James Meade - End Anxiety!

Authors Note

I am not a medical doctor, and teachers of the TM program do not give advice on medical matters. I am a teacher of the TM program and recommend the practice. This book is my own and does not speak officially for the Transcendental Meditation program and the Transcendental Meditation movement. This book has been written and published for educational purposes to enhance ones well-being. Information given herein is not intended to be a substitute for an individuals prescribed medications or psychological treatments or therapies. Reliance on any information provided herein is at your own risk. The publisher and author will have no responsibility to any person or entity with respect to loss, damage, or injury claimed to be caused directly or indirectly by any information in this book.

2022 by James G. Meade, PhD

All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publisher.

This edition published by SelectBooks, Inc.

For information address SelectBooks, Inc., New York, New York.

First Edition

ISBN 978-1-59079-523-1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Meade, James G., author.

Title: End anxiety! : proven benefits of the Transcendental Meditation program / James G. Meade, Ph.D.

Description: First Edition. | New York, NY : SelectBooks, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: Longtime instructor of the Transcendental Meditation program shares stories about his firsthand experience of teaching the TM technique to help hundreds of people turnaround their problems; he presents data from scientific studies to lay out evidence that practicing TM is more effective for helping anxiety, depression, grief, and addiction than other forms of meditation and treatmentsProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2022003618 (print) | LCCN 2022003619 (ebook) | ISBN 9781590795231 (paperback) | ISBN 9781590795507 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Anxiety. | Transcendental Meditation.

Classification: LCC BF575.A6 M424 2022 (print) | LCC BF575.A6 (ebook) | DDC 152.4/6--dc23/eng/20220603

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022003618

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022003619

The illustrations printed in this book are adapted by the publisher with permission from the Maharishi Foundation USA. The Maharishi Foundation USA is the sole owner of all the original illustrations and retains all rights provided by copyright law.

Manufactured in the United States of America

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In memory of my dear friend and mentor, Marty Zucker, 19372020

PART I
Believing Anxiety Is Unfixable

PART II
Touting Solutions for Everyday Anxiety

PART III
The TM Program

PART IV
New Worlds Open Up

PART V
Afterthoughts

I am amazed by the volume of scientific researchclose to 700 studies and countingthat has been done on the Transcendental Meditation program since my first paper was published by Science magazine in 1970. When Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation program, came to the West, meditation was commonly regarded as something mystical and impractical. Today our understanding is completely transformed. The change began when Maharishi introduced a meditation technique that was natural, easy, and something anyone could practice, regardless of their religious or cultural background. He also encouraged scientific research and taught that higher states of consciousness are based on neurophysiological refinement and are innate in each of us.

My first study, using measurements of oxygen consumption, heart rate, skin resistance, blood lactate, and EEG or brain wave activity, verified Maharishis description of the physiological changes that occur during the Transcendental Meditation program. The results showed that a unique state of restful alertness is produced by TMdifferent from our usual states of consciousness, waking, dreaming, and sleeping. These findings suggest the existence of a fourth major state of consciousness, which was described thousands of years ago by many ancient traditions, especially the Vedic tradition of India.

End Anxiety! draws on recent studies, and it is written by a humanist rather than a scientist. As you might expect, the book focuses on human beings instead of data. It examines changes in the lives of people who come to TM centers suffering from anxiety and other personal problems.

The narrative does not resort to rhetoric or imaginings but uses the language of our time, the language of science. Among other things, it deals with EEG research which indicates that not all meditation techniques are the same. For example, what are the differences in the EEG and brain imaging findings between Mindfulness and the TM technique?

End Anxiety! is an engaging read that highlights decades of practical scientific research on the TM program, presenting it in a simple, interesting, and mercifully short volume. I hope that it will help you to empower and improve your life. Enjoy.

D R . R OBERT K EITH W ALLACE

Trustee and Founding President of Maharishi International University, Chair of Department of Physiology and Health

Anxiety. Things are going bad, you worry. Things are going okay, you worry. Things are going great, you worry. Worry, fear, depression, angsttheyre pretty much the human condition. Sure, there are periods of respite, but not most of the time, not for most of the people. How do you fix it? Success? Family? Sedatives? Therapy? Cognitive behavioral psychology? Religion? What is it with anxiety? What is it? Its relentless. Seemingly incurable.

Once upon a time, long ago in the mid-1970s, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi told me something as he was ushering me toward activity away from him and among the rest of humankind. He said: It will be inspiring to be in the field teaching Transcendental Meditation [instead of at international headquarters]. For decades, before becoming a full-time teacher, I wondered at that prescription. Perhaps it would be inspiring to my writing, which surely it was. In 2005, when I began point-of-contact teaching with the general public, I learned over and over what in fact he meant. It is inspiring to see from the results of the Transcendental Meditation program how quickly and completely people recover from even the most crippling stress and anxiety.

Sometimes it seems as if nobody knows how powerful the TM technique really is. You cant grasp it intellectually, and none of us can fully express it, because the power of the Transcendental Meditation technique comes from where speech returns as Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the TM program founder, has put it. The ground state. The infinite. The source.

People who do not actually practice the Transcendental Meditation technique these days can be especially at a severe disadvantage because of all the talk of many kinds of meditation. The airways are clogged with meditation and yoga and being present until you dont know where to turn for good advice and may just want to shut down the pursuit of this life enhancement altogether. When I was younger and knew little about these practices, I was at a disadvantage, too, before I learned this practice of meditation. Of course I was. Never, until we have tasted it, could we have the slightest idea of the power of the Transcendental Meditation technique. Once having experienced it, the wonder doesnt cease; at the least, we find possibilities open before us more and more each day.