MEDITATION CAN REDUCE HEART ATTACKS BY 50 %

MEDITATION CAN REDUCE STRESS
AND LOWER RISK OF HEART DISEASE

http://www.thirdage.com - Meditation, specifically transcendental meditation (TM), has reportedly been shown to reduce heart attack-related deaths by up to 50 percent, a new study claims.  Researchers tracked 201 people as they underwent either Transcendental Meditation or health education classes as part of a stress-reduction approach, the New Zealand Herald reports.  They found that those who meditated had lower blood pressure and a 47% reduction in strokes, deaths and heart attacks, which they calculated together as one result.  
Between 1998 and 2007, study participants either engaged in meditation techniques for 20 minutes twice per day.  Alternatively, they spent the same amount of time practicing other heart-healthy lifestyle behaviors that they were taught in a cardiovascular health education program.

The results found that TM appears to reduce the risk of death, heart attack and stroke, while also lowering blood pressure and stress levels.  TM in those subjects was found to be far more effective than the actions of the control group, which practiced heart-healthy behavior.  
According to the researchers, African Americans have higher rates of Coronary Heart Disease-related illness and death, and that psychosocial stress might be a contributing factor.  The researchers theorized that the effects of a stress reduction intervention would help reduce CHD risk factors and perhaps prevent CHD-related morbidity and mortality.

Transcendental meditation (TM) is rooted in Indian culture, founded in the 1950s. It found widespread acceptance in the 1960s and 1970s, and has since become a technique of relaxation and spirituality. As a form of mantra meditation, TM technique helps the individual calm the mind and body.  This study shows that TM reduce the risk of death, heart attack and stroke, while also lowering blood pressure and stress levels far better than the control group which practiced traditional heart-healthy behavior.  We usually see that mantra meditation is use it to cope with health problems, but its deep meaning is not clearly understood.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

In the Gayatri Mantra, we are requested, bhargo devasya dhimahi: “come meditate.”  What sort of meditation is possible in that plane of dedication? Not abstract meditation, but service cultivation, krsnanusilanam.  Dhimahi means “to participate in the spontaneous flow, the current of devotion in Vrndavana.”  And what will be the result (dhiyo yo nah pracodayat)?  The capacity of our cultivation will be increased.  As we serve, a greater capacity and willingness to serve will be given to us in remuneration - just as interest is added to capital in the bank.  In this way, our dedicating principle will be increased again and again. Dhimahi means aradhana, worship. It cannot but be explained in terms of aradhana, puja, seva - worship, adoration, loving service.  So “dhimahi” does not mean abstract meditation, but devotional service. This is the underlying meaning of the Gayatri Mantra.

Śrīla Bhakti Raksaka Sridhara Mahārāja :
“Gayatri Mantram Revealed From the Flute Song
of Krishna to Srimad Bhagavatam to Radha Dasyam”
Bhaktivedanta Memorial Library - http://bvml.org/SBRSM/gmr.html