Five Benefits of Daily Meditation – Physical Benefits
Joseph Campbell, perhaps the most renowned mythologist of the last century, once said, “What human beings desire most is the experience of being fully alive.” So what did he mean by that? I believe he meant that people want to feel fully alive in their outward directed experience (which is what we are sharing now together), and to feel fully alive in their inner directed experience (which we can only do alone).
If you wish to experience wisdom in your world, you must become the wisdom you want to see around you.
Meditation improves sleep.
Daily meditation is an effortless way to become and grow your vision of a wiser world. The fact is, daily practice of meditation is good for you and good for everyone around you. It also helps you grow as a person as you share your expanded consciousness.
Physical Benefits of Meditation
Dr. Norman Rosenthal, M.D., a Harvard University research scientist, has published a long list of scientific articles on the benefits of meditation. Some meditation is better than none, but daily meditation shows the best results, according to Dr. Rosenthal and hundreds of other researchers. More studies.
Today, corporations, such as Promega, a biotech firm, acknowledge the importance of meditation and incorporate it in the benefits package for employees. Even insurance companies, like Aetna, give meditator discounts because people who meditate have fewer medical problems, traffic accidents, and this helps reduce health care costs and saves money for the insurance companies.
Research shows Transcendental Meditation (TM) does indeed improve our bodily functioning. When we meditate, the heart rate slows, the respiration slows and brain wave functioning becomes more coherent. Here are some studies showing the physical benefits of TM:
Asthma and Upper Respiratory Problems
A study of data from a major US health insurer showed that both hospital admission and outpatient consultation rates were over 50% lower for subjects practicing TM than norms or controls. (Psychosomatic Medicine, 1987). Other research has indicated fewer upper respiratory tract infections, improvements in chronic bronchitis, and more efficient breathing and respiratory control (Journal of Applied Physiology, 1984).
Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
Meditation lowers blood pressure
Many studies have found that TM decreases blood pressure in hypertensive patients. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 107 published studies on stress reduction and high blood pressure found that TM practice significantly reduced both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the reduction of both raised serum cholesterol and blood pressure, independent of changes in diet, medication, or weight (Journal of the Israel Medical Association 1978; Journal of Human Stress 1979).
Heart Health
A recent 5-year randomized controlled study published by a journal of the American Heart Association on patients with established coronary heart disease reported a 48% reduction in death, heart attack, and stroke in subjects in the TM group compared to controls.
A study of elderly people who practiced TM found lower blood levels of lipid peroxides compared to non-meditating peers, indicating reduced free radical activity and decreased risk of cardiovascular injury (Psychosomatic Medicine 1998).
Pain
Research has indicated that regular TM practice addresses the physical source of pain in the body with reduced frequency of pain symptoms in industrial workers (Jpn Jnl. Public Health, 1990), reduced headaches and backaches (Anxiety, Stress and Coping: Intern Jnl. 1993), and reduced use of medical care for pain-related conditions, including chest and abdominal pain (Am Jnl. Manag Care, 1997).
Meditation reduces stress
Insomnia
A number of research studies in various populations indicating that TM decreases insomnia and improves quality of sleep compared to controls (e.g. British Journal of Nursing, 1995).
The bottom line of physiological manifestations of these benefits is that our body functions better when we meditate regularly; by that I mean daily.
One of the aspects of this improved physical functioning is getting more in tune with our bodies and learning to understand what is happening within our own physiology. By settling down during meditation, we automatically perceive sensations within our bodies that we might miss when our attention is directed outward, as it is during much of the day. These sensations tell us what is going right or wrong inside of us and act as an indicator that we might want to do something about it if we don’t like what we perceive. By mediating daily we can monitor our bodies and adjust exercise, diet and rest, according to what our bodies tells us. Paying attention like this can save you money on medical bills, and may even save your life.
I’ve been meditating for over 40 years. Read more.
Next time: The Psychological and Emotional Health Benefits of Meditation
Resources:
www.TM.org; www.meditationtrust.com
Children Need to Feel Connected to Family Relatives – Holiday Tips from a Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Survivor
According to research published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, having a close circle of relatives is crucial for children’s psychological wellbeing.
Children need to feel that they are connected to others and they are not alone. Studies show that children who know more about their family connections prove to be more resilient, meaning they can better moderate the effects of stress. They know they belong to something bigger than themselves. As chapters are added to their family’s life, they grow in strength as they share their “family narrative” through experiences and stories.
