Consciousness-Based Education - Maharishi University of ...

Health Care Cost Crisis and transcendental Meditation programThese figures represent a large potential cost savings and a significantreduction of suffering. They suggest that the underlying cause ofhigh medical utilization and hence expenditures is poor health. Yetresearch consistently shows that most disease is preventable throughknown methodologies (Friend, 1992; Breslow, 1990). If the implementationof such methodologies led to better public health, then medicalfinancing, administration, technology, and delivery issues wouldbecome less important.A renewed focus on prevention thus seems essential in order to alleviateboth the health care cost crisis and unnecessary human suffering.However, many prevention interventions have been found to be expensive(Russell, 1986). Therefore, it is also essential to find cost-effectivemethods of health promotion and disease prevention.The Transcendental Meditation Program: An OverviewSeveral lines of research indicate that one recently introduced method,the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program, can be particularlyeffective in reducing health care costs through effective disease preventionand health promotion. Moreover, existing data on this techniqueindicate that it is particularly effective in reducing health care costsamong high health-care utilizers, the 10% of the population responsiblefor over 75% of national health care expenditures (Garfinkel etal., 1988).The Transcendental Meditation technique is the primary interventionof a comprehensive system of health care known as MaharishiAyur-Veda, which includes 20 distinct approaches to health promotionand disease prevention. This system is the authentic record ofthe ancient natural medical system of India. During the past decade,Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditationprogram, has initiated and collaborated on extensive research to bringto light the principles and practices of this ancient system of health.Transcendental Meditation is a simple, effortless procedure, normallypracticed for 15–20 minutes in the morning and evening sittingcomfortably with eyes closed. The technique can be learned by anyone,independent of their educational, religious, or cultural background.Twenty years of scientific research have shown that the TranscendentalMeditation program is highly effective in alleviating many stress-351