INNOVATIVE SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN HEALTH AND PHYSIOLOGY
Center for Social Emotional Health and Consciousness
Maharishi International University (MIU) faculty and graduate students continue to be leaders in advancing the scientific understanding and applications of natural, prevention-oriented methods for individual and societal wellness. Examples of research project areas include neuroscience, stress-related mental disorders, and applied molecular biology. Research collaboration has occurred with the Veterans Administration San Diego Healthcare System in CA, the University of California at San Diego in CA, Uniform Health Services in MD, and Northwell Healthcare System in NY, to conduct groundbreaking research on the effects of TM on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Veterans; the University of Loyola Stritch Medical School in IL, which found that TM significantly reduced burnout and depression in academic physicians; and African Women’s and Girls’ Organization for Total Knowledge and the United Women’s Platform for Empowerment and Development (UWOPED) which found and improvement in self-efficacy and self-empowerment, to name a few. Funds raised will help cover the following costs:
- Research interventions such as Transcendental Meditation Instruction, Aroma Therapy doses, Maharishi Vedic Sound Therapy session, etc. for subjects participating in the experimental groups
- Protocol for subjects participating in the control groups.
- Measurement inventories and surveys when fees are required.
- Travel costs when needed.
- Additional qualitative and quantitative analysis support when needed.
History: The Center was founded in 2013 by Drs. Sanford and Randi Jeanne Nidich, Faculty members of the Physiology and Health graduate program at Maharishi International University (MIU). Dr. Sandford Nidich has been has been a pioneering researcher in the field of complementary and integrative medicine for over several decades. Dr. Randi Jeanne Nidich is a leading expert in Consciousness-based education. Research projects have included investigating the effects of Transcendental Meditation on social-emotional
competencies, academic achievement, and moral development in middle and high school students, teacher burnout and perceived stress, and trauma and other psychological distress factors in women prison inmates.
Purpose: To promote the mental health and emotional, social, and spiritual wellbeing of at-risk and disadvantaged groups in society through the Consciousness-based approach of Maharishi AyurVeda, the Transcendental Meditation® technique, and other prevention-oriented, natural health care programs.
Methods: Our projects conduct original research on the clinical effects and basic mechanisms of these approaches in order to document the efficacy and future application to reduce suffering and increase well-being.
View more on our future and current research projects which you can support, as well as our completed projects below:
Center Projects:
Transcendental Meditation has been shown to have powerful benefits in reducing stress and improving the quality of life for students and teachers alike. School Programs
Transcendental Meditation has applied toward reducing stress and improving health within Oregon State Correctional Institution. Prison Programs
Findings from a recent major clinical trial on Veterans with PTSD, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and conducted at the San Diego VA, was published in The Lancet Psychiatry – a leading mental health journal. The paper entitled, “Non-trauma-focused meditation versus exposure therapy in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled trial,” showed Transcendental Meditation (TM) to be effective in treating PTSD symptoms in Veterans. Veterans’s Progams
Each year, about 20% of U.S. women experience some type of mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety. Mental health conditions can affect more women than men, and can affect women in different ways from men. Women’s Health Programs
Substance Abuse
Treating and preventing alcohol, nicotine, and drug abuse through Transcendental Meditation: A review and statistical meta-analysis, Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 1994. 11, 13-87.
In a meta-analysis of 19 studies, with a total of 4,524 subjects, the Transcendental Meditation program was found to significantly reduce the use of alcohol, cigarettes, and illicit drugs in both the general population and in heavy users (demonstrating both secondary prevention and treatment efficacy). The effect on reducing use of these substances is also significantly larger than those produced by relaxation, and other prevention and treatment programs. Abstinence was maintained or increased over the long-term, indicating effective relapse prevention. Prior research on the Transcendental Meditation program was found to significantly reverse physiological and psychological factors leading to substance abuse, thereby promoting primary prevention.
Effects of the Transcendental Meditation program on substance use among university students, Cardiology Research and Practice, 2011, 537101. PMCID: PMC3087968.
In a randomized controlled trial (N = 295 university students) the Transcendental Meditation program showed a significant reduction in drinking rates among male students compared to controls.
Integration of Transcendental Meditation (TM) into alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment, Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 2018, 87, 23-30.
In a matched control study of 60 adults with primary alcohol use disorder (AUD) newly admitted to an inpatient treatment facility, both feasibility and efficacy was established. Uptake of TM was high (85% in the meditation group showed compliance with meditation practice of at least once per day; of those 61% practiced TM twice-daily. Participants reported high satisfaction with TM. Those practicing TM twice-daily were less likely than the rest of the sample to return to any drinking (25% vs. 59%) or heavy drinking post-discharge (0% vs. 47%). Greater regularity of TM practice was inversely correlated with psychological distress, craving, and alcohol use at follow-up.
HIV/AIDS
Effects of behavioral stress reduction Transcendental Meditation intervention in persons with HIV, AIDS Care, 2013, 25(10):1291-7.
Stress is implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of HIV. The TM program has demonstrated effectiveness in improving outcomes via stress reduction. The feasibility of implementing TM and its effects on outcomes in persons with HIV were investigated. In this community-based single blinded Phase-I, randomized controlled trial, twenty-two persons with HIV were randomized to TM intervention or healthy eating (HE) education control group. Retention was 100% in TM group and 91% in HE control group. Significant between group differences were observed for generic and HIV-specific health-related quality of life.
Uganda: program for impoverished mothers, and a project with abused teenage girls
Albania: women’s prison project in Tirane, Albania
Brazil: a large school project in Rio de Janeiro with several hundred students who are learning the Transcendental Meditation program and the advanced TM-Sidhi program
Greece: a project with refugees in Athens
Afghanistan: a project with staff members of the International Rescue Committee on trauma symptom severity
Portugal: advisory role to a school project, evaluating changes in social emotional health in students and staff