I know first hand the devastating effects that living in a household wracked with child abuse and domestic violence can cause for children, especially around the holidays. When my dad, Dick North, died, and my mother–who had 8 children–remarried Frank Beardsley, who had 10 (we were famous globally for the size of our combined family), we North children were virtually cut off from our father’s extended family. I was 6 years old. Connections with our North grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, were forbidden by Frank Beardsley, (he was insanely jealous of anyone “North”) a very abusive and controlling man. I didn’t even know any of my North cousins until I was a grown man.
Despite the publicity, we were not one big happy family.
Grandparents and other relatives play a key role in a child’s life. Relatives can provide a net of support that can help children weather the storms of life, and an excellent opportunity to grow in many directions. They also reflect back to us something about ourselves.
Here is an excerpt from my new book True North – The Shocking Truth about “Yours, Mine and Ours” (Chapter 18 – Visiting the Southwestern Norths)
Grandpa and Grandma North loved their son, and it broke their hearts when he died. In almost every family there is a golden child, and Dick North was theirs. They wanted to visit his children more often, but there was always the complication of Frank Beardsley to deal with. He resented what they were to us…
Years later, in 1976 during a college vacation, I decided to pay a surprise visit to Grandpa. When I went up to the door, he carefully stepped down from the camper and, straightening up, looked me up and down. A tear rolled down his cheek, as he wrapped his arms around me and said, “Hello, boy. It’s mighty fine to see you.”
We hugged for a long moment. He stepped back and held me by the shoulders to get a better look at me. “You’re a man now, Tommy. Gosh, it’s good to see you!” he smiled.
Recently, I attended a North family reunion in northern Utah. I am grateful to my Aunt Weldonna, my dad’s sister, who is 69 years young, who organized this get together, and for arranging a heartwarming and connecting experience for my daughter Elyse and me with our many relatives. The last of her generation, my Aunt “Donni” as she prefers to be called, had invited all the descendants of Elliot North, my grandfather. This simple man with a heart of gold had 5 children, 19 grandchildren, 36 great-grandchildren and so on.
During the evening campfire session I shared a particular story from my book about Grandpa working as a long-haul truck driver. He had picked up a hitchhiker and given him a ride from St. Louis to Los Angeles. When Grandpa dropped the hitchhiker off, he gave him some money and wished him well. The young man asked for Grandpa’s contact information so he could return the money when he got back on his feet, and my granddad said, “No need, son; just do the same for someone else someday”. That’s the kind of man he was! Losing my connection with this wonderful man was very sad.
The emotions that ran through my heart as I listened to and spoke with these “lost North” relatives of mine were intense. I felt a desire for connection that had been long lost, and a long- time coming. Much to my delight, I learned that my most of my cousins shared the depth of feeling that I brought to the reunion and were as glad to see me as I was to see them. I can tell you that I had tears in my eyes more than once as I reveled in the discussions we had and felt part of a family that I had been away from me for too long. My concerns of perhaps not being accepted were put to rest, and the laughter we shared was a joy.
I also learned that my experience as I related it in my book about the trauma the North children experienced was appreciated by everyone who had read it or was reading it at the time. There were many questions to answer about the difficulty of living in the Beardsley household and a lot of puzzled looks as my cousins attempted to figure out what the heck my now-deceased mother could have been thinking when she took her children into Frank Beardsley’s domain. I explained it to them, and somehow, it just didn’t seem to make sense.
The weekend went by way too fast and we made all the customary promises to stay in touch that people do when they share heartfelt moments. I have already been in contact with some of my new-found relatives, and plan to stay in touch as time passes. I am grateful for the new connections I have made with my North family and am glad to no longer be “The Lost Norths.”
I hope you will take the opportunity to create loving, lasting memories for your family and children this holiday season. Here are some tips to help:
I Find a Growing Appreciation for all Life as Waves of Bliss Stream In
Meditation saved my life. It was and still is a vital therapy for my continued survival and healing from a life of child abuse and domestic violence. I meditate twice a day, every day.
In about January of this year, I began to notice streams of energy flowing through my body during my daily meditation and at odd times during the day with almost daily regularity. I’d be sitting at my desk at work and physically feel waves of bliss coursing through my entire body. This was so enjoyable that I’d just close my eyes and be with the bliss, marveling at the simplicity and consumed by a profound sense of wonder at it.
