Current Issues in Education
March 27, 2026
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
Our prior research with indigenous school children and adolescents in Perú, often in remote high-altitude Andean locations, mostly centres on an exploration of health and school performance and their relation to the practice of Transcendental Meditation, an easy-to-learn technique for mental and physiological rest and stress reduction. We have established that higher levels of health and school...
International Journal of Adolescence and Youth
January 29, 2026
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
Self-esteem and a strong sense of self are reliable predictors of health and longevity. Transcendental Meditation develops both self-esteem and an empowered sense of self. Our research program in Peru has focused on quantitative and qualitative variables in students, teachers, parents, orphans and carers, and other mostly indigenous people. However, it has yet to investigate self-esteem or...
2026
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
The term ‘Peruvian miracle’ is not ours and we are not the first to use it. Indeed, many authoritative observers have referred to Peru’s remarkable socio-economic recovery and transformation after 1995 as a miracle. However, uniquely, this book explores the antecedents of this phenomenon by tracing its origin to a 1983 visit to Lima by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental...
Revista Internacional de Educación Emocional y Bienestar
August 14, 2025
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
El bienestar personal mide la satisfacción individual con la vida, abarcando salud mental y física, resistencia y calidad de vida. Como parte de un programa de investigación pandémico en Perú, estos autores previamente demostraron que la Meditación Trascendental incrementó el bienestar en 49 niñas huérfanas un 33%. Ahora estudiamos niños de primaria superior. Mediante un diseño...
Journal of Latinos & Education
February 2, 2025
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
ABSTRACT Adverse impacts on children in home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic have been documented. These impacts include increased loneliness, anxiety, depression, posttraumatic disorder, and heightened risk of psychiatric illness. The present study introduces a proto-theoretical model of stress, psychophysiology, and coping to explain this phenomenon. A focus of the research is on...
Revista Interamericana de Psicología/Interamerican Journal of Psychology
September 9, 2024
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
In a post-pandemic Perú, problems associated with the mental health of children have been highlighted and effective methods of intervention have been discussed. This study sought to examine: 1) current levels of depression, anxiety, and stress in Perúvian school children; 2) how these levels compare to other children in Latin America and elsewhere; 3) whether these levels are different when...
Journal of Contemplative & Holistic Education
2024
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek et al.
The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a devastating blow to the social fabric of Perú, with the highest orphans per death (OPD) ratio of any country in Latin America. Therefore, 260,000 orphans now require care because of 216,000 parent, custodial grandparent, and caregiver deaths between 2020 and 2022. The purpose of this research is to examine whether the practice of Transcendental Meditation, an...
World Journal of Social Science
November 13, 2023
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
More than 60 well-controlled empirical studies since 1974 have indicated there is a statistically observable causal link between the number of people who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique and the state of order, harmony and prosperity in a city, region, country or the world. Such a phenomenon is based on the level of brainwave coherence generated by the practice and the effect...
Tapuya
March 15, 2022
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
Approximately 2000 indigenous students at Institución Educativa Privada Prescott in Puno, located in the Andes high on the Altiplano of Lake Titicaca, have been instructed in Transcendental Meditation. In this study, we examine the impact of home isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic on physical, cognitive, and emotional health, and school performance for a group of 54 meditating students, and...
Educación
September 28, 2021
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
A paucity of data in school children generally, and in non-Western schools specifically, related to health, school performance, and practice of meditation necessitated this study. The fact that almost no prior research of this type has been conducted in Latin America makes the present investigation especially worthwhile. This mostly quantitative study was carried out with 91 randomly selected...
Journal of Latinos & Education
March 19, 2021
Lee Fergusson, Javier Ortiz Cabrejos, Anna Bonshek
ABSTRACT Practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique in schools and universities throughout the world has been well researched over a 50-year period suggesting it is a useful tool for student development and learning. However, introduction of the practice into school systems throughout Latin America is a relatively recent phenomenon and no research has been published on the likely or...