[The following extracts are from a research paper by Sheer-El Cohn who was, at the time (2001) an 8th grade student at the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment in Fairfield, Iowa, USA.]
I predict that: The well-being of the occupants of Maharishi Vedic Architecture (MVA) buildings will improve significantly in comparison to their well-being while occupying previous non-MVA buildings. This will be researched by a questionnaire that will be given to as many occupants of an MVA house as possible. They will be asked to consider the following criteria of well-being after occupying the MVA building:
· Quality of sleep
· Level of energy
· Level of health
· Level of happiness
· Level of stress
· Mental clarity and thinking
· Level of creativity
Maharishi Vedic Architecture, otherwise known as Maharishi Sthapatya-Veda (MSV), is an ancient system of country, town, village, and home planning in accord with natural law and the natural environment. His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Founder of the Transcendental Meditation technique, has revived this system in the last decade. The main principles of MVA are:
Right Direction: The purpose is to align the building with the earth's magnetic field north-south and the movement of the sun, east-west. The entrance of the building should face east because the energy from the sun is greatest and most vital when rising, so it brings greater benefits to the health and the vitality of the occupants. According to MVA, a southern-facing entrance brings a negative influence to the occupants of the building.
Right Placement of Rooms: According to MVA, the sun radiates different qualities of energy as it moves across the sky. In MVA, buildings are designed so that these energies correspond to the specific activities performed within the different rooms of a home or building. Therefore, there is a specific place for the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, etc.
Right Proportion: In MVA there is a specific proportion for every room in the building with reference to the individual proportion of the human physiology. While in a room the individual will get the maximum benefit of it.
Besides these three main principles, MVA also highly recommends using natural, non-toxic building materials and emphasizes the importance of lots of sunlight and fresh air through many windows and cross-ventilation
I was inspired to research this topic after moving into my own MVA house and noticed a tremendous improvement in my own well-being and my family's. I found out that there has never been a research project or experiment conducted on the effect of MVA buildings on well-being. Therefore I decided that it would be interesting and important to do such an experiment and see the results. If my prediction is correct then this could have an impact on society and could improve the quality of life for people all over the world.
[The experimental protocol has been omitted, but is available if you are interested]
According to the MVA theory, if the MVA principles (as listed in the introduction) are applied correctly we one expect a significant change in the well-being of the occupants. Some of the positive benefits according to MVA are: increased happiness and better health, more energy and less fatigue, less stress and greater peace of mind, and a decrease in anti-social behavior, anxiety, and depression. My findings support the above theory of MVA.
In addition, while I was searching for information concerning the effect of buildings on the well-being of the occupant, I learned about more studies in this area. In the last two decades, there has been more public awareness and studies regarding the effect of modern buildings on mental and physical health as well as social behavior. Due to these studies the trend is to emphasize more natural building materials, better ventilation, and less artificial lighting.
Another two studies were conducted recently. It was found that non-MVA buildings with southern facing entrances had more burglary incidents than other neighboring houses did. Also that wrong direction (according to MVA) had a negative effect on the occupants' quality of life. My findings support the theory and data of these studies.
My hypothesis was proven right. I predicted that the well-being of the occupants of MVA buildings will improve significantly in comparison to their previous non-MVA building. Below is a summary of the results after a statistical analysis.
General Well-Being: Better-96%, Same-4%, Worse-0%, Other-0%
Quality of Sleep: Better-78% Same-20% Worse-0% Other-2%
Time it Takes to Fall Asleep: Less timer-56% Same time-40% More time-0% Other-4%
Waking Up: More refreshed and energetic-75% The same-21% Less refreshed and energetic-1% Other-3%
Energy During the Day: More energetic-78% The same-14% Less energetic-2% Other-6%
Coming Back Home: Get "recharged" quicker-90% No change-1% More worn out-0% Other-9%
General Health: Improved-75% Same-16% Become worse-1% Other-8%
Dietary Habits: Improved habits-78% No change-20% Worse habits-1% Other-1%
Mental Feeling: More happy and satisfied-91% The same-8% More unhappy and frustrated-0% Other-1%
Stress Level: More relaxed-91% The same-6% More stressful-3% Other-0%
Mental Activity: Mind is clearer-93% No change-6% Mind is less clear-1% Other-0%
While Acting or Working: More efficient-81% Same-15% Less efficient-0% Other-4%
Creativity: More creative-76% No change-22% Less creative-0% Other-2%
Working At an MVA Office: Less exhausted-92% Same-6% More exhausted-0% Other-2%
General Feeling About Moving: Satisfied with the decision-100% Regret the decision -0% Other-0%
As I already stated in my discussion, the results are very significant. I'm also aware that more expanded research is needed. This subject has vast application for people all over the world. In our modern society we spend most of the time indoors in our homes, offices, shops, etc. Therefore it is very important that the building will have a positive, life-supporting influence. It was shown that MVA expands the range of an ideal architecture - not only natural building materials, fresh air, and daylight, but also aligns the individual life with nature's intelligence through specific direction and orientation.
My research is a primary experiment. I encourage other scientists to do more accurate, objective, and long-term research studies on this topic. I intend to send the results to other scientists, and I hope that this area will be more enlivened for the benefit of all mankind.
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