These experiences left me with a curiosity about who else may be having this in-pouring of Divine Grace. It occurred to me that I couldn’t be the only person to be experiencing this phenomenon. There are millions of people who have been culturing spiritual awareness in their lives through their own meditation practice. Surely they are having this or some similar experience as a result of regularly plugging in to the same cosmic source of Divine Energy that I am.
New Waves of Bliss and Energy Enter the Collective Consciousness
Within each of us there is a light… -Tom North
Meditation is indeed a powerful tool for health and healing and research shows that group meditation can produce a radiating influence of peace in society.
I began to conduct a poll of people I know who have a mediation practice of some kind or another. I asked them what their physical, energetic experience has been lately, and explained to them why I was asking. I reminded them that we are all part of the collective consciousness of humanity and therefore might be having a shared experience, much like musicians do either individually or in a band or orchestra; playing our own instrument, but part of the greater melody.
The response I received was overwhelmingly positive. Meditator after meditator confirmed my suspicions. Each of them is having these same waves of bliss, regardless of their style of practice. I queried people who practice Transcendental Meditation as I do. I asked those who have a Zen practice or use contemplative methods of introspection. The same response came from each of them. They were all pleased to have been asked and given an opportunity to articulate their experience and validate it as well.
One particular meditator, an Emergency Room doctor who practices a Buddhist form of meditation, smiled at me when asked this question and said, “Oh, but there’s more going on than you might think, Tom, and it isn’t just happening for those who practice some form of meditation!” He then went on to tell me that he often takes the ER graveyard shift at the hospital where he works. People are coming in to the ER late at night, complaining of strange energy coursing through their bodies unannounced and unwanted. They can’t identify it and think there is something wrong with them. They ask for medication to help reduce or remove this energy. As a medical doctor, my friend is required to do a battery of tests on patients, and so he does. Invariably, the tests come up negative. He tells these people that there is nothing wrong with them, and listens patiently, “holding space” for each one them as they talk. After a time, they comment that they feel better and are going home now, thank you very much. If these late night ER visitors had a means of looking inward and monitoring their own energetic pulses and rhythms, they would have an opportunity to notice and understand variations and tune into changes as they occur. They could then appreciate the miracle that is happening to them!
From my very informal poll, I am observing that the collective consciousness of humanity is evolving in ways we do not yet completely understand. The implications are exciting and are reflective of major changes in the way we as human beings function, individually and as a species.
The benefits of meditation are many and varied, and affect every level of life, not the least of which is appreciating the magic of life itself.
THE SAD TRUTH – For Many, Father’s Day Means Coming to Terms with Feelings of Guilt and Shame
My father, Richard North, died in a Navy jet test flight crash when I was six years old. He was my hero. Fifteen months after his death, my mother, Helen North who had eight children, re-married a man named Frank Beardsley who had ten, making us one of the largest families in the country. We became famous, and our story was featured in the movie, “Yours, Mine and Ours”. But it wasn’t one big happy family. We had to hide the fact that we were living a lie.
I was seldom comfortable around Frank Beardsley and never thought of him as my father even though I was required to address him as such or be punished. The Frank Beardsley I lived with was not the same man that Henry Fonda portrayed in the film. The movie character was kind, wise, rational and understanding. He was someone I could have willingly honored on Father’s Day! But the real Frank Beardsley was everything the fictional one was not. His violence and abuse created a life of intimidation, turmoil, fear and depression for me and my siblings.
On what might have been a wonderful day of celebration, I was filled with rage at the unfairness being forced to pay tribute to a man who was, in my mind, the opposite of everything that Father’s Day stood for. This dilemma presented difficult questions that, at the time, I had no answers to: “Why are we smiling at this man who terrorizes us every day? Why did my mother marry this man and take her children into a dangerous environment? Why don’t the adults in my family do something to get rid of this evil man?” My mother protected the image of the perfect family at all costs. She made efforts to reinforce her public image of him on Father’s Day by encouraging the children to write cards for him, but I don’t recall ever having participated. I felt guilty and ashamed.
Unfortunately, in households which are plagued with violence and abuse, too many children are faced with the additional burden of guilt and shame by the expectation to respect and honor a man on Father’s Day who is loathed and feared.
It seems I’ve been trying to come terms with this matter most of my life. As I write near the end of my book, during the last of the family therapy sessions, after his moment of apology when Frank admitted that he was guilty and had indeed abused his children, I realized I had to forgive him – not so much for his sake, but for my own healing and survival. I’ve found that this healing process never ends.
