The Transcendental Meditation® (TM) technique is a simple, natural effortless mental technique that anyone aged 10 and above can learn. All it takes is 15-20 minutes, twice a day, sitting comfortably with eyes closed.
Unlike the various other types of meditation, Transcendental Meditation doesn’t require concentration or thought control. Your mind is allowed to follow its natural tendency to settle inward, giving you an effortless experience.
While you may be tempted to disregard the above statements as purely subjective, the ease of learning Transcendental Meditation has actually been proven by multiple studies. Researchers have thoroughly evaluated and confirmed the success of Transcendental Meditation in various settings.
The Dissemination and Implementation Models in Health, an interactive web-tool maintained through the collaboration of the University of Colorado Denver, the Washington University Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, and UC San Diego, defines feasibility as “the extent to which a new treatment, or an innovation, can be successfully used or carried out within a given agency or setting.”
A 2021 pilot study evaluated the feasibility of a Transcendental Meditation intervention for emergency clinicians during the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary feasibility outcome, or how the researchers determined if the intervention could be successfully implemented, was that the Transcendental Meditation training session attendance was 90.6%, of the clinicians attended at least 6 of the 8 sessions and 80.6% self-reported meditating at least once a day on average.
In relation to the ease of learning Transcendental Meditation, high training session attendance and at-home meditation practice indicate that the clinicians find Transcendental Meditation easy to learn. If it wasn’t easy to learn, there would be a greater percentage of clinicians not attending the sessions and not practising the technique on their own at home.
A 2018 randomised controlled study also evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing the Transcendental Meditation technique. The study participants were government administrators and staff instead of emergency clinicians. Similarly, the results included high compliance with the Transcendental Meditation practice. This aligns with the results of another study in the same year which focused on Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) treatment.
The 2018 AUD treatment study evaluated and confirmed the feasibility of integrating Transcendental Meditation into inpatient treatment. There was a high uptake of Transcendental Meditation among the patients who participated in the study. The results showed that 85% had been meditating the majority of the 30 days when followed-up and 61% adhered to the recommended frequency of twice-daily practice.
For both studies, the inclination of participants to comply with Transcendental Meditation practice suggests that it is enjoyable to learn. I
Finally, a 2013 randomised controlled trial evaluated the feasibility of implementing Transcendental Meditation as a stress reduction intervention program for persons with HIV. While retention in the control group was high at 91%, the Transcendental Meditation group had 100% retention. High retention in a clinical trial indicates that most participants continued to be enrolled in the clinical trial, as opposed to “discontinuing participation and dropping out.”
These studies prove that the Transcendental Meditation technique is a highly suitable meditation for beginners, as nearly all participants found the technique easy to continue practising. Learning meditation is not a frustrating experience if you choose to learn Transcendental Meditation.
With people in different situations being able to learn the technique and enjoy the experience so much that they continue to practise it of their own accord, Transcendental Meditation stands out as the most valuable meditation for beginners.
Take the first step to start learning meditation with a certified Transcendental Meditation teacher today. Visit: tm.org.au and enter your postcode for the closest TM centre.