Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Dr. David F. O’Connell Encourages Medical Meditation with New Book


Dr. David F. O’Connell, a distinguished licensed psychologist, will soon release his new book, Prescribing Health: Transcendental Meditation in Contemporary Medical Care. In the book, Dr. O’Connell encourages physicians in a wide range of fields to recommend meditation as part of their patients’ treatment plans. He explores the health benefits of regular meditation practice for a number of serious and chronic physical and psychological health problems.

The motivation for writing this book came from a supposition that most people still do not believe that real health benefits, including the more effective management or treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, hypertension, and various addictions, can be derived from regular meditation. Dr. O’Connell has already published two books about the role of meditation in the treatment of addictions.

The book specifically addresses transcendental meditation, a form developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the 1950s. During the following decade, Dr. O’Connell encountered transcendental meditation, which has since had a major impact on his life. In this form of meditation, individuals focus on a mantra to invoke refined states of awareness.