30/08/2026
What Is Stress, and What More Can I Do to Be Rid of It?
BY DAVID ORME-JOHNSON, PH.D.
Do you have a science question for Dr. David Orme-Johnson? Please send your query to [email protected]. As one of the principal researchers on the Transcendental Meditation® technique worldwide, with over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, Dr. Orme-Johnson has presented TM research in more than 56 countries to scientific conferences, government officials, and the United Nations.
Question: The Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique has been great for reducing my stress levels. I have three questions: What is stress? How does TM get rid of stress? And what else can I do to reduce stress besides meditate?
Dr. Orme-Johnson: In the 1930s, Harvard physiologist Walter B. Cannon provided the first scientific definition of stress as the “fight-or-flight” reflex, which mobilizes the body’s energy and protective resources to face life-threatening challenges.1 This self-preserving reaction resulted in:
Breathing and heart rate becoming faster
Rising blood pressure
Increase in the stress-hormone cortisol
Muscles tensing for action
Hands and feet becoming cold and sweaty2
Now, 86 years later, we know much more about stress. For example, there are over 30 different stress chemicals that the body can produce to deal with emergencies. They include not only cortisol but also adrenaline and noradrenaline.
First the Bad News
1. For most people, these stress chemicals, normally produced by the body to deal with stressful situations, are being produced every day, even when the situation is not life-threatening. You could be worrying about your job, finances, family, spouse, relationships, an upcoming test you have take, what someone thinks about your new haircut.
2. These stress chemicals are directly associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and illnesses ranging from the common cold and poor digestion to life-threatening heart attack, stroke, or higher risk for cancers.
Now the Good News
Science Tells Us That TM Creates the Opposite of the Stress Response
The reason the Transcendental Meditation technique is so effective in reducing stress is that it produces just the opposite physiological effects of fight-or-flight by:
Reducing breath rate
Decreasing heart rate and sweaty palms2
Lowering blood pressure3
Decreasing cortisol by 30 percent4
Relaxing the muscles and strengthening the immune system5
TM practice also reduces the mental components of stress, decreasing anxiety,6 anger,7 and depression.8
Don’t Other Things Also Help Manage Stress?
Yes. However, one important distinction between other techniques and TM is that TM eliminates the negative effects of stress and makes us more resilient, while various other techniques only manage stress. For example, TM improves stress-related diseases such as hypertension and reduces heart attacks, strokes, and death in heart patients by 48 percent.9 It also helps us cope with stressful situations by increasing creativity, intelligence,10 integration of brain functioning, and wakefulness; and it accelerates recovery from stressors.11
There is an old adage that “The world is as we are.” If we meditate regularly we can change how we react to the world and how the world reacts to us. And for an extra boost in stress reduction, consider going on a TM® Weekend Retreat, which provides a great opportunity for some really profound R and R.
TM eliminates the negative effects of stress and makes us more resilient, while various other techniques only manage stress.
https://enjoytmnews.org/ask-a-scientist/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAT_1XpwZG9mBWZkaWQWUNZSwynBYkE1d0V8ZdE44fBPsaih8WV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7u4WCA2bLUusk4Z1RomsLmdqs2ss17gmrQzytXRZFuW0bQi5sgmKTAs_LvBg_aem_TrbDTixWhUkK7npGsYPj-g
Learn more: www.Transcendental-Meditation.center