Our approach

Transcendental Meditation is a very ancient, simple and natural technique, brought to light by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a foremost Vedic scholar who encouraged modern scientific research to study the effect of the practice of Transcendental Meditation for mind and body well-being. TM® has been taught worldwide since approximately 60 years.

Benefits

It was demonstrated that the Quiet Time/TM programme, implemented in a school environment, is a very effective whole-school approach involving teachers and students, to promote social inclusion, tolerance, non-discrimination, respect and understanding amongst diverse populations, to provide the basis for preventing bullying, violence and violent radicalisation and promoting intercultural understanding and dialogue.

The programme in general promotes successful inclusive education for all pupils, including those with special needs, by making schools learning communities in which a sense of inclusion and mutual support is nurtured and in which the talents of all pupils are fostered.

Also, it enhances strong leadership, empowerment, motivation and innovative high-quality teaching, increase resilience and reduces burnout, increases mental health and emotional intelligence.

In particular the impact on the different levels of education levels is:

Reduced violence, bullying, absenteeism, suspensions and drop out rates

Students have been reported to show improved moral reasoning, increased tolerance, increased acceptance of others, better impulse control, and greater sense of self. These findings are consistent with reports of improved student behaviour, including, less bullying and violent behaviour, fewer rule infractions, and lower rates of suspensions and expulsions, decreased use of tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs, less absenteeism, reduced rates of early school leaving. All of the above are based on extensive experience with implementation and reports from previously published peer-reviewed research, supported the primary goal of this project, which is preventing radicalization through education, creating a more inclusive learning environment and promoting the fundamental value of non–discrimination, tolerance and justice equity to grow in society as the concrete basis for social inclusion and to prevent radicalization and violence.

Improved Health of School Community

The health of the school community is also impacted, as indicated by lower levels of anxiety and depression, reduced stress-related health problems, such as hypertension, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, insomnia, depression, and neuroticism. The result is overall improved health and greater resistance to disease. Studies have also reported improvements in H-reflex, faster reaction time, and faster recovery from stress. These findings are consistent with reports of improved athletic ability.

Improved Academic and Behavioural Outcomes Amongst Students

Many of the risk factors associated with minority, migrant and disadvantaged students are reduced. Since the 1970’s, research has been reporting that students show significant improvements in academic performance in core subjects, such as mathematics and language arts, including students in lower performing groups. Other reported benefits include, increased brain integration, greater creativity, improved focus of attention, better working memory, decreased symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), increased acceptance rates for higher education, and reduce school dropout rates.

Reduced Number of Early School Leavers

We expect the results of this project within a longer term will confirm outcomes from previous studies, which have reported dropout rates falling from 20.5% to 5.1% within a year. Even if this project achieved within the long term a fraction of previous results the impact on education in the EU would be highly significant.

Improved Performance of Administrators, Teachers, and Staff and ability to deal with diversity of learners.

It is generally recognized that the quality of teaching in a school has a significant impact on student accomplishment and satisfaction.

Research on the Quiet Time/TM programme in general reports significantly reduced psychological distress, including decreased anxiety, depressive symptoms, and emotional distress. Specific outcomes reported for teachers and support staff, include, decreased perceived stress, reduced depression, and reduced overall teacher burnout.  In addition, improvements such as, increased job satisfaction, better relations with co-workers, decreased hypertension, reduced teacher absenteeism and turnover, and fewer sick leave days have also been reported. Principals report that in just a few weeks the school climate improves significantly following teacher instruction in Transcendental Meditation. Healthier, happy, enthusiastic teachers can have a major positive impact across Europe.

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Building entrepreneurial mindsets among young citizens of Europe

The greatest resource of any nation is the creativity and intelligence of its people. As more and more students grow in brain integration, creativity and intelligence, and more students go on to pursue higher education as a result of their participation in the Quiet Time/TM programme, we expect to see a significant increase in entrepreneurship and national productivity once they join the workforce.