Dr. Oz: Make Meditation Your New Year's Resolution

According to polls, the most popular New Year's resolutions for 2011 are: lose weight, quit drinking and/or smoking, exercise, manage your debt, reduce stress, get a better job, fall in love and volunteer to help others.

But if Dr. Mehmet Oz is correct, perhaps "learn to meditate" should be added to the top of everyone's list.

Meditation is emerging as a powerful stress-buster. Research shows that it can have health benefits equivalent to or better than some of the leading medications for reducing high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Dr. Oz, a meditator himself, spoke at the "Change Begins Within" benefit on Dec. 13 in New York City. The event was sponsored by the David Lynch Foundation, to raise funds to teach 10,000 veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder how to meditate. Addressing the impact of stress and its toll on the human heart, Dr. Oz explained how the Transcendental Meditation technique reduces the three main risk factors for heart disease.

"As a heart surgeon, I see the effects of stress on the heart as the leading cause of death in the Western world. This meditation, we believe, can help a lot of people. It's important to understand exactly how TM reduces stress and stress-related disorders."

Stating that high cholesterol is the first major risk factor for heart disease, Dr. Oz cited a one-year study on people with high cholesterol who practiced the TM technique.¹ The study found that cholesterol was reduced by 10 percent, or 30 milliliters. "Now, if you are on medication for cholesterol, we hope you can get 30 milliliters lower," he said.

The second risk factor for heart disease, cautioned Dr. Oz, is high insulin or diabetes. "A randomized clinical trial funded by the NIH found improvements in insulin resistance, glucose and even insulin levels themselves, after just four months of TM practice, in over 100 people who had coronary blocks.² This dramatic change was significantly better than just teaching people about their health."

Meditation also helps reduce hypertension -- the third main risk factor -- according to a randomized control study on people suffering from high blood pressure.³ "Those practicing the TM technique had a significant reduction in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, of 11 and 6, respectively. Those are big numbers. We don't get these kind of results all the time with medications."

The outcome of a long-term randomized trial on older African American patients with coronary heart disease showed similar promise.⁴ Those practicing the TM technique during this 10-year period were found to have 47 percent less incidence of mortality, heart disease and stroke. "This impact in the TM group is stunning -- unimaginable. When you talk about these causes of death and you can reduce them by that much, as well as non-fatal strokes and non-fatal heart attacks, these are spectacularly large impacts."

Research on meditation has come a long way in recent decades, with hundreds of peer-reviewed studies being published on a variety of meditation practices. There have been about 50 randomized controlled trials on the TM technique alone, and the NIH has granted over $25 million for scientists to further research the practice.

Regarding his own personal practice of the TM technique, Dr. Oz has said, "When I meditate, I go to that place where truth lives. I can see what reality really is, and it is so much easier to form good relationships then."

As everyone knows, following through on News Year's resolutions isn't always easy. If we're under stress, it's even harder -- we're more likely to overeat and find ourselves less motivated to exercise and more susceptible to smoking, drinking and other addictive behaviors. Meditation adds a powerful engine to your New Year's resolutions. What's more, it's easy!

WATCH: Dr. Mehmet Oz on the health benefits of meditation:

References:

1. Journal of Human Stress 5(4): 24-27, 1979. Cooper M. J., et al. Transcendental Meditation in the management of hypercholesterolemia; Harefuah, Journal of the Israel Medical Association 95(1): 1-2, 1978. Cooper M. J. and Aygen M. M. Effect of Transcendental Meditation on serum cholesterol and blood pressure.

2. Archives of Internal Medicine 2006; 166:1218-1224. Maura Paul-Labrador, MPH; Donna Polk, MD, MPH; James H. Dwyer, PhD†; Ivan Velasquez, MD; Sanford Nidich, PhD; Maxwell Rainforth, PhD; Robert Schneider, MD; C. Noel Bairey Merz, M. D. Effects of a Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcendental Meditation on Components of the Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects With Coronary Heart Disease.

3. American Journal of Hypertension 21 (3): 310-6, 2008. Anderson J.W., et al. Blood pressure response to Transcendental Meditation: a meta-analysis.

4. American Journal of Cardiology 95:1060-1064, 2005. Schneider R.H., et al. Long-term effects of stress reduction on mortality in persons ≥ 55 years of age with systemic hypertension.

 

 

 

Follow Jeanne Ball on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jeanneball

Comments

[phd angel]

04:19 PM on 01/15/2011

Better than nothing, but it is actually a pity that meditation is being sold as a mere "stress-buster" endorsed by medical scientists and lab studies, totally divorced from its metaphysical foundations.

