Transcendental Meditation: A cure for the stresses of youth violence?
Youth violence is a big and complex problem, especially in Philadelphia. Can an initiative that encourages city school students to close their eyes and sit in stillness for 30 minutes a day help address its stress-related consequences?
Transcendental Meditation: A cure for the stresses of youth violence?
Jonathan Purtle
By Jonathan Purtle
Youth violence is a big and complex problem, especially in Philadelphia. Could something as simple as having city school students close their eyes and sit in stillness for 30 minutes a day help address its stress-related consequences?
Filmmaker David Lynch, who credits his own experience living here 40 years ago— “The city was full of fear. …There was violence and hate and filth,” he said in an interview — as an inspiration for his storytelling, seems to think that it would.
According to the Pennsylvania Uniform Crime Reporting System, there were 139 murders/manslaughters, 3,326 aggravated assaults, and 8,994 non-aggravated assaults committed against people age 24 or under in Philadelphia in 2011. While broken bones, penetrating injuries, and curbside memorials are the most visible consequences of Philadelphia’s epidemic of youth violence, they are only the tip of the iceberg. A growing body of research suggests that the chronic stress and psychological trauma associated with persistent exposure to community violence causes the body to produce toxic levels of stress hormones that increase health risk and inhibit cognitive function.
Transcendental Meditation can't cure all these ills, but it could potentially help minimize their effects. According to the Maharishi Foundation, TM is not a religion, a philosophy, or a way of life — but simply a technique that helps people calm their bodies and minds. TM differs from other forms of meditation in the extent to which it is effortless, not requiring the practitioner to focus on their breath or a specific thought. The recommended dose is 15-20 minutes, twice a day.
The David Lynch Foundation was established in 2005 to promote the use of evidence-based stress-reduction techniques among high risk populations, such as inner-city school students. Transcendental Meditation is one such technique. Other proponents to TM include the Beatles, Oprah, Jerry Seinfeld, and some veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The Transcendental Meditation movement, as well as the broader scientific research community, has become increasingly interested in the physiologic mechanisms that underlie the technique. The National Institutes of Health has provided over $24 million in funding to study it. So far, the verdict on its effectiveness, like that of most “complementary and alternative” therapies, is inconclusive. But there is some strong evidence to support it.
In one randomized, controlled study, a group of inner-city high school students were assigned to Transcendental Meditation, 15 minutes at school and 15 minutes at home every day, while the control group received 15 minutes of daily health education. After four months, the meditation group missed significantly less school and had fewer rule infractions and behavior-related suspensions than the control group. The same meditation intervention was also found to improve blood pressure among students in another study.
A systematic review published in the journal Pediatrics explored the effects of seated meditation interventions, not all of them TM, among youth ages 6-18. The article concluded that, while more research was needed, “sitting meditation seems to be an effective intervention in the treatment of physiologic, psychosocial, and behavioral conditions among youth.”
While research on the benefits of TM still has a ways to go, most of us can agree that kids in Philadelphia schools, and all schools for that matter, should be provided with some kind of education about how they can manage the stresses of life.
“In today’s world of fear and uncertainty, every child should have one class period a day to dive within himself and experience the field of silence — bliss — the enormous reservoir of energy and intelligence that is deep within all of us. This is the way to save the coming generation,” writes Lynch, a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Schools in Detroit, San Francisco, Connecticut, and Arizona have integrated Transcendental Meditation into the school day. Should Philly be next?
Read more about The Public's Health.
First of all, it's Philadelphia, not "Philly". At least it was for everyone I ever knew my entire childhood growing up here. Maybe it's different now.
Yes! The David Lynch Foundation has done an incredible job in sponsoring Transcendental Meditation (TM) in schools (as the Quiet Time program), for women who are victims of violence, for veterans suffering from PTSD and depression, and even for prisoners.
If you research it on the Web, you will discover how the Quiet Time program transforms schools from places of violence and noise to places conducive to inspiration and education. You will then have no doubt that the Quiet Time program belongs in the Philadelphia school system, especially at the Junior High School and High School levels, where it is most needed.
The only question to your readers, Mr. Purtle, is whether they are willing to look into what Transcendental Meditation and the Quiet Time program actually achieve, or whether they prefer to be guided by their own natural fears and doubts.
