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Transcendental Meditation improves students' focus and executive functioning in school As concerns grows among students, parents, and educators about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation Technique (TM) is proving to be an effective, non-drug approach to ADHD. ADHD now affects almost 4.5 million children in the United States, causing impaired executive functions of the brain, and difficulty in controlling attention and behaviour. The symptoms of ADHD are impulsiveness, hyperactivity, and inattention. These early problems in education in turn contribute to lack of adult achievement and success, poor health, and societal stress. Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation Technique not only creates a mental quietness that an ADHD child so rarely gets to experience, it also creates physiological and neuropsychological changes resulting in integration and coherence of brain functioning. Because the Transcendental Meditation Technique is so simple and effortless, it is easy to practise even for a child, or adult, with ADHD. It does not involve concentration or control of the mind, or any philosophy, religion, or change of lifestyle. The children don't have to try to sit quietly—they just settle down easily and naturally. Being able to sit quietly for ten minutes is a big change for them. Children practise the Transcendental Meditation Technique for a few minutes twice each day. In several schools around the country children diagnosed with ADHD meditate together in school. They sit comfortably, close their eyes, and meditate along with teachers who also practise this technique. Following their practice of Transcendental Meditation, the children themselves say they are better able to focus and to work more independently on tasks like doing their homework. Teachers report that the children are less stressed and more open to learning than they were before practising Transcendental Meditation. There are also fewer episodes of anger, (less) fights, and (fewer) tantrums. Research on Transcendental Meditation and ADHD has been published in prominent journals, such as the Journal of Clinical Psychology, Education, and the Journal of Social Behavior and Personality. The website on ADHD and Transcendental Meditation gives the following testimonials from children who practise Transcendental Meditation: One 13 year old student who practises TM said, 'It's easier for me to focus and concentrate my energy on one thing, rather than trying to work on one thing, fidgeting, trying to stop that, and trying to listen to the teacher at the same time. Now I can stop and focus on one thing.' Another 13 year old student expresses, 'TM makes me feel a lot more confident in myself.' A student, who is 14 years old, said, 'If I got older without doing TM, I would probably see myself as this overstressed, tired student who just barely gets his work done. But now, I think I'll be a very good student, always willing to do his work, and exceeding expectations.' A 12 year old said, 'I feel calmer in school. If I’m too active, I can go to TM [meditation in school]. It helps me settle down. It makes me feel more alert, and I can study better.' Dr William Stixrud, a clinical neuropsychologist in Silver Spring who specializes in the neuropsychological assessment of children, adolescents, and adults with learning, attention and executive, and emotional disorders said, 'TM has been shown to improve executive functioning—planning, organizing, regulating emotion, and keeping to task. This can be particularly helpful for children with learning disabilities and ADHD.' Research on children with ADHD, conducted at one school in Silver Spring, USA, in 2004, has shown that practising the Transcendental Meditation Technique for just a few minutes twice a day improves attention, impulse control, problem solving, organizational skills, and academic performance. It also reduces stress, anxiety, and anger. Children in the study meditated for 10 minutes twice each day at school and at home on weekends and holidays. The effects were clearly evident within just two or three months of practice of Transcendental Meditation. Unlike ADHD medication, which has no effect after the dose wears off, the brain integration created by Transcendental Meditation does not disappear at the conclusion of the 10- to 20-minute TM session. In fact, the orderly brain functioning increases over time. TM research programmes have also taken place in two other schools in Washington, DC. In a recent two year, $1.2 million randomized control study approved by American's Internal Review Board of scientists and physicians, 250 undergraduate and graduate students from American University and surrounding college campuses in Washington DC learnt the Transcendental Meditation Programme. This study will evaluate the health and educational outcomes of Transcendental Meditation in these students, with additional focus on students with learning disorders. The following is a testimonial from one of the students in this project, Josh Goulding, a fourth year Psychology major at Georgetown University: 'Eight months ago, my life was overwhelmed by stress. It was difficult for me to be around people. This included my family. I didn't feel like myself. Filled with anxieties about things outside my control, I felt like a part of me was lost. 'When I heard about TM I was immediately skeptical. I had read about it extensively, but continued to doubt that something so simple could have this extraordinary an effect on someone's life. 'After my first month of meditating, I still questioned whether the changes I was experiencing were real, or whether I was experiencing placebo effects from the practice. But the benefits just kept growing. Every week and month I just kept feeling better and stronger. 'I feel much less stressed, more clear-minded, and better able to cope with stressful circumstances that come across my path. Academically, I am definitely doing better. I'm more organized and better prepared. I don't procrastinate as I used to and I have the added energy and self-confidence to participate in classes where before I was apprehensive to do so. I feel like I am able to interact more easily and effectively with other students and with my teachers. 'I have been taking prescribed medication for Attention Deficit Disorder since I was in the second grade. After learning Transcendental Meditation I found my studying getting much easier. As the months went by I consulted my doctor about it. He decided that I didn't have ADHD after all, and told me I could stop taking the medication. 'As for personal relationships, I have an increased tolerance of other people's behaviour, and I am more accepting of people. This is something that TM has enabled me to achieve naturally and spontaneously. I believe that Transcendental Meditation is a superhighway to becoming more in touch with one's Self, a critical component to self-confidence and success. 'I feel incredibly lucky that I learned how to meditate!' The above endorsement is reprinted from the US website: http://www.au-tm-study.org/ For a bibliography of research on Transcendental Meditation, please visit the website: To view charts of scientific research conducted on the influence of Transcendental Meditation in education and health, please visit: For further information about Transcendental Meditation and ADHD, please visit the website: © Copyright 2008 Global Good News®
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