What happened to spirituality?... What happened to the beautiful existential possibilities that are opened up when someone delves within?...

My god, is this the only way to convince Americans of the need of spirituality in their empty lives?...

[neuromancer2010]

07:19 PM on 01/15/2011

"My god, is this the only way to convince Americans of the need of spirituali ty in their empty lives?..."

It may well be, through science and health -- and fear of dying from stress.

"In all ways, men follow my path." —Bhagavad Gita

[valeriejanlois]

07:33 PM on 01/07/2011

I'm so grateful to have learned TM - especially since I had resolved never to try another meditation technique! There were many different kinds of meditation and self-help programs available in my college town and I was curious and sincere. None of them had any real, actual effect. So when my boyfriend at the time suggested TM (he had learned and liked it) I said NO WAY. But I did it because he badgered me into it. The day I learned TM I had been looking forward to coming out of the instruction room and telling him that I was right - it was just like the other techniques - but when I actually did come out after learning and effortlessly experiencing the pure unboundedness within me, my confrontational urge had dissolved away. Not only did my life become so much better, it's gotten so much more HUGE. TM. Wow. Thank you. It's been wonderful and continues to amaze, even after all these years.

[true me]

03:07 PM on 01/07/2011

I agree that regular meditation will help me fulfill my other new resolutions too, like exercising. I resolve to be on a better routine and take time to do my TM. I know that I feel so much better when I do. I appreciate these inspiring articles on meditation!

[JanetAlstonJackson]

10:15 AM on 01/07/2011

Thank you Jeanne for sharing that Dr. Oz meditates. It doesn't matter what method he uses because there are so many forms of meditation, and people must find what works for them. It matters that he influences millions of people and can open the door to helping millions of viewers heal on a metaphysical level, especially those who don't have health insurance. You can have the best medical care, and all of the medical information in the world, like Dr. Oz gives on his show, but it does no good if you are not open to exploring "if" stress is the cause of your illness. Renowned Cardiologist John M. Kennedy, MD, FACC, says what many doctors like Dr. Oz already know,
"Eighty percent of absenteeism at work is due to stress related illness."

[zenrunner]

02:37 PM on 01/06/2011

There seems to be lots and lots of TM folks posting in these comments. I know nothing about TM and am curious about it, but am not crazy at the thought of forking out $1500 to find out what it is exactly. So I have 2 questions for the TM folks: 1. Could you please summarize the actual TECHNIQUE (not the benefits therein, which the website drones on about ad nauseum w/o ever providing any specifics) in a paragraph or two, and 2. I am curious if you have had experience with other forms of meditation before choosing to do TM.

[Jimmy Goodman]

04:03 PM on 01/06/2011

For anyone who can't afford the tuition for TM, there is financial assistance from the non-profit TM organization--as I said below.

I know what you mean about how the website dwells mostly on the benefits, and not the actual practice. But the process of transcending is indeed described on TM.org. As a longtime TM meditator, I'd say the site dwells mostly on the benefits because the experience of TM is very personal, deep, private, intimate, and very subtle. To present the benefits and scientific research makes it concrete for anyone who doesn't yet have the experience. It's a unique experience, not like watching your thoughts, concentrating, guided imagery or any of those things that are rather easy to describe, because when you transcend you go beyond all concrete mental processes and experience something very abstract -- it's simple and natural, but really beyond words. Scientists call it restful alertness or inner wakefulness. Some people call it pure Being.

I think this is why the TM website focuses mostly on the concrete results, and not the process or inner experience.

If you read through the comments, you'll find many people who did other practices and then learned TM. Pretty much every body tries whatever is most easily available first. I was mostly into Zen for a few years, and still love the precepts and texts and sayings of the Zen masters.

[nanderson65]

04:17 PM on 01/06/2011

There are paths that do not charge money.

[Glory Dog]

05:39 PM on 01/06/2011

if whether or not there's a tuition for classes is what's most important to you, then by all means, you should follow your heart and base your decision on that—there are so many practices you can learn cheaply or for free that do not require personal instruction from a trained teacher, that do not involve the 4 class sessions, that are not upheld by teachers who offer a free lifetime follow-up program to support your progress, if needed, as you advance... but you might also want to consider that all meditation practices do not give you the same results:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeanne-ball/how-meditation-techniques_b_735561.html

http://www.physorg.com/news198836667.html

[Glory Dog]

02:25 PM on 01/06/2011

Reading through the comments, it's really nice when people from different practices and traditions can discuss their meditation experiences with mutual open-heartedness and respect, without claiming that all others methods are wrong or useless, or attacking someone because they uphold a different path.