David Spector
Retired in Maine
- Hi David- I have done some research on TM (and other alternative interventions), and I am afraid that I have been unable to find compelling evidence that TM conclusively offers physiological or psychological benefits that justify the enthusiasm that some have for the technique. Besides the legitimate concerns about the status of the current data generated by researching TM, there are legitimate ethical concerns about a technique that has connections to an organization that has been accused of misconduct and stands to profit from the adoption of its trademarked technique. There is further concern with bringing TM into public schools as it does have elements that can legitimately be construed as religious.
Finally, I cannot help but wonder if, now that a substantial amount of time and money has been spent on this research with no conclusive benefits found, if that money wouldn't be better spent researching ways to tackle the underlying issues of poverty and violence that are the cause of so much of this distress in schoolchildren here in Philadelphia?
Your comment here seemed particularly adverse to any doubt or skepticism about TM. I wonder why that is? Caution about interventions with children should be lauded if we are indeed acting in the best interests of the child, and not in the interest of our own desires and beliefs.— JaimeAnneMPH - Thanks for this article. The Superintendent in the San Francisco schools where TM has been implemented twice a day during the school day, is very impressed with the research thus far, he is fond of encouraging everyone to "Look at the data..." 364 independently published peer-reviewed studies including 36 Random Control Trials and 6 Meta-Analyses on the wide array of benefits found with the regular practice of TM, is worth noting. The psychiatrist in the video above who was a top researcher for the National Institute of Mental Health for 20 years is fond of saying if TM were a drug and that drug had the research that has been done on TM that drug would be a billion dollar blockbuster.— MatterOrganic
- I've never done TM, but most any type of meditation will produce profound results. Many people mistakenly believe, as I once did, that it takes years to learn to meditate. Actually, profound results can be had within ten seconds of watching your breath. But the real magic happens when you turn meditation into a way of life, being constantly mindful. One technique I have discovered is "mindfulness of smiling." We've all heard that smiling can make you happy, and it's true. But it works even better when you realize that smiling is a powerful tool for taking back control of your mind! Whenever you notice you are not smiling, laugh, because isn't it funny that you forgot to control your mind? Haha! Now smile! By the end of the day you will be ecstatic without any clue why, as I am!!! Another amazing thing is that if you meditate in the early morning on your breath or an object or whatever, come to the peaceful alpha state, and then go to sleep, you will know you are dreaming, and then you can decide to merge with the universe!— joelrosenblun
- I have seen the videos on TM in schools at this website: http://www.tmeducation.org/videos It is hard for me to imagine how any sensible person viewing these videos would not want the children of The City Of Brotherly Love to have this most effective path to inner peace.— brasil
- I'm a little concerned this post has glossed over what has actually been a *very* contentious debate in the scientific community about the efficacy of TM, and the status and validity of the evidence of the investigations into its efficacy. I think there are also legitimate questions about the motives and nature of the TM organization itself (allegations of misconduct, profit motives), and the ethics of introducing a technique into public school classrooms that does, in fact, have elements that could be construed as religious.
It is desirable that we teach students life skills and understand that school is a socialization process as much as it is anything else. But it is also critical that we address directly the violence and poverty that causes Philadelphia school children so much duress. Focusing stress-management techniques of questionable quality and origin might be an easy answer for some. Prioritizing the more difficult and hard-won solutions to the crime and poverty issues that plague our children is probably the better choice.— JaimeAnneMPH - The reason these studies are inconclusive most likely has something to do with the vested interests in NOT solving this problem, it cuts out Big Pharma and all of the medications they put kids on, and the industrial for profit prison industry that makes more money when violence pervades in these areas and they have to incarcerate more of the young adults. The possible religious aspect is troubling but I imagine a system can be developed that removes that aspect. Also how can someone have a patent on Transcendental meditation when it has been around for thousands of years? I'm sure that patent issues could be avoided.— relaxUhadURchance
- When I was in school, guess what?? We were required to STILL for far longer than a half an hour a day. Studies show it's everyone else's fault. Personally, I blame the teachers! >:)
The simplest of things 35 years ago are now thought to be miracles.— jverlin - Thanks for the info. TM has been a hugely helpful asset in all areas of my life. I'm grateful to those who have helped make this technique available to students. As an educator there is a great need in our youth to help ease and manage their stress. TM is a tool that can provide that. The more schools, communities, educators and decision makers who can choose this the better!— Mara Rose
- I strongly agree with mindfulness based meditation practice being incorporated into schools. I, however, do not think this should be limited to TM. While TM is effective, it costs a lot of money, and to be honest, I feel other methods, such as simply focusing on breathing for 20 minutes are equally effective, and free.— stevengarysmith
