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Mahavakyam Meditation: a trauma-informed practice to cultivate wellness & resilience with social work students in the classroom and beyond

Indrani Margolin, Vibusha K. Madanayake, Abbey Jones

Social Thought March 12, 2025 DOI: 10.1080/15426432.2025.2467127 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Population Social work students
Intervention Mahavakyam Meditation
Topics Meditation
Keywords Education
Key findings The authors report six themes from their qualitative analysis of Mahavakyam Meditation among social work students: reduced anxiety and stress, increased concentration, deepened self-awareness, decreased negative self-talk and greater self-compassion, enhanced relationships, and spiritual connection. They propose the practice as a spiritual trauma-informed tool for helping-professional students and call for further research on integrating it into curricula and clinical and community interventions.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sustaining the longevity of helping professionals’ careers requires equipping them as students with adequate paradigms and practices for mind, body, and spirit wellbeing. Thus, integrating holistic approaches into core curriculum is essential to support the preparation for spiritually informed, standardized, ethical care. The purpose of this qualitative research project was to inquire into the inspiration of Mahavakyam Meditation practice, adapted from Master Teacher Sen’s Ancient Secrets of Success system. Findings elucidate how Mahavakyam Meditation influences social work students’ self-awareness, resilience, and wellbeing as an intervention tool. The Vedic science of thought-word creation is contemplated. The authors excavated six themes through data analysis: reduced anxiety and stress, increased concentration, deepened self-awareness, decreased negative self-talk and greater self-compassion, enhanced relationships, and spiritual connection. This inquiry offers a spiritual trauma-informed practical tool to support helping professional students through their studies and practice. We recommend further research to explore the effective implementation of Mahavakyam Meditation into helping professional curriculum as well as clinical and community interventions to best support students and clinicians to build resilience when they endure their own traumatic experiences.

Comparable studies

Other qualitative studies on meditation, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists Western Buddhist meditation practitioners and experts in Theravāda, Zen, and Tibetan... 2017 Qualitative study with mixed-methods
The Effects of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction on Nurse Stress and Burnout Nurses in a hospital system 2004 Implementation study with mixed methods
An exploratory mixed methods study of the acceptability and effectiveness of mindfulness -based cognitive therapy for patients with active depression and anxiety in primary care Primary care patients with recurrent depression or recurrent depression and anxiety 2006 Exploratory mixed methods study n = 13
A qualitative study of mindfulness‐based cognitive therapy for depression Participants in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in a mental-health context 2001 Qualitative study n = 7
Effortless awareness: using real time neurofeedback to investigate correlates of posterior cingulate cortex activity in meditators' self-report Meditators 2013 Qualitative study using grounded theory methodology

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Meditation Anxiety PTSD