Consciousness-Based Education effectively addresses the development of the knower, or the student, through the practice of Transcendental Meditation. This very simple and effortless mental technique allows students to unfold their full mental potential resulting in increased creativity, energy, intelligence, moral reasoning and positive behaviour. Students practise it twice daily in the morning and in the afternoon and it helps them to dissolve stress, reduce anxiety, increase energy and most importantly, makes them feel alert and awake. Our ability to take on new knowledge is entirely dependent on our state of consciousness. Regardless of how intelligent a person is, they will not be able to acquire new knowledge if they are asleep. This is an extreme example but it highlights the vital role that consciousness plays in the learning process. When we give students a technique to become more alert and awake, they are more receptive and acquire the knowledge with a more sophisticated understanding, for example, being able to relate new knowledge to different situations or link it to something they have learned in the past.

Consciousness is also something that develops as we grow as individuals. Einstein’s famous quote: No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it rings true here. As we grow in wisdom, we find deeper meaning in knowledge and its application. Students’ daily practice of TM is a way of fast-tracking this evolutionary process, resulting in insightful, deep thinkers.

It is now recognised that our brains are always, continuously changing. Intelligence, creativity, our ability to learn new things, these are not fixed notions but can change depending on what the brain experiences. For example, if someone practises the violin every day, then there will be a certain part of their brain responsible for music and hand coordination that will become very developed. Just as you exercise a muscle, when we repeat an activity, we strengthen that area of the brain. So through the experiences we are exposed to, our brain will change accordingly. 

When somebody practises TM, a remarkable thing happens. We see different areas of the brain light up and an increase in coherence which means the different parts of the brain are talking to each other. This experience happens when we transcend or experience finer and finer levels of thinking. With repeated exposure to this experience, when the students are doing this morning and afternoon, this experience of whole brain functioning and coherence begins to change the brain permanently resulting in clearer thinking, more holistic understanding of situations, increased creativity and intelligence. Through this experience we are awakening more and more of the brain’s full potential.

So, our second point is: Experience changes the brain. What we experience trains and develops our brains to respond in certain way. Through the regular practice of TM, students are training their brains to think in a more coherent way.

Almost all parents agree that above all, what they want for their child is for them to be happy. Consciousness-Based education sees happiness as an incredibly valuable learning tool. The psychologist Maslow developed a Theory of Human Motivation where he identified a hierarchy of ‘needs’ that have to be met in order to succeed. First and foremost were basic physiological needs such as food, water and shelter, then safety, love and belonging, esteem and finally self-actualisation or becoming the best person we can be. His hierarchy of needs shows us that, aside from our basic needs, in order to realise our full potential, we need to feel safe, loved, like we belong and like we are respected and valued. These are the aspects that are valued and nourished in Consciousness-Based education, because we know that when all of these aspects are being met, this is when students are most open and motivated to learn. Through the practice of TM, students develop in emotional intelligence, acceptance of diversity and kindness, whilst teachers use Maharishi’s principles of ideal teaching using, love, respect, positivity and kindness in all interactions with students. As parents and staff are also practising TM, these experiences and values are seen both at home and throughout the school so that the entire school community reinforces these beneficial and life-supporting qualities.

Students also study 16 principles or laws of nature, that they see everywhere around them and also within themselves. These principles are integrated into the existing curriculum to give students a fulfilling sense of wholeness and perspective as they study their traditional subjects such as maths, science and English. For example, the first principle they examine is The Nature of Life is to Grow. In maths they might look at how numbers grow through multiplication. In science they might look at how a plant grows from a tiny seed into a multi-limbed tree and in English they might explore ‘growth’ as a theme and write a story around this idea. Ultimately, these principles or laws of nature are always linked back to themselves and how it relates to them. They would look at how they have grown physically, emotionally and mentally and this allows them to be able to make connections between what they are learning in school, the world around them and themselves.