# Tell me about transcendental meditation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-transcendental-meditation/590576 "2011-07-28T01:54:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-transcendental-meditation/590576/1 "2011-07-28T01:54:02Z")
My life is getting stressful as of late and I have a history of not responding well to major stress. I’ve wanted to practice transcendental meditation for a while since I think that would help me cope better, but I can’t find many good resources online and can’t afford to buy a book on it. So please tell me the basics and maybe the process that goes into it. Thanks to all. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-transcendental-meditation/590576/2 "2011-07-28T04:01:00Z")
Here is info on the technique. > **[Transcendental Meditation technique](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendental_Meditation_technique)** > > The Transcendental Meditation technique (abbreviated as TM) is the technique associated with the practice of Transcendental Meditation developed by the Indian spiritual figure Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The practice involves the use of a private mantra, and is practised for 20 minutes twice per day while sitting comfortably with one's eyes closed. Unlike some other approaches to meditation, TM instruction encourages students not to be alarmed by random thoughts which may arise, but to easily re Adv... What works for me (this is a bit off topic) is deep breathing using slow breaths (about 6 a minute) where the exhale is 2x as long as the inhale. I have a couple of HRV (heart rate variability, a sign of the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. When you are stressed the sympathetic goes up and throws HRV out of whack. When relaxed there is a balance) monitors I once bought and tried using heartmath meditation techniques. They didn’t work any better than placebo (they recommending inhaling on the upswing on HRV and exhaling on the downswing). But when I switched to deep breathing I would go into coherence and my HRV would look like sine waves. Usually. Not always, but far more often than with the heartmath techniques. If you can’t afford a book, check out using an interlibrary loan at the library, they are free where I live. It may take a few weeks for the book to show up though. Guided meditation MP3s (where someone guides you through visualization exercises) also works far better for me than mindfulness meditation. So there are a variety of cognitive options out there. You aren’t limited to TM. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-transcendental-meditation/590576/3 "2011-07-28T06:56:16Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Guided meditation MP3s (where someone guides you through visualization exercises) also works far better for me than mindfulness meditation. A ‘me too’ post. You can get them in CD form or download them as MP3s. There are also several available on YouTube in ten minute form for free. I **highly** recommend guided relaxation over TM. ---
**Author:** ![bluezooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@bluezooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluezooky)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-transcendental-meditation/590576/4 "2011-07-28T07:27:27Z")
TM is simply a from of Japa meditation, the simplest way is to listen to the sound of your breath, it goes “so” or “sa” in and “hum” or “ham” on the exhalation. You could of course pay someone to select a mantra based on your date of birth however practicing sohum is pretty universal across all the yoga schools. ---
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-transcendental-meditation/590576/5 "2011-07-28T10:00:11Z")
I stumbled onto TM and didn’t feel the need to look more widely - what I can say is that it made an immediate and positive difference to my life, and I credit it with really helping me to enjoy life more and be more peaceful. If you do the 2 X 20 thing I can’t imagine it won’t change the way you move through life for the better.