditation technique included average reductions of 5.0 points on systolic blood pressure and 2.8 on diastolic blood pressure, which were statistically significant, according to the review. The other stress reduction programs did not show significant changes in blood pressure.
Blood pressure changes associated with Transcendental Meditation practice were consistent with other controlled studies showing reductions in cardiovascular risk factors, improved markers of heart disease, and reduced mortality rates among participants in the Transcendental Meditation program.

The new meta-analysis was conducted by researchers at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and at the NIH-funded Institute of Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management.

According to Dr. James Anderson, professor of medicine at the University of Kentucky and co-author of the new meta-analysis, the findings of the new review rebut a July 2007 report sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the NIH-National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which concluded that most research on meditation is low quality and found little evidence that any specific stress reduction effectively lowers blood pressure. The new meta-analysis identified all high quality meditation studies published through 2006 and rigorously analyzed their effects, which the previous government report failed to do.
Anderson said the new meta-analysis includes only high quality studies on all available stress reduction interventions. The studies on Transcendental Meditation were conducted at five independent universities and medical institutions, and the majority of them were funded by competitive grants from the National Institutes of Health.

“The magnitude of the changes in blood pressure with the Transcendental Meditation technique are at least as great as the changes found with major changes in diet or exercise that doctors often recommend,” Anderson said. “Yet the Transcendental Meditation technique does not require changes in lifestyle. Thus many patients with mild hypertension or prehypertension may be able to avoid the need to take blood pressure medications--all of which have adverse side effects. Individuals with more severe forms of hypertension may be able to reduce the number or dosages of their BP medications under the guidance of their doctor.”
Anderson added that long-term changes in blood pressure of this magnitude are associated with at least a 15 percent reduction in rates of heart attack and stroke. “This is important to everyone because cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the U.S. and worldwide,” Anderson said.

The study’s biostatistician, Maxwell Rainforth, assistant professor of Physiology and Health Statistics at Maharishi University of Management, said the meta-analysis used state-of-the-art statistical methods to review 107 published studies in the field of stress reduction, relaxation and blood pressure. “The twenty-three separate studies included in the final analysis met well-known criteria for high scientific quality. That is, these studies used repeated blood pressure measurements and participants were randomized to either a stress reduction technique or placebo-type control for at least eight weeks. The data we used are all published in peer-reviewed scientific journals,” Rainforth said.

According to Dr. Robert Schneider, director of the Institute of Natural Medicine and Prevention and co-author, this rigorously conducted meta-analysis indicates that the Transcendental Meditation program is distinctively effective compared to other scientifically studied techniques in lowering high blood pressure.

“For those 100 million Americans with elevated blood pressure, here is a scientifically documented, yet simple and easy way to lower blood pressure without drugs and harmful side effects. In addition, related studies show an integrated set of positive ‘side benefits,’ such as reduced stress, reduced heart disease levels and longer lifespan with this technique to restore balance in the cardiovascular system, mind and body,” Schneider said.

In striving to become a Top 20 public research institution, the University of Kentucky is a catalyst for a new Commonwealth – a Kentucky that is healthier, better educated, and positioned to compete in a global and changing economy. For more information about UK’s efforts to become a Top 20 university, please go to http://www.uky.edu/OPBPA/Top20.html

TM Key to Leadership Performance

Ramani Ayer, Chairman and CEO of Hartford Financial Services and the Hartford Fire Insurance Company, spoke in Washington, D.C. this past spring about leadership performance and the Transcendental Meditation technique.

The Transcendental Meditation technique, a simple natural mental technique, which dissolves stress, enhances development of full mental potential and the growth of leadership qualities is the key for Mr. Ayer to maintaining the level of leadership performance in the world market.

“TM has certainly helped me raise my performance to cope with the stresses and strains of life. It has certainly given me a quality of equanimity through ups and downs,” said Mr. Ayer.

Leadership comes from within strong, powerful leaders who possess some essential attributes. Mr. Ayer explained that “leadership is an important asset, if it’s available to a corporation, leadership is something that could make a difference in high quality performance of the company, and today, investors expect leaders to really make a dramatic impact on the future of their company,”

Mr. Ayer explained “A leader must be capable of seeing the future, looking around the corner; a capacity to embrace bold, positive ideas; set very ambitious goals; a capacity to really understand in very harsh, real terms, what is going on at the ground level; what’s happening to his business; what are its strengths, what are its weaknesses, what are it’s opportunities and challenges.”

Finally, Mr. Ayer explained why it’s important for leaders to sustain the ability to cope with stresses and strains: “CEOs, today’s leaders, are confronted with challenges and opportunities, and challenges can get you down, at times, especially when they’re of a negative quality. As leaders, we have to sustain performance, no matter what the environment. And I believe very strongly that the use and practice of TM has certainly helped me maintain a very steady state of mind no matter what happens.”