Why do people learn to meditate?
For a wide range of reasons—for peace of mind, for better health, for better coping ability to handle the stresses of daily life, to do better in school. And the research confirms the benefits. Studies have consistently shown that regular TM practice increases creativity and IQ and improves learning ability among students, decreases anxiety and depression, reduces drug and alcohol abuse, and improves memory. (See “Bibliography of TM Research.”) One of the most important areas of research has evaluated the effects of TM practice in reducing high blood pressure—a silent killer that afflicts as many as 65 million Americans, many of them young. Nearly one in twelve teenagers, including one in five African American teens, has hypertension—and research on high school students in Augusta, Georgia, found TM practice to be very effective in reducing high blood pressure.
