Dr. Steven Rector: Scientists call what happens during TM practice a fourth state of consciousness, a state of restful alertness, unlike waking, sleeping or dreaming. This fourth state, called Transcendental Consciousness, has it’s own physiological style of functioning—slower breath rate, reduced stress hormones, more orderly brainwaves.We know from hundreds of research studies that experiencing this fourth state of consciousness for twenty minutes twice a day through the TM technique leads to a wide range of health benefits. Scientists around the world have lauded the discovery of this fourth state as a major breakthrough in health and human potential, because experiencing it twice daily appears to be the key to maximizing health and overcoming the ravaging effects of stress.
Everyone knows what happens when a person is deprived of sleep, and researchers have found that dreaming state is also necessary to function in daily life. What is the result of omitting the fourth state, Transcendental Consciousness? What results is the widespread condition of anxiety, hypertension and general ill health that I see everyday as a physician, and which costs America billions every year in the treatment of stress-related diseases and behavioral disorders.
There’s an epidemic of stress in the world. This is what happens when the restorative experience of the fourth state of consciousness is excluded from daily life. This is why as a doctor I wholeheartedly endorse the Transcendental Meditation program.
Dr. Steven Rector has practiced emergency medicine for 18 years. A Diplomate of the American Board of Emergency Medicine, he currently works as an emergency physician and in the education of paramedics and other emergency medical personnel. In Georgia he served as Medical Director of the Atlanta Center for Chronic Disorders. Dr. Rector has lectured internationally on stress management and on the integration of modern conventional medicine with alternative approaches to health optimization. He has conducted many seminars training physicians in these strategies and methods in Atlanta and in the Washington, D.C. area. He has been practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique over 35 years.
