Dr. Robert Schneider, M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.B.M.R., is an NIH-funded medical researcher and author of Total Heart Health: How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (Basic Health Publications, 2006). Here he answers questions on cardiovascular disease and its risk factors.

Q: One of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease is stress. How does the Transcendental Meditation technique change the way we react to stress?

Dr. Schneider: How we react to stress is based on the brain responses to stress in our environment. And that affects the rest of the body—the cardiovascular system, the immune system and all organs in the body. Research conducted at the University of California, Irvine, using the most advanced methods of brain imaging has shown that individuals who begin the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique have decreased brain reactivity to stress. And individuals who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique long-term also have dramatic reductions in brain reactivity to stress in the environment. This indicates that at the basis of the body’s response to stress in the central nervous system undergoes an important transformation in the direction of greater stability and adaptability. It shows an enlivenment of the body’s own inner development, own inner coherence, own inner consciousness, which is at the basis of the prevention of disease and the promotion of ideal health.

Q: Are all meditation and stress reduction techniques the same in relieving stress or are they different?

Dr. Schneider: This hypothesis has been tested in several studies, including several meta-analyses of all the research on stress reduction techniques. These comparative studies agree that different techniques produce different effects. For example, biofeedback may have a localized effect on restoring blood flow to your finger, but that’s a lot different than restoring the body’s own holistic self-repair and healing mechanisms.

Research has shown that the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique is on average twice as effective in reducing anxiety and changing and reducing physiological correlates of stress that are at the basis of the body’s healing responses and at the basis of prevention of disease and the promotion of health. Thus the Transcendental Meditation technique, from a medical perspective and empirical research, is significantly more effective than other techniques that have been studied and published in preventing disease and promoting health.

Additional Reference: Eppley et al Orme-Johnson D, Walton K: All approaches to preventing or reversing effects of stress are not the same. Am J Health Promot 1998, 12(5):297-299.

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