Five Fundamentals of Progress: A Scientific Path to Self-Improvement
It’s the threshold of a new year. It’s time to gear up once again to better ourselves mentally, physically and spiritually. How?
Maharishi Vedic Science includes five fundamentals of progress:
Stability
Adaptability
Integration
Purification
Growth
We are born with, and continue to develop, a core of stability as we mature. That serves as a foundation for being flexible—adapting to new experiences—without losing balance. As new functions and perceptions are integrated into our individual life, the extraneous, less useful or harmful ones must be purified out, enabling a step forward in our growth.
Mentally, physically and emotionally, the Transcendental Meditation technique strengthens our stability, enhances adaptability, releases stress and abnormalities (purification), harmonizes the whole person (integration), and opens and secures new levels of potential (growth). Each step has been verified by scientific research published on measurable physiological, psychological, and behavioral results of the TM practice.
How Published Research on TM Illustrates the Five Fundamentals of Progress
1. Stability
Definition: A steady inner foundation from which thoughts, emotions, and actions become more reliable and less reactive.
How TM upholds this (research-based):
- Lower cortisol and sympathetic activity provide a more stable physiological baseline.
- Brain-wave coherence during TM reflects a more orderly, synchronized nervous system.
- Reduced anxiety and depression create emotional steadiness.
- More efficient prefrontal functioning supports stable attention and decision-making.
- Greater identification with the transcendental unchanging field of consciousness
Meaning: TM anchors the mind and body in a steadier “set point,” allowing life to be navigated from a calm center.
2. Adaptability
Definition: The ability to adjust smoothly to change and react to challenges without being thrown off balance.
How TM upholds this:
- Improved autonomic flexibility (stronger parasympathetic activation) enhances the body’s ability to shift states.
- Lower blood pressure and better cardiovascular reactivity show more resilient stress responses.
- Faster recovery from stress demonstrates physiological adaptability.
- Better sleep quality strengthens adaptive functioning.
- Greater identification with the transcendental infinite field of consciousness, which is a field of all possibilities at the basis of thought
Meaning: When the system is less strained and more rested, it is less rigid and can respond and adapt flexibly. When the mind is more established in pure consciousness, more possibilities are self-evident.
3. Integration
Definition: The harmonious functioning of mind, body, emotions, and behavior; unifying inner experience.
How TM upholds this:
- EEG coherence is strongly associated with integrated brain functioning—greater connectivity, orderliness, and unity.
- Improved emotional regulation and impulse control show integration between the frontal executive centers and emotional centers.
- Enhanced social functioning, empathy, and relationship quality reflect a more integrated personality.
- Greater alignment of intention and behavior is consistently noted in TM-based self-actualization research.
Meaning: TM creates a physiological and psychological basis for harmony of thinking, feeling, and acting, so life is lived from a more whole and coordinated place, more in accord with nature.
4. Purification
Definition: Releasing the accumulated stresses, fatigue, and psychological impressions that limit clarity and well-being.
How TM upholds this:
- Deep metabolic rest during TM allows the body to release stored stress more efficiently than ordinary rest.
- Reductions in trait anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and emotional trauma indicators show improved psychological health.
- Long-term reductions in medical utilization (up to 50% in many categories) imply sustained physiological health.
- Lower inflammation markers reflect purification at a biological level.
Meaning: TM helps remove the deep-rooted stress that distorts or limits perception, thoughts, behavior, and health.
5. Growth
Definition: Expansion of capacity—cognitive, emotional, physiological, and spiritual.
How TM upholds this:
- Increased creativity, cognitive flexibility, and IQ measures reflect intellectual growth.
- Higher scores in self-actualization in meta-analyses show psychological growth and maturity.
- Improved health and longevity indicators (such as lower hypertension risk) indicate physiological growth and resilience.
- Experiences of transcending—inner silence, unity, expanded awareness—support spiritual development.
Meaning: TM opens the nervous system to higher levels of functioning, allowing latent potential to unfold naturally.
By cultivating stability, adaptability, purification, integration, and growth through the Transcendental Meditation technique, we establish a scientifically-verified foundation for unfolding our fullest potential in the new year and beyond.
Cultivate the five fundamentals automatically and naturally: Learn TM
About the Author
Janet Hoffman is the executive director of TM for Women Professionals, a division of TM for Women in the USA
