- page 3 By Patricia Guthrie - Staff Among the many places Kondwani has since spread the silence of TM are Washington public schools, senior centers and prisons, including California's San Quentin. He hopes to convince not only those with health risks of TM's benefits, but also health insurance companies. Learning TM privately costs $575, a standard rate. Kondwani plans to begin private group classes Jan. 20. "With meditation, you are going to the source that measures happiness within,'' he says. ''People have stopped smoking and drinking with meditation. . . . If insurance companies would reimburse people to learn it, think of the possibilities. So far, the VA (Department of Veterans Affairs ) is the only one authorizing reimbursement for TM if treating post-traumatic stress disorder. After we do more of these clinical studies . . . I think we'll see more openness in the medical establish- ment to take it seriously." TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION Explaining transcendental meditation is like trying to describe a mango to someone from Mars. Easier to hand them one to taste than waste words on it. Sometimes TM is compared to drawing back an arrow on a bow: It works by drawing the mind back to its own source, a reservoir of energy, creativity and intelligence. TM tackles both rest and stress, two forces that constantly tear us up and repair us. Stress is at the core of many modern-day ills: insomnia, anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, substance abuse, smoking and overeating. It's at the root of many diseases, which is why doctors say "get plenty of rest" when illness strikes. Inserting TM into the daily equation provides two extra doses of revitalizing rest, advocates say, giving them much more energy and clarity along with lifelong good health. "Anxiety precipitates a lot of visits to the emergency department," says Dr. Steven Rector, who practices emergency medicine part time and is director of the TM Program of Atlanta and the Maharishi Vedic Medicine Center near Lenox Square. An advocate of TM since 1972, he describes conventional medicine as a "very blunt instrument" that uses "knives and poisons." "All of the huge burden of chronic illness in our society does not respond to acute intervention," Rector says. "Drugs don't cure high blood pressure; they just control it. If TM were taught to 10-year- olds, a lot of these illnesses would not come up." Such a study is under way in Augusta. Black youths who already have high blood pressure are being taught TM, and after just two months, "there's already a significant drop in blood pressure," says professor Vernon Barnes of the Medical College of Georgia's Prevention Institute. Among completed research on TM: A study of health insurance statistics on more than 2,000 people practicing the TM program over a five-year period found that they had 50 percent fewer doctors' visits and less than half the hospitalizations as did other groups of comparable age, profession and insurance coverage. In addition, meditators had fewer incidents of illness in 17 categories, including 87 percent fewer hospitalizations for heart disease and 55 percent fewer for cancer. A 1996 study in Oakland, Calif., among hypertensive African-Americans found that TM significantly lowered blood pressure more than did another relaxation technique or education and lifestyle changes. Those who practiced TM for three months saw an average reduction of 10 to 12 points in systolic blood pressure and six to eight points in diastolic pressure, results similar to those of antihypertensive drugs. --- Patricia Guthrie FOR MORE INFORMATION The Morehouse School of Medicine needs more participants for its research on treating hypertension with non-drug therapies. You must be African-American, 18 years and older and have high-normal blood pressure of 130/85 or higher. It also needs African-American women 60 years and older with some form of coronary heart disease for a new study involving TM and health education. Free health checks and travel stipend provided. Call 404-756-5250. For information on local, private TM classes: In Atlanta, call 404-264-1108; outside Atlanta, call 1-888-532-7686; Web site: www.tm.org/ ###
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