Prepared by Dr. Charlotte Bech

Health in Light of the Science of Consciousness

(4th Semester, Day 1)

Theme of the Day:
Good Health for the Individual and Society

Daily schedule for the two weeks in whichstudents prepare

for their fieldwork by focusing more deeply on a topic

Here is the schedule if the students choose health

Class Period

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Course or Activity

First period
8:00–9:45 a.m. / Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs(preceded by stretching postures, in a group with leader at front of the room)
9:45- 10:15 / Change to class clothes, eat, go to class
Second period
10:15–12 midday / Course leader: Warm welcome, reminds of purpose of entire MA program, makes introduction, reads from charts (5 min)
Main Video Lecture (35 min): ‘Maharishi Ayurveda – An introduction.’Speaker: Dr. Donn Brennan(13 min)
Uploadet 20. december 2010

Appealing Points (5 min) *
Academic exercises (30 min):
Exercise- writing: (1) synthesizes the knowledge from the discipline in the reading or video;
(2) explains how that knowledge of the area is brought to fulfillment through the experience and understanding of Science of Consciousness;
(3) validates with scientific research findings on the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs;
(4) explains briefly how this knowledge affects the students’ own growth.
Purpose: Toreinforce the knowledge by expressing it
Transcendental Meditation
(last 15 minutes each session, after the 90 minutes of class)
Third period
12–1 p.m. / Before the meal, close the eyes for 30 seconds1
Lunch—30 minutes
After the meal, lie down on left side for 15 minutes2
Walk outdoors 15 minutes
Fourth period
1–2:45 p.m. / Supplementary Readings/videos for the main course of the week (90 minutes):
Supplementary Video (40 min):
‘The deviation from the natural path of evolution is the cause of disease. The Vedic approach to health is consciousness based. ‘ Speaker: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi weekly global press conferences. MERU Holland. 26. May 2004 (11 min)
Additional Academic Exercises (40 min):
Reading: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: ‘Creating an Ideal Society.’Livingston Manor, NY,Age of Enlightenment Press. 1977: pages 156-157.
Exercise :Video recording a short presentation with smart phones or tablets:
• The student plans, then makes a 3-minute, timed video with a partner, doing the recording on a smartphone or other device.
• The content is a concise summary, synthesizing the essence of points 1 to 4 from the morning academic exercise in a few sentences.
• Before recording, they go through with the faculty the checklist for a successful presentation, covering content, organization, and style.
• With a partner they both evaluate the 3-minutetalk with reference to the checklist.
• Then the re-do it, and show it to the onsite teacher and students. With feedback first form the partner, then they each redo their videos.
3. Sense of achievement: Students show the 3-minute video to the teacher and students for their praise and encouraging feedback,
4. Students may wish send this video to a prospective site for fieldwork.
Purpose: Toreinforce the knowledge by expressing it
Transcendental Meditation (last 15 minutes of each day session after the 90 minutes of class)
2:45-3:00 / Break
Fifth period
3:00–4:05 p.m. / Repeating the day’s lecture and additional Academic Exercises (60 minutes)
Second Playing of Main Video Lecture (35 min):): ‘Maharishi Ayurveda – An introduction.’Speaker: Dr. Donn Brennan(13 min)
Uploadet 20. december 2010

Appealing Points (5 min) *
Student Summaries of the day (10 min)**, using the form (the essence of what we learned, how does it relate to you)
Main Video Lecture Unified Field and Unity Chart (3-5 min)
Change classrooms (5 minutes)
Sixth period
4:05–4:25 p.m. / Synthesis of the Day* (20 minutes)
Again read the MPs and other handouts, read quietly (10 min)
Students present key points from whole day (popcorn) (10 min)

4:30- 4:45 p.m.

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Change clothes and rest (15 minutes)

Seventh period
4:45–6:30 p.m. /

Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program (preceded by stretching postures)

Materials needed for this lesson:
  • DVD of the dayContaining Lecture 1 expert’s video (35 min), and
    the video ‘The deviation from the natural path of evolution is the cause of disease. The Vedic approach to health is consciousness based.‘Speaker: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Maharishi weekly global press conferences. MERU Holland. 26. May 2004 (11 min)
  • Textbook: Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: ‘Creating an Ideal Society.’ Livingston Manor, NY, Age of Enlightenment Press. 1977: pages 156-157.
  • Homework: Follow a healthy daily routine every day of the eight days of the eight lessons on health3: Make a chart for eight days, with the eight habitsfor health promotion.
  • Every day, introduce one more habit, starting with TM of course. Put a check mark on each day for each habit when done.
  • Every day every morning in class, report on your experience with your daily routine.

Academic Exercises
Additional explanation and examples of what would be acceptable:
1. Closing the eyes before meals has a relaxing and settling effect, which activates the parasympathetic nervous system which in turn stimulates digestion.
2. Lying on left side after meals has a relaxing and settling effect, as it stimulates the tenth cranial nerve (NervusVagus, the Vagal nerve, with a large branch on the left side of the body), which is activating the parasympathetic nervous system which in turn stimulates digestion.
3. Daily routine for promoting health
1. Cleaning teeth, and tongue (use hard tooth brush or tongue scraper) first thing in the morning
2. One glass of room temperature purified water in the morning early
3. Gandusha (1 tbsp. luke warm sesame oil in mouth, do oil pulling and gargling 5 min. during shower)
4. Abhyanga in the morning (except during menstruation): Apply luke warm sesame oil to the whole body, from top down with soft strokes, followed by shower, then cut nails
5. Morning and afternoon: Yoga asanas, Transcendental Meditation
6. Exercise, walk after lunch and do more exercise at any convenient time
7. Before bed time: Wash hands, feet and face
8. Apply Lavender oil on feet: One drop on soles of feet before bed time
* Conduct appealing points exercise, with students writing one sentence in one minute and then as many students as possible reading out their sentence, one after the other, going like popcorn, with the teacher just smiling or saying 'thank you' or 'good' etc without elaboration
** For this exercise it is best to use the “Student’s Summary of Class Form,” which is in the general manual for the classroom teacher. This form encourages the students to limit themselves to the requested two sentences.
Several minutes before the end of each class, when the teacher has completed the presentation of the lesson, but before the Unified Field Chart and Unity Chart, all the students at their desks write two sentences followed by a drawing or diagram.
(1) The first sentence summarizes what the student feels to be the central point of the lesson from the discipline.
(2) The second sentence relates the point from the discipline to the growth or attainment of higher states of consciousness.
(3) Then they illustrate or create a diagram of this central point related to the point from consciousness, using shapes, lines, words, and/or illustration or cartoon.
(4) One student volunteers (or later in the course, may be selected by the teacher) to go to the board and present his or her summary in one minute, while illustrating it on the board, while the rest of the class attends.
(5) The teacher expresses appreciation in a discriminating way: “I liked the way you expressed [or showed].