University Dally Kansan
Friday, September 12, 1975
15
Meditation used to ease tension
By DEBBIE BAUMAN
Staff Writer
There's a way to relieve the tensions and anxieties of everyday life without having to chug beer, pop pills, spit scotch or deliver a swift kick to the family dog.
The method is transcendental meditation (TM), a mental technique that allows the body to attain deep rest without the need of sleep.
According to Tina McQuiston, chairman of the Students' International Meditation Society (SIMS), meditation is a natural way for the mind and body to dissolve and release deep-rooted tensions that manifest in the form of nervousness and anxiety.
TM isn't a replacement for sleep, she said, but the deep rest can clear the mind and give added energy to the processes of intelligence and creativity in daily life.
Scientific research has shown that the oxygen intake during meditation is twice that of sleep and thus provides a deeper form of body rest.
The technique of transcendental meditation has been proved effective for more than 8,000 years, McQuiston said, but it has gained rapid popularity since it was introduced to the world 12 years ago by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
TM is usually practiced twice a day by taking a relaxed, seated position, closing one's eyes and fixing the mind on a "mantra." The mantra, which is actually a
Sankatr-derived is derived, in especially selected during a personal event, by McQuiston and McQuiston said.
Michael D. Storms, assistant professor of psychology, agreed that any form of meditation helped alleviate stress but he found the merits of transcendental meditation.
Storms described the fee for TM courses as a total riff-off, and a very unnecessary cost.
Meditation in general is beneficial, Storms said, because it teaches one how to control his own state of arousal or relaxation.
There are much simpler forms of meditation, however, which are just as effective and much easier to learn, he said. You don't have to meditate in your personal mantra was unnecessary. All that is needed, Storms said, is for the meditator to fix his mind on one constant stimulus, but not necessarily one particular stimulus that is selected for an individual by his teacher.
Reports indicate that TM in the United States has grown from 221 participants in 1965 to an estimate of one million meditators today. McQuiston said that SIMS kept in touch with 550 meditators in the Lawrence area.
counts by celebrities, particularly in sports, has also led people to try meditation for stress relief.
McQuiston attributed TM's increased popularity to the public's faith in scientific research that has found meditation to be an effective form of body rest. Personal ac
Introductory courses in TM will be taught throughout the semester by instructors from SIMS, beginning about every two weeks, McQuiston said. After two free introductory lectures, those interested in taking them may meet personally with instructors during five more sessions. Total cost of the course for students is $85.
MeQuiston said there were many misunderstandings about meditation, including the false idea that it was a cult or religion. TM requires no changes in the mind but does require a technique but merely the desire to learn a technique for mind and body relaxation.
"Meditation can be put on the same level as brushing the teeth," Quiston said. "It's just a technique for cleaning out the nervous system."
Stress and strain in the nervous system block the mental processes and complicate the brain's ability to make sense of life, McQuiston said. Research has proved that during meditation, the brain waves are synchronized and over a period of time a orderly thinking process can be attained.
Through daily sessions of meditation, the technique gradually allows people to use more of the brain for normal thinking processes, she said.
8-12
p. m.
tonight
JUNIOR CLASS PARTY
All the Beer You Can Drink Free for Junior Class Card Holders
8-12 p.m.
DISC JOCKEY — DANCING
LAWRENCE ARMORY
200 IOWA
'3.00 for Non-Class Card Holders
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