[Keith DeBoer]

05:00 PM on 01/06/2011

I agree

[Priscilla Warner]

11:22 PM on 01/06/2011

I agree also.

I've spent the last year and a half learning several different styles of meditation and writing a book about my experience. I was able to significantly reduce my anxiety level, which is remarkable considering the fact that I suffered from panic attacks for forty years.

My very first teacher, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, encouraged me to try different methods of meditation, and I am eternally grateful for his open-minded approach. I have several tools at my disposal now, and that suits my personality and lifetsyle.

Let's hear it for open-heartedness and mutual respect!

[pstokstad]

01:27 PM on 01/06/2011

Obviously there are wide variety of practices that are crammed together in the term "meditation." Fortunately some recent research or at least a discussion of research has focussed on a sort of typology of meditation types, which is really useful for sorting out the wheat from the chaff, depending on what your goals are... And for those interested in substantive change, TM appears to be the most clearly 100% organic, stone-ground sprouted wheat that you can get. For a full discussion and a link to the article, see this: http://www.mum.edu/meditation

[Wonderone]

11:57 PM on 01/05/2011

I'm 70. Learned TM in 1989. Had tried other techniques before--assisted visualization, counting breath, focusing, etc. They were interesting but nothing special. When I learned TM it felt like I had finally come home. I loved it. It's so natural, I could hardly believe it. Once the teacher gave me the technique, I could then do it myself--anytime, anywhere. Over the years I've seen benefits in every area of my life. Quit a 35-year smoking habit. Quit alcohol. Began healthy diet and regular exercise. I've been solidly grounded with health and well-being and friends and sustainable income ever since. Doing TM for 20 minutes twice a day, makes everything else come easily. Don't worry about time spent on it--it's more than made up for because mistakes are avoided and real opportunities are recognized. Just do it. It's the only resolution you really need.

[Acorns]

11:46 PM on 01/05/2011

Thank you Jeanne Ball for this clear, compelling article on the TM technique. And to Dr. Oz—thank you for your boldness in publically declaring the unique value of TM. It’s heart warming to see intelligentsia coming forward and acknowledging the unique benefits of Transcendental Meditation.

As a psychologist who’s trained to function on the basis of scientific fact, I get frustrated when I hear people say, “Oh, Meditation, well yes, of course it’s good, I watch my breath for meditation” or “I go to the gym.” This is equivalent to saying “I eat chocolate for depression because it’s just the same thing as Zoloft” (or any other antidepressant). I’ve stopped being “polite” to patients who carry this misunderstanding. It is a disservice to leave them with the idea that anything called meditation is the same thing as TM.

Do other meditations have value? Yes, some—each provides something. But if you’re going to invest 20 minutes twice a day, why not use your time effectively. Transcendental Meditation. Don’t give yourself anything less. Go for the gold—

Dr. Loveland, Psy.D
Clinical and Forensic psychologist

[Keith DeBoer]

05:08 PM on 01/06/2011

Very well said, thanks for sharing this view

[River1980]

11:41 PM on 01/05/2011

A good article about psychotic states that can develop through meditation.

Please Read

http://www.cgjungpage.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=201&Itemid=40

[neuromancer2010]

07:39 AM on 01/06/2011

yes, you posted this below. it speculates on some interesting stuff. I think most therapists and health professionals look to the research studies on meditation that show how safe certain practices are known to be.

[valeriejanlois]

11:50 AM on 01/10/2011

It's very important to practice the technique(s) verified to have only life-supporting benefits and do no harm. I just found this link in a previous post. http://www.mum.edu/meditation.

[Badger33]

11:30 PM on 01/05/2011

This warm-n-fuzzy advice/gibberish is divorced from the economic reality and time pressures most people face daily.

[PenguinLinux]

09:54 AM on 01/06/2011

Those pressures people face are felt within because they choose to feel them due to personal vestments and attachments. No external force applies feelings, only within ourselves can we do that. It's a choice. If there is any sort of "divorce", it's within ourselves. It's the egoic mind and the perceived separation from our true self which is part of the disconnect.

[terrortwilight]

02:37 PM on 01/06/2011

This is a good point. I think Dr. Oz and others would insist that they want to spread the practice of meditation precisely to buffer against these stressors. Sadly, learning TM is prohibitively expensive and not practical for the people who might most benefit from it.

