Theravive Home

A new study published in Health Care for Women International looked at the effect of Transcendental Meditation on self-esteem, self-efficacy, and gratitude, for increasing empowerment of female youth in Uganda.

“Our study is about the impact of the Transcendental Meditation® technique on developing empowerment in the lives of female youth in Uganda,” study author Leslee Goldstein told us. 

Dr. Leslee Goldstein is a Senior Researcher and Adjunct Assistant Faculty at Center for Social Emotional Health and Consciousness, Maharishi International University, Fairfield, Iowa, USA.

“These are young women living in poverty in the city slums of Kampala, Uganda who lead very challenging lives. We were hoping to find out if this technique would be a viable tool they could use for themselves by themselves to help them increase their overall wellbeing, and to grow in self-esteem, self-love, self-respect, and confidence to improve their lives.”

A previous study published by Goldstein with mothers in Uganda found reduced stress, increased self-efficacy, and improved quality of life in terms of greater energy, clearer thinking, and ability to cope. This time, Goldstein wanted to really focus in on the impact of TM in terms of personal empowerment for female youth, especially because Goldstein believes this is such an important period of growth in their lives.

“We had two theoretical ideas in mind based on the large body of existing research on TM on the benefits for mental and physical health,” Goldstein told us. “First, we thought about the nature and mechanics of the technique, which is all about allowing the busy, active mind to effortlessly settle to a deep level of silence and peace within.” 

This is the idea of transcending; going beyond the normal busy and active mind to a deeply settled place inside. The researchers also thought about the value TM could have for developing the mind/body connection. 

“It was intriguing to us to explore the possibility of these young women gaining an experience of the silent and lively source of life within themselves, and we hoped this would allow growth of consciousness in terms of mental and physical rejuvenation and integration, and greater inner and outer strength,” Goldstein told us. “So, our theory took form – based on the experience of transcending and the very important positive benefits we had seen for building a strong mind/body connection for individuals who practice TM all around the world.”

Goldstein’s passion is to work with women, and her co-authors share this passion – to help women, particularly in developing countries to lessen their load of stress and give them greater peace of mind and to help them feel better, stronger. 

“We chose to study female youth because they generally do not have adequate opportunities, adequate social and mental health support resources, and education, to be properly cared for and nourished at such a critical time in their lives,” Goldstein told us.

“This group of female youth were already wanting to learn TM because they had seen amazing benefits and transformations in the lives of their friends and family. This research grew out of that, and we stepped in to work with the leaders of the women’s organizations there in Uganda, to evaluate the success of the programs being offered. We had a remarkable team.”

The research team did a longitudinal study to evaluate the value of the TM program for this group of 137 female youth using standard, widely used quantitative questionnaires that are considered a good choice for measuring empowerment, particularly in youth. They tested everyone at the beginning of the project and again after five months using the same questionnaires, to see if TM was making a difference in their lives. 

Particularly, they wanted to measure self-esteem because women living in poverty often feel worthless and hopeless, especially at this young age when they are growing and exploring who they are and what life is all about. 

“We also tested self-efficacy, which is a valuable supporting measure because it looks at one’s ability to cope with challenges in life,” Goldstein told us. “We also included in the mix an evaluation of gratitude---which is something that grows in life when a person is feeling better about themselves, when one has a stronger, more positive self-image. When self-love grows, and one feels more capable of maneuvering in a challenging environment, then one starts to appreciate themself and others more, and they can begin to see the bigger picture of the world around them.”

The research team also included questions to evaluate tiredness. Goldstein’s experience working with women in Uganda, and from interviews with leaders in the country who provide services to these young women, has repeatedly shown that fatigue is a huge concern for them due to stress and worry for their survival, which impacts their physical and mental health. So they included measures of tiredness to evaluate the TM technique for bringing them greater energy and vitality.  

“Additionally, we discovered that alcohol abuse is a big problem among youth in Uganda, so we created some questions about alcohol use,” Goldstein told us. “When a girl feels worthless, she acts out in ways that are not supportive of her growth and progress. These girls often see no way out, so they often drink, run with boys, and get pregnant thinking that a man will take care of them – but usually they are left alone, very young, and with children of their own to take care of. It’s a vicious cycle.”

To determine the long-term impact of TM, the research team included a follow-up questionnaire after they had been meditating for eight months which allowed them to comment on changes they had noticed in their lives – changes in their physical health, in their mental health, and also they asked them if and how TM had influenced their relationships with others.

“We obtained significant results showing positive changes on all the above things mentioned: increased self-esteem, self-efficacy, and gratitude; and decreased tiredness, alcohol use, and worry and fatigue,” Goldstein told us. “Participants reported that they felt less stressed and that their health was better, more peaceful inside, happier, and their relationships improved with their parents, siblings, and friends. In addition, our participants expressed that they enjoy meditating together in groups whenever possible, which has developed friendships and deeper caring for each other and their communities.”

The research team was pleasantly surprised about their positive results on the measure of self-esteem. This was the first time the impact of TM on self-esteem has been measured, and they were really pleased to find that such a subtle, yet critically important aspect of their internal life could improve in five months' time. 

“We were not the only ones who were surprised,” Goldstein told us. “The organization Empowered Women that serves these youth, found that their job was made so much easier, because girls were feeling stronger and happier from within themselves. They were pleasantly surprised to see more creativity and resourcefulness and seeing the girls taking more initiative to take part in the programs being offered to them. They have expressed that TM is a valuable addition to their programs – because the girls are meeting them halfway and are more open to taking care of themselves and to their personal growth.”

The results show that TM gets to the crux of the matter, enlivening these female youth from the deepest part of themselves to allow their authentic selves to shine through---with growing self-esteem, greater ability to handle what comes their way, more peace inside and less fatigue, along with a growing dynamic strength that impacts all their activities. 

“This appears to be a winning scenario,” Goldstein told us. “Me and my co-authors all believe that going forward, these results begin to show the world the power of empowering young women from within themselves, which we feel can bring greater peace and harmony to their communities and their nation.”

The research team sees the results as providing the knowledge and understanding of TM as a viable and important tool for Self-Care---something they can do for themselves, by themselves to start to feel better to have greater self-reliance, resilience, and motivation.

“Strong, empowered girls make strong empowered women,” Goldstein told us. “It’s what the world needs. And this does not leave out the men---they are lifted up as well by the strength of the women, who are less apt to engage in arguments with them, and who become more self-sufficient and clearer on what they want in life. I think this makes the world a better place for all of them. Strong girls become strong mothers/teachers of their children – guiding them to make correct choices for themselves and their environment.”