Meditation has soothing effect on mind as well as body. It can greatly help in fighting stress, cause behind many aliments.

Recent study has shown that regularly practicing meditation can help in reducing the risk of a heart attack, stroke and death for people with heart disease.

Study led by Dr. Robert Schneider, director of the Centre for Natural Medicine and Prevention at the Maharishi University in Iowa, was based on the data collected from 201 African American people, with an average age of 59, suffering from heart disease.

The study subjects were randomly divided into two groups, meditation group and the lifestyle change group. The study subjects in the first group practised Transcendental Meditation for 20 minutes twice a day while the study subjects in second group were educated about traditional risk factors like controlling diet and exercise.

Data analysis revealed that there was 47 per cent reduction in heart attacks, strokes and deaths as study subjects in meditation group along with a clinically significant drop (5mm Hg) in blood pressure. There was also reduction in psychological stress in some study subjects in mediation group.

Dr. Schneider said that the effect of Transcendental Meditation in the trial was like adding a class of newly discovered drugs for the prevention of heart disease.