ABSTRACT
The physiologic changes during meditation differ from those during sleep, hypnosis, autosuggestion, and characterize a wakeful hypometabolic physiologic state. Electroencephalogram patterns occurring during hypnosis are usually similar to the suggested wakeful patterns and therefore differ greatly from those observed during meditation. In all subjects tested by the closed-circuit method and in four subjects tested by the open-circuit method, a standard mouthpiece and nose clip were used. Systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial blood pressure changed little during meditation. The physiologic changes during transcendental meditation differed from those reported during sleep. The fall in blood lactate observed during meditation might be explained by increased skeletal muscle blood flow with consequent increased aerobic metabolism. A consistent wakeful hypometabolic state accompanies the practice of the mental technique called transcendental meditation. Transcendental meditation can serve, at the present time, as one method of eliciting these physiologic changes.
