Relieving Anxiety
Faced with daily challenges that can mean life or death, nurses can experience severe unrelenting anxiety.
The Transcendental Meditation technique can avert the growth of anxiety by building resilience mentally and physiologically. In those already suffering from anxiety, the TM practice calms the nervous system and develops profound inner peace that is the opposite of the stress response.
Biochemicals in the bloodstream associated with tension and anxiety—such as cortisol and plasma lactate—are significantly reduced, and the brain functions with greater coherence. Individuals who practice the TM technique show significantly increased skin resistance during the practice, an electrophysiological measure of calmness or restfulness.
A meta-analysis published in 2014 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that the Transcendental Meditation technique significantly reduces trait anxiety for people with high anxiety. Individuals with anxiety levels higher than 90 percent of the rest of the adult population showed dramatic reductions in anxiety down to the 57th percentile from TM practice.
May 2014, 20(5): 330-341.