Research & Experiences
Success in all endeavours depends fundamentally on a balanced state of health, wellbeing and creative thinking. When these important areas of life are in brought into balance, a happy, vital and creative life flows with greater ease and spontaneity. We are more positive in our outlook and the world around us is perceived with greater clarity. Clear-mindedness and a positive attitude profoundly support achievement of one’s endeavours. With achievement comes fulfilment.
In its quest to fulfil all avenues of artistic expression, the Academy of Arts for Enlightenment recommends the Transcendental Meditation programme and its advanced techniques such as the Transcendental Meditation–Sidhi programme. The TM technique is the most thoroughly researched field of personal development. Over 600 scientific research studies have been conducted on the Transcendental Meditation and the TM–Sidhi programmes at more than 250 independent universities and research institutions in 30 countries. Hundreds of these studies have been published in peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals. These studies have demonstrated a wide range of benefits to mental and physical health, relationships and society as a whole.
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded over $26 million to research the effectiveness of the Transcendental Meditation technique in reducing stress, anxiety and stress-related conditions, including addiction, cardiovascular health, depression, insomnia and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
We are pleased to present below, an overview of some of the published studies, with reference to the creative life, along with the personal experiences of some highly successful people who have learned the Transcendental Meditation technique:
Increased Creativity and Focus
- Increased intelligence and creativity
Intelligence 29: 419-440, 2009
- Flexibility of visual perception and verbal problem solving
Memory and Cognition 10(3): 207-215, 1982
- Field independence and art achievement in college students
Perceptual and Motor Skills 77(7): 1171–1175, 1992
- Field independence and achievement in college art
Perceptual and Motor Skills 77(7): 1104–1106, 1993
- Reduced ADHD symptoms and symptoms of other learning disorders
Mind & Brain: The Journal of Psychiatry 2 (1): 73-81, 2011
- 21% Increase in high school graduation rate
Education 133 (4): 495-500, 2013
- 10% Improvement in test scores and Grade Point Average
Education 131: 556–565, 2011
- Increased attendance and decreased suspensions for school students
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes 1:10, 2003
David Lynch, Filmmaker
“…You catch ideas at a deeper level.”
Arianna Huffington, Author, Publisher
“One thing that I find with meditating is that it helps me make better decisions … I’m more creative too. So there’s the element of reducing stress, reducing tiredness and all those feelings, but there is the positive element as well”.
Martin Scorsese, Filmmaker
“For the last few years, I’ve been practicing Transcendental Meditation. It’s difficult to describe the effect it has had on my life. I can only mention maybe a few words: calm, clarity, a balance and at times a recognition. For me, meditation has made a difference.”
Laura Dern, Academy Award Winning Actress
“I learned Transcendental Meditation at 18. I feel incredibly blessed to have it in my life, just as a practical application. If you’re an actor, a painter, or a mother – there’s no greater daily practice for learning how to turn your focus just to this moment. TM serves me beautifully in so many areas. I feel really lucky to have it!“
Paul McCartney, Musician
“It was a great gift that Maharishi gave us. For me, it came at a time when we were looking for something to kind of stabilize us toward the end of the crazy ‘60’s. It’s a lifelong gift. It’s something you can call on any time. I think it’s a great thing. It’s actually coming into the mainstream.”
Ringo Starr, Musician
On learning Transcendental Meditation:“…one of the best experiences of my life.”
Eva Mendes, Actress
“Meditation helps with creativity… it’s almost like TM helps creatively on a level that I can’t describe … but it’s tapping into something so deep that when I reap the rewards, I don’t even know I’m reaping them”.
Cameron Diaz, Actress
“The fact that it is so simple to learn; it’s so simple to practice and yet you get the amount of restoration that comes to you—the benefit across your life –well, it has changed everything.”
“TM is helping you to tap into something that’s already inside of you. That’s you, in essence. That’s something I think I do that was super-empowering for me once I grasped that.”
“It’s not just something that you go outside of yourself to obtain, and then bring it back to you. It’s actually the deepest part of you. It’s the part of you that exists—you had never had the tool of opening and accessing. And to have that tool now, and to be able to go inside, to the deepest part of myself, to access that and recharge my battery internally within myself… It’s so awesome. I feel so empowered that I actually possess that.”
Optimized Brain Function and Improved Quality of Life
- Higher Development, Brain Integration, and Excellence in Leadership
Management Decision 47 (6): 872-894, 2009
- Enhanced Brain EEG and Cortical Integration
Signal Processing 85 (11): 2213-2232, 2005
- Increased Serotonin (Neurotransmitter) Levels
Journal of Neural Transmission Vol 39: pp257-267
- Improved Quality of Life
Military Medicine 176 (6): 626-630, 2011
- 30% Improvement in Satisfaction with Quality of Life
Military Medicine 176 (6): 626-630, 2011
- Cognitive Orientation Towards Positive Values in Advanced Participants of Transcendental Meditation and the TM-Sidhi Programme
Perceptual and Motor Skills 64(3):1003-1012, 1987
Gisele Bündchen, Model
“I practice Transcendental Meditation twice a day. Every morning, lunchtime or evening, for about 20 minutes … I believe in the power of intention and thought”.
Katy Perry, Singer
“There are so many different forms of meditation I’ve done, but nothing supersedes TM. It changed my life.”
Hugh Jackman, Actor
“It is finding bliss.”
Jennifer Aniston, Actress
“There is a peaceful joy.”
David Lynch, Filmmaker
“I have been ‘diving within’ through the TM technique for over 30 years. It has changed my life, my world… All these anxieties, fears and things that just kill us – all of those start going away”.
Moby, Musician
“One of the things that impressed me about TM was its simplicity. It’s a simple practice that calms the mind.”
Russell Brand, Comedian
“I’m relieved of the constant thinking, the constant fear, the anxiety of being alive and not feeling like I’m good enough.”
