Causal analysis using cross-lagged panel correlation was performed to assess whether the relationship between Transcendental Meditation (TM) program participation and decreased crime rate in urban areas is causal. One study involved a random sample of 160 U.S. cities measured from 1964 to 1978; the second study used a random sample of 80 metropolitan areas. Results of both studies suggest that ...

Recently, we reprinted a lecture by Donald N. Michael, emeritus professor of planning and public policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, on the question of information overload: “Too Much of a Good Thing? Dilemmas of an Information Society .“ 1 In my discussion of this problem, I reviewed some of the literature on sensory input overload as it contributes to certain mental disorders. For the ...

Intense meditation practices help to achieve a harmony between body and mind. Meditation practices influence brain functions, induce various intrinsic neural plasticity events, modulate autonomic, metabolic, endocrine, and immune functions and thus mediate global regulatory changes in various behavioral states including sleep. This brief review focuses on the effect of meditation as a self regu...

Experienced meditators are able to voluntarily modulate their state of consciousness and attention. In the present study, we took advantage of this ability and studied brain activity related to the shift of mental state. Electrophysiological activity, i.e. EEG, was recorded from 11 subjects with varying degrees of meditation experience during Zen meditation (a form of open monitoring meditation...

BACKGROUND Studies have demonstrated the potential of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to improve the condition of individuals with health outcomes such as hypertension, diabetes, and chronic pain; improve psychological well-being; reduce stress levels; and increase survival among cancer patients. To date, only one study has focused on the effect of long-term meditation on ...

The combined effects of counseling and the Transcendental Meditation program were compared with the effect of the Transcendental Meditation program alone and counseling alone on three groups of young adults over an eight-week period. Changes in locus of control, present-orientation, and self-support were measured using the Adult NowickiStrickland Internal/External Locus of Control Scale and the...

This article explores the importance of the relationship between a teacher of meditation and his or her student. Mindfulness meditation is receiving a lot of attention in the psychotherapy literature currently. It is generally viewed as a technique that is taught in groups and then practiced individually by clients or participants. What does not appear to be generally understood is that the tea...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death in developed countries. Most cardiac rehabilitation programs include psychological interventions. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of rehabilitation techniques in cardiac patients including psychological-physical interventions such as Meditation and Relaxation. We enrolled 45 patients with CVD and depression. The pat...

The subjective experience of one’s environment is constructed by interactions among sensory, cognitive, and affective processes. For centuries, meditation has been thought to influence such processes by enabling a non-evaluative representation of sensory events. To better understand how meditation influences the sensory experience, we employed arterial spin labeling (ASL) functional magnetic re...