There is hope. Recently, I spoke at a Rotary Club meeting where many of the male members told me that they’d had a similar experience and how they made a conscious decision to break the cycle of violence and abuse with their own children. Not long ago, a reader sent me a message that said, “Thank you for writing your book. I now have a better understanding of my relationship with my own father”.
I am proud to be a father and I am honored and humbled to be loved by my children and my wife. Even though I learned how to create a positive and healthy environment for my family and children, Father’s Day is a day of enormous contrast for me. I can’t help but think of the pain and suffering I lived through and remember that along with child abuse survivors like me, there are families and children who are faced with similar, dreadful circumstances every day.
I’m grateful that my true story of survival and hope is touching many, and inspiring them to follow their healing path as they come to terms with their feelings of guilt and shame that surround their relationship with their fathers.
Operation Warrior Wellness – Helping Veterans Overcome PTSD and Heal the Hidden Wounds of War
My Dad, Dick North
Memorial Day is potentially a difficult and always solemn event for those who have lost loved ones in the line of military duty. Every year I honor my dad, Richard Dale North, a Navy pilot who was killed in a military jet crash when I was six years old. Though I have had a lifetime to overcome the loss and I have worked on the issues I brought with me into adulthood from my very difficult years as a child, I have learned that there are losses that are consolable and losses that are inconsolable.
In previous blogs I have mentioned my work with a local men’s group called “Breakthrough for Men” which provides a safe place for men to work on their personal emotional issues. Losing my father at an important developmental stage in my life has been an issue for me. There have been many issues that I have worked on and achieved resolution with, but every time I work on this one, I cry like the child I was when my dad died. I have come to understand from a visceral level what the instructors at Breakthrough mean by inconsolable.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops after a terrifying ordeal that involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm.
It is very sad that over a half million U.S. troops deployed since 2001 suffer from PTSD, yet, less than 20% will receive adequate care due to the lack of effective treatment, fear of stigma or insufficient government resources. Left untreated, PTSD places veterans at great risk for violent behavior including alcoholism and drug abuse, depression, anxiety and suicide.
“Operation Warrior Wellness: building resilience and healing the hidden wounds of war” (OWW) is a division of the David Lynch Foundation, a leader in research and education about the many health benefits of TM. According to studies, this simple, easy-to-learn evidence-based approach results in:
40-55% reduction in symptoms of PTSD and depression
42% decrease in insomnia
30% improvement in satisfaction with quality of life
25% reduction in plasma cortisol levels
47% risk of cardiovascular-related mortality
Decreased high blood pressure – on par with first-line antihypertensives
(Though PTSD was first brought to public attention in relation to war veterans, it can also result from a variety of traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, child abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes. I can attest to the many health benefits I’ve gained from my TM practice for thirty-eight years, and chronicled my own inner journey in my book, True North-The Shocking Truth about “Yours, Mine and Ours”.)
As we remember those who have given their lives for our freedoms, let us be kind and respectful to those who have returned from war and in are in need of our love and help.
With so many service people returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with physical wounds that will remain with them all their lives as well as suffering from PTSD and related disorders, it is important for all of us to treat them with respect and honor the sacrifices they have made.
Though many of their traumas may be inconsolable, there is help for all. Thousands of veterans and their families are waiting eagerly—often desperately—to gain the very real, practical benefits that come from TM, this simple, stress-reducing, health-promoting technique. Please share this blog with all you know. Please help sponsor a veteran today.
TM is Proven to Reduce Stress Caused by Trauma of Child Abuse and Domestic Violence
Recently, my wife Connie and I returned from doing our meditation program for a week in the Golden Domes of Pure Knowledge on the campus of Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. Participating in the daily meditation in the Dome is truly a joy! As soon as we set foot on the campus I felt the profound silence that pervades the area. It is a powerful feeling.
During our stay, I was interviewed by 3 radio talk show hosts and 2 television anchors. (Check out my radio and TV appearances.) Plus, I was featured in a newspaper article in the Fairfield Weekly Reader. The University Alumnae Association interviewed me for an article in their newsletter and I appeared in a video segment for the university endowment department. My presentation and book, True North, The Shocking Truth about “Yours, Mine and Ours,” was well received by the people who attended the book signing that was held at the Revelations Book Store and Café. I also was the featured speaker at the University Business Department students’ monthly seminar. It was a delight to share my experience as a student at MUM and to provide insights about the business world the students will be exploring in the not-to-distant future.
