CEOWORLD Magazine Publishes "A Yogi's Take on Stress and Burnout"
Some experts want a four-day work week to reduce exposure to stress, but the many sources of stress in life require an inner approach for more resilience
Robert Keith Wallace, PhD, whose research is discussed in the op-ed, published research on the Transcendental Meditation2 (TM) program years ago in Science and Scientific American. His research surprised the academic community with the depth of the relaxation during the TM technique. Now he points to a later series of studies showing TM meditators’ resilience in the face of stressful situations.
In the studies, the meditators’ heart rates and other physiological measurements increased appropriately in response to stressful stimuli, but the meditators recovered much more quickly than a relaxation control group. The meditators could brush off a situation that would tend to disrupt the non-meditators’ nervous systems.
Wallace, a physiologist, calls this ability to handle stress “neuroadaptability.” He says, “A four-day workweek may be highly beneficial for some, but it’s impossible to tiptoe through life and avoid potentially stress-producing events. Whatever else we do, we need an inner approach to prevent stressful events from overtaxing the body.”
Jay Marcus, the author of the op-ed, has been a TM meditator and yoga practitioner for 50 years. He says, “The yogi who introduced the TM technique for overcoming stress is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. His technique is effective because it doesn't involve focusing, concentrating, or monitoring, and gives us calmness and balance. This allows the body to function more coherently, repairing the damage caused by stress and increasing resilience.” Marcus says, “Focusing and monitoring techniques don’t have the same calming effect as TM because the effort of focusing or monitoring thoughts, the breath, or heartbeat is itself activity, which is counter-productive to allowing the mind to gain the most settled and coherent state.”
Marcus says, "With TM, Maharishi revived the classical meditation of ancient India. Instead, throughout India what was being promoted in the name of meditation was less effective concentration and focusing techniques, and that’s now happening in America.”
Wallace, Marcus, and Chris Clark, MD (a Yale-trained psychiatrist) are co-authors of The Coherence Effect3 book, which discusses meditation and other strategies to reduce stress. One of those interviewed for the book is Josh Griffith, head writer for a popular TV series. He said:
"In the world of daytime TV, you’re having to create five shows a week. As head writer [The Young and the Restless] I was responsible for all the stories that aired. I walked away from it a few years ago because I felt burned out. Then I started doing TM. I thought I was a meditator before starting TM. Boy, was I wrong!
Then I was offered the head job on Days of Our Lives, and I agreed to take it because with TM I already felt sort of a creative energy bubbling back inside of me. TM allowed me to generate so many story ideas that it was, in a way, sort of like a rebirth. I’ve had a 30-year career. And the changes happened within a month of practicing TM. I feel like I’m starting [my career] now. I feel like a 25-year-old again."
Wallace says, “We eliminate a lot of stress through sleep. The secret behind TM’s success is that the calmness and coherence gained during a TM session is actually more profound than sleep in certain ways, and, therefore, provides a maximum opportunity to repair the internal damage caused by stressful events. The brain wave research is especially important in showing how TM can be more profound than sleep.” See the brain wave images in the graph above.
Additional References:
Thrive Global article on the importance of brain wave coherence at https://thriveglobal.com/stories/the-coherence-effect/.
Yoga Digest article "Are you a terrible meditator and can you fix the problem" at https://yogadigest.com/are-you-a-terrible-meditator-and-can-you-fix-the-problem/,
Coaching in how to apply the knowledge of great yogis in today’s business environment at www.AyurvedicCoaching.com.
Jay B Marcus
Coherence, Ltd.
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1 https://ceoworld.biz/2021/07/15/a-yogis-take-on-stress-and-burnout/
2 http://www.TM.org
3 http://www.coherenceeffect.com