Emotional Stability with Transcendental Meditation

In our busy life and current situation of rapid global transformation it is a real challenge to stay clear in the mind, while feeling fresh in the body for extended periods of time. With these ongoing demands there is the ever increasing impact on our resilience and emotional coping. Consequently, our personal, professional and relational lives are negatively influenced by stress, tension and fatigue. In losing the natural ability to self-regulate amidst overwhelm we cannot recognise ourselves. If Emotional Health is a positive state of well-being which enables an individual to be able to function in society andmeet the demands of everyday life’, how many of us can say “I feel emotionally healthy”?  Fortunately, repeated practice of Transcendental  Meditation has been shown to improve emotional health.

Firstly, let’s start by describing emotions and their functions.  Emotions are ways in which the body communicates either physically, mentally or both at the same time. We feel joy on a clear spring morning, we feel excitement when going to meet an old friend, we feel  panic when we think we will be late for an important appointment or sadness at the passing of a beloved pet.  Emotions give flavour to our experience, and are never really wrong even if they are unwelcome.  Indeed, even anger, grief and fear hold crucial information about what has, is or might be happening to us.  Emotions guide, mobilise and protect us. Fear is our early warning system to get away from danger, and anger supports us to take a stand in the midst of challenge.  By way of sensations in the body, our emotions inform of what is going on for us at any point at any time.

While all of these emotions are part of life, when out of balance they can cause us to lose stability when stress and stressful circumstances arise.  We can restore and maintain balance in the body and mind through effective and effortless meditation.  Transcendental Meditation has shown to regulate emotions, while harmonising thinking, feeling and behaviour.  TM is known, because of decades of research, to be a widely validated natural technique for reducing stress.  As such, and based on measurable data,  Transcendental Meditation has beenshown to be more effective than other methods for improving emotional copingand reducing trait -anxiety.  The effectiveness of TM for supporting emotional health comes as a result of experiencing profound rest, and that state of restful alertness dissolves deep layers of fatigue in the body, while allowing the physiology to remove the stress and the negative effects of stress such as hypertension and high blood pressure.

To be emotionally healthy we need to feel we have tools to release us from the grip of dysregulation. Out of context responses and ongoing reactivity inhibit our ability to appreciate life and all that it offers.  Naturally everyone wants to enjoy life and feel connected to what is most important. But if we cannot regulate our fear we might become overwhelmed and phobic.  Undigested anger can result in disease, chronic illness and clinical depression.  Without accepting our grief we cannot move forward with hope and enthusiasm.  Clearly the bigger picture of life fades from our awareness when we cannot regulate our emotions.  Transcendental Meditation is aproven practical tool for creating a state of well-being which helps us meet the demands of everyday living, as well as supporting growth towards greater personal success. For instance, research indicates that regular TM practice increases serotonin, the neurochemical crucial to our social engagement system, which supports a natural state of well-being andhappiness.

TM helps us to stay in contact with our life and the world even in the midst of challenge by regulating the production of cortisol and adrenaline, the stress hormones that increase in stressful situations.  Transcendental Meditation regulatesthe autonomic nervous system and allows for the possibility to have a calmerstyle of functioning of the body and mind.  A consequence is that it helps us makes better decisions leading to more effective actions in daily life.  TM improves brain functioning so that we think and act less from anxiety and stress.  When we lose our ability to stay emotionally regulated we reduce our capacity to tolerate stress.  When this happens we are on the edge, perhaps sleep deprived while our mental health suffers.  Studies in trauma indicate that the brainfunctions differently when we are deeply stressed.  The emotional processing and fear center of the brain cannot switch off, we become flooded with adrenaline, while the amygdala remains over active. We suffer because of hyper-vigilance.  Research shows that PTSD  symptoms are significantly reduced through regular  practice of TM.  For instance we sleep better, our immunity improves as well as overall health and longevity, when we are able to normalize the functioning of the flight/fight response mechanism.

Transcendental Meditation is a highly effective, tried and tested tool for developing emotional health, as well as improving overall health to the body and as consequence relationships. TM takes our awareness out of the whirlwind of anxiety where we effortlessly dive into a  state of deep calmness and profound rest.  Every meditation restores balance and restructures how we think and how we feel.We can enjoy more and more of what life has to offer when we add TM to our daily routine.  Its effortlessness and effectiveness make it not only enjoyable but worthwhile to practice.  Emotional health is essential, and the TM technique supports that, while improving our ability to meet the demands of life.

Author: Iain Campbell