Heart rate, muscle tension, and alpha production of transcendental meditators and relaxation controls.

A group of transcendental meditators, and a group of control subjects instructed to relax, were compared with respect to degree of relaxation reached as measured by changes in heart rate, tension of the frontalis muscle, and occipital alpha production. The only significant changes were decreases in these measures over time in the control subjects. The changes in the controls were probably the consequence of sleep or the onset of sleep.