The Basis of Transcendental Meditation
Just as its name might have partially alluded, transcendental meditation; TM for short is a form of meditation where a specified mantra (phrase) or Sanskrit (word) is repeated mentally during the duration of the meditation. The timing for this can be about 15- 20 minutes daily depending on individuals. the aim of this is to achieve inner tranquility and physical calmness. Unlike most types of meditation that focuses on emptying one’s mind by clearing out thoughts and emotion, Transcendental Meditation does this through the uttered mantra.
Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years in many ancient countries. Nevertheless, through a lot of religion, these techniques are still in existence. While Transcendental meditation isn’t a religion or religious practice, it’s teaching is quite rooted in spirituality. Before we go any further, it is best to have a quick history of how T.M. came into existence.
Since ages past, gurus in the art of meditation pass down their practice or techniques down to their disciples from generation to generation. This circle of knowledge even becomes smaller a technique is known to be very powerful and effective. This same could be said about the sages in India. This tradition however changed just before the death of Brahmananda Saraswati, popularly called Guru Dev by his followers. In 1953, he saddled the responsibility of sharing the knowledge of his techniques to the world to one of these students; Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Yogi had his Master’s degree in 1940 at the same university he studied Physics; Allahabad University. It was after this that he went to learn yoga and meditation from Guru Dev. Having being given the task, he went around the world sharing this powerful meditation technique. He started his tour at the Far East, then across the sea in 1958 which led him to Europe and the USA.
Just before he died on February 5, 2008, he was able to take the technique all over the world, creating centers and institutions mainly for transcendental meditation, and also certifying over 40,000 meditation teachers. One major reason the success of this is so pronounced is the potency of Transcendental Meditation. It is an all-round form of meditation that does not only give you peace of mind but also bring harmony to your spirit, mind, and body.
The responsibilities and activities we have or engage in the world are often times too overwhelming. It can sometimes cause a whole lot of bad emotions running through us with little to no solution at hand. These emotions in the long run can cause anxiety, anger, insomnia, high blood pressure, and even depression. However, Transcendental Meditation helps to clear out all these issues by attacking its very root – the spirit, mind, and body.
Benefits of Transcendental Meditation
While this might sound like a sales copy, there are limitless researches and studies to back up the usefulness of Transcendental Meditation, these are few benefits you derive from practicing it.
- Brain Benefit: Studies have shown that the constant practice of T.M can enhance one’s cognitive function. This will not only make you a tad smarter than you are by improving your memory. It will also help you more focus so as to retain more information than before.
- Cardiovascular/ Blood Pressure Benefit: it is no surprise that this is the only meditation prescribed to patients that are prone to stroke and heart attack. Transcendental Meditation reduces stress and anxiety which in the long run brings a great reduction to your blood pressure or heart attack. This notion is backed by the American Heart Association journal in November 2012. A five-year study showed a 48% decrease in death from stroke and heart attack of patients that practice T.M. a similar result was also published about anxiety in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine; October 2013.
- Insomnia and emotional control benefit: if you have hard sleeping, this will go a long way in ensuring that you have a restful sleep at night. Also, for people that have constant uncontrolled outbursts of emotions, this T.M is a very helpful practice.
No doubt the benefit of T.M is numerous and these are just a few that are popular.
How to Connect to Your Inner Source and Power Through T.M
One beauty of T.M is that do you not need to live a monk’s life of renunciation to achieve it. Also, as we have said earlier, unlike most of the meditation out there, there is no need to try hard to concentrate, clear your mind, or block some thoughts while doing it. This undoubtedly makes it easy to practice by virtually everyone. This is not to say that T.M is a piece of cake, however, you won’t have to go through a lot of stress for this technique. Also, there is a need for persistence so as to have a more glaring result, this shouldn’t be a problem since it takes only 15 to 20 minutes of your time daily. Now that we have cleared these out, let’s move on to what Transcendental meditation entails.
- Be comfortable: the first thing to do is to choose a comfortable place and position for yourself before starting. This exercise will take about 20 minutes, so it’s best to pick a place or position that won’t leave you sore. It can be sitting on a mat with your legs crossed or on a chair, there isn’t any rule to this.
- Close your eyes: do this gently; allowing the light around you to slowly turn to darkness. You can open then close it again if you like before leaving them shut for the next 15-20 minutes.
- Say and repeat the Mantra: the mantra is often given by a TM teacher beforehand. This will be repeated for as long as the meditation takes. If you find yourself swaying or having thoughts, just push your focus back to the mantra you are saying.
- Ease back slowly: after the stipulated time, you can begin to move your fingers and toes slowly to bring you back to the physical world. After this open your eyes as slowly as you closed it then rise when you feel ready.
Candidly, this at first might seem like an impossible task, but, as time goes on you begin to get better. T.M makes you feel calmer and at peace and this will help you carry on with your daily activities with high spirit.