The Department of Veterans Affairs is testing the effects of transcendental meditation on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, reported The Washington Post.

Final results of the trials won’t be available for another year, but VA Deputy Decretary W. Scott Gould said he was “encouraged” by the initial findings.

An independent study on Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at Norwich University showed a 50 percent reduction in post-traumatic stress after only eight weeks. The VA is now spending about $5 million on a dozen more trials. Transcendental meditation is a type of meditation where practitioners recite a mantra for 15 to 20 minutes.

This story is part of Federal News Radio’s daily DoD Report brought to you by United Health Military and Veterans Services. For more defense news,

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