During all of this activity, I was happy to have my meditation time where I could turn my attention inward and enjoy the quite space within. There are many well-documented benefits of Transcendental Meditation (TM). For example, studies show that practicing TM can help improve academic performance.
One of the biggest challenges that most people face is managing stress. Reducing stress and helping to create a supportive environment is another benefit of the practice of TM. Learning and practicing TM is more important than ever as a recent NIH study indicates that overwhelmingly, childhood trauma caused by child abuse and domestic violence has a devastating impact on human development and health, and even leads to disease. TM is proven to reduce stress from this trauma.
I can personally attest to this. After living a life of child abuse and domestic violence, I was a mess – I was depressed, unhappy and ill. When I learned TM, I started on a road to healing and recovery – my life turned around.
The David Lynch Foundation has been sponsoring scholarship programs to help women and underprivileged children learn TM and begin to enjoy the benefits of this program. To learn more about this amazing opportunity, go to www.davidlynchfoundation.org.
Sitting in the silence of the Maharishi Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge is an honor and a privilege I will cherish forever. I thank the hundreds of meditators who gather there each day
I Look Forward to Sitting in Stillness in the Maharishi Golden Dome
My astrologer friends tell me that the recent new moon in Pisces presented us with the perfect time to go within and be in silence while enjoying spiritual connection and state of being. Seems we have all been living in a spell of action-oriented behavior for a while, and we all need to slow down a bit. They also suggest that it is a time for receiving spiritual rejuvenation through silence and stillness.
So, it is perfect that I am on my way to take a meditation course at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa. I look forward to sitting in the Maharishi Golden Dome of Pure Knowledge. With eyes closed and the attention inward, accessing the Bliss of Pure Consciousness becomes the only activity, which is non-activity!
Twice a day, over 1000 people gather in the Domes to practice Transcendental Meditation (TM)
to promote peace and harmony in the world.
The healing power of TM has been well documented in over 4,000 scientific studies conducted over the last 50 years. I have written about TM and my own healing journey in True North – The Shocking Truth about “Yours, Mine and Ours.” I cannot tell you where I would be today if I had not had the good fortune and/or guidance that directed me to learn to practice TM back in 1975. Before I learned TM, I was so angry and bitter that I could not even give a compliment. As soon as I learned to meditate, it was as if a giant burden had been lifted from my soul. I found myself giving compliments as if I had always been doing so. People began to ask what was different about me. They couldn’t quite put their finger on it, but there was a noticeable difference in my demeanor and my tone of voice. They told me there was something new, and it was good. Some of them suggested that whatever I was doing, to keep doing it!
“By enlivening this most basic level of life, Transcendental Meditation is that one simple procedure which can raise the life of every individual and every society to its full dignity, in which problems are absent and perfect health, happiness, and a rapid pace of progress are the natural features of life.”
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
My observation has been that we are all in a time of transition which has an element of chaos about it. It also has an aspect of dramatic transformation into a higher, broader awareness, both individually and collectively – that is happening whether we like it or not. My hunch is that to attempt to resist the changes we are invited into will bring discomfort. To flow with them will bring a joy and an affirmation of our experience as we grow in our own awareness.
Astrologer Jonathan Cainer reminds us, “There’s a cosmic force that gets unleashed when people reach silently into their hearts to commune with their highest hopes and deepest prayers. When millions of us do this in one spirit, we can effectively alter everything.”
Each of us has a choice to make at this moment. We can either stay connected to the fast and furious pace of activity we have been locked into recently, or we can choose to turn our attention inward and slow down for now. We can get caught up in the chaos, or we can flow with the changes through stillness.
If you feel the need to slow the pace and enjoy the quiet space within, it may be that you are feeling the effects of this magical time in Pisces. Seeking silence is a very good way to align ourselves with what is already taking place. It’s our own choice. I know what mine is. What’s yours?
On what might have been a wonderful day of celebration, I was filled with rage at the unfairness being forced to pay tribute to a man who was, in my mind, the opposite of everything that Father’s Day stood for. This dilemma presented difficult questions that, at the time, I had no answers to: “Why are we smiling at this man who terrorizes us every day? Why did my mother marry this man and take her children into a dangerous environment? Why don’t the adults in my family do something to get rid of this evil man?” My mother protected the image of the perfect family at all costs. She made efforts to reinforce her public image of him on Father’s Day by encouraging the children to write cards for him, but I don’t recall ever having participated. I felt guilty and ashamed.
