From: The Review, Vol. 35, #3, October 16, 2019 Copyright 2019, Maharishi University of Management
New Study: Maharishi Vastu Architecture Increases Creativity A new study published in Creativity Research Journal found increased creativity in employees who work in a building designed according to Maharishi Vastu® architecture. In the first study of its kind, 21 employees of an architectural consulting firm who moved into a Maharishi Vastu office building scored more highly on the standardized Torrance Test of Creative Thinking compared to their score four months earlier in their previous location. The study found that there was less than a 1% possibility that the result was due to chance. “This research experimentally demonstrated that moving from a conventional architecture building into a Vastu building led to large measurable improvements in employee creativity, in particular in the originality of the ideas generated and their detailed elaboration,” said Professor Anil Maheshwari, first author on the study. “I think every organization, big and small, could benefit.” The study was based on the PhD dissertation research of management student Margaret Rose Werd, who is a coauthor of the published version. The researchers hypothesized that this traditional system of architecture that originated in India would have a wide range of benefits because it’s said to be more in harmony with nature. Features of Maharishi Vastu include alignment with the cardinal directions; a silent central area called a Brahmasthan; specific placement and proportions of the rooms; appropriate slope and shape of the land; an unobstructed view of the sun; a location that’s distant from sources of electromagnetic radiation; and use of natural materials and energy. “It may seem unfamiliar to a Western, scientific perspective, but the fact is that our physiology is intimately tied to the material and rhythms and forces of the earth and sun,” Dr. Maheshwari said. Creativity Research Journal is one of the two leading journals in research on creativity.