[Jimmy Goodman]

03:44 PM on 01/06/2011

It's a good point, and it keeps coming up because people don't know how easy it is to learn TM. I reiterate my comment from below: Anyone who wants to learn TM, can, because of the non-profit status of the TM organizati­on. There's has to be a tuition to sustain the teaching of the technique, which is time intensive for the teachers, and to sustain the organizati­on that makes it available, but the program offers grants and scholarshi­ps for those who cannot afford the standard tuition.... Everybody'­s heard of TM but not enough people really appreciate it for what it is. Who else would give you a lifetime of free follow-up and personal guidance -- not a therapist, accountant­, doctor, lawyer, massage therapist, etc. -- plus you have the technique to benefit from every day for the rest of your life."

[PDBudd]

09:40 PM on 01/05/2011

Yes. Learning to meditate would take care of some of those resolutions like getting rid of stress and improving health. There is an article on this site: "... Ways to Kick Your Year into Creative High Gear" and TM is a prime way to allow your natural creativity to expand. Lots of research on this point.
When you are not so bound up by fatigue, worry and stress your creative spirit gets unleashed.
So, just consider the possibilities... have a great year!

[valeriejanlois]

08:33 PM on 01/05/2011

Every moment of every day we get clues from everywhere­, within and without. I've been doing TM for a while and what I can tell you is that with regular TM I found that all those clues begin to fit into a beautiful, coherent pattern and Life becomes less something to figure out and more and more a fulfilling­, blissed-ou­t experience of clarity. TM, you should know, is taught by a non-profit 501(c)(3) organizati­on and from what I've seen no one is making any profit except for a handful of renegade teachers who have taken the technique and teach it on their own, pocketing the money. This is reprehensi­ble. Oh, and the TM people have a scholarshi­p fund so anyone who wants to learn can do so. No one should not pursue their desire to learn TM because they don't have the money. If anyone out there would like to help others learn TM they can go to TMFriends.­Org and donate. TM's a wonderful, miraculous thing. Check out PermanentP­eace.Org. Amazing.

[citygirl1832]

12:33 AM on 01/06/2011

I don't mean to sound negative because TM sounds like a wonderful thing and I would love to learn it. But everywhere I read that the only way to learn it is to go to a teacher and it costs $1500.00 to learn. This is just one more thing that is available only to those with a higher income. I don't live anywhere near a TM center. I hope eventually there will be other options.

[sparklingstar]

01:17 AM on 01/06/2011

There are Certified TM Teachers all over the US who are dedicated to finding loans, grants, scholarships to enable everyone to learn The Transcendental Meditation Technique regardless of their financial situation. Call the Toll Free number 888-LEARNTM and you will find a TM teacher near you.

The TM Organization is a non-profit (5013c) organization and teaches The Transcendental Meditation Technique in many extremely poor countries around the world, as well as to people in need in the US

[Jimmy Goodman]

06:56 AM on 01/06/2011

It's a really good point — you don't sound negative at all. Everybody who wants to learn should be able to learn. And anyone who wants, can, because of the non-profit status of the TM organization. There's has to be a tuition to sustain the teaching of the technique, which is time intensive for the teachers, and to sustain the organization that makes it available, but the program offers grants and scholarships for those who cannot afford the standard tuition. And in many places teachers travel to outlying areas or even remote parts of the state just to teach a single person. I hope you can learn soon, because it's just so good its beyond words. I always say that TM is the best kept, well known secret around. Everybody's heard of it but not enough people really appreciate it for what it is. Who else would give you a lifetime of free follow-up and personal guidance -- not a therapist, accountant, doctor, lawyer, massage therapist, etc. -- plus you have the technique to benefit from every day for the rest of your life. What a deal. It's totally unique. OK I'll shut up. Best of luck.

[p456]

06:57 PM on 01/05/2011

Dr. Oz rocks.

[River1980]

05:58 PM on 01/05/2011

what if you develop a meditation related illness?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini_syndrome

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makyo

[Jimmy Goodman]

07:30 PM on 01/05/2011

check PubMed for the studies -- look into the real scientific research. with certain practices, no negative side effects have been noted -- after hundreds of studies on tens of thousands of subjects.

[River1980]

11:44 PM on 01/05/2011

Here is an article from the journal of Transpersonal Psychology.

"Buddhist Teachers' Experience with Extreme Mental States in Western Meditators"

http://www.cgjungpage.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=201&Itemid=40

[valeriejanlois]

12:08 PM on 01/10/2011

It's important to practice the technique(­s) verified to have only life-suppo­rting benefits and do no harm. I just found this link in a previous post. http://www­.mum.edu/m­editation.