by Brian Luke Seaward

During the summer of 1993, a remarkable experiment took place in Washington, D.C. In an effort to help reduce crime in the nation’s capital, a group of 4,000 city residents who regularly practice meditation (specifically Transcendental Meditation) were invited to create an atmosphere of tranquility over the city for a six-week period. Crime rate statistics were monitored both before and afterwards. It was observed that by the end of the experiment, the crime rate had decreased dramatically, by 48%. While this unique approach to crime reduction didn’t make significant national news headlines, people who study consciousness paid attention. The name of the study was called “The National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Government Effectiveness.” The result was nicknamed “The Maharishi Effect” (after the founder of the TM movement, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi). Unofficially, the name was “The Coherence Study,” and it helped shed new light on the study of consciousness, relaxation, and the relationship between the mind and quantum physics, collective energy fields, and what scientist Rupert Sheldrake referred to as “morphogenic fields.”

The word coherence literally means “to stick together.” It has become a term used to describe the quality of a unified whole. From a quantum physics perspective, the term “coherence” refers to the creation of a field when energies or oscillations  entrain together or synch up to create an energetic field of oneness. Quantum physics speaks in terms of energy, and the results of this study suggested that consciousness is indeed, a form of energy.

People often use the word “coherent” when describing a clearly expressed idea or combination of ideas, just as the word “incoherent” is used to convey a communication is unintelligible or scrambled. People who regularly practice meditation often describe a sense of calm in their thoughts and perceptions. Brainwave measurements (EEGs) of meditators reveal that there is a balance between the left and right cerebral hemispheres, suggesting an experience of oneness in thought, or coherence. Research studies by Professor Richard Davidson and his colleagues who investigated the brain function of Tibetan monks using fMRI while they were meditating revealed the ability of the brain’s neural synapses to rewire themselves in what has now become known as “neuroplasticity.” Neuroplasticity, however, is not just for Tibetan monks. Anyone can reap the benefits of this kind of meditation.

Conversely, dissonance – the opposite of coherence – is revealed in a lack of harmonic vibrations. Cognitive dissonance is a term used to describe someone whose thoughts are scattered and whose behavior often exhibits behaviors influenced by stress. (The term cognitive dissonance is also used to describe behaviors that don’t align with a person’s values or beliefs.)

What effect does coherence have on one’s health? Researchers at the HeartMath Institute have been investigating the relationship between the heart and brain to better understand the coherence between emotions and thoughts. Perhaps it’s no surprise that results reveal that when our thoughts are heart-centered, arising from a place of compassion, there is greater coherence between the energetic frequencies of the heart and brain. Then too, stress-based thoughts are observed to be in dissonance with one’s heart rhythms and coherence between heart and brain are compromised.

The HeartMath Institute states: “HeartMath Institute research has demonstrated that different patterns of heart activity (which accompany different emotional states) have distinct effects on cognitive and emotional function. During stress and negative emotions, when the heart rhythm pattern is erratic and disordered, the corresponding pattern of neural signals traveling from the heart to the brain inhibits higher cognitive functions. This limits our ability to think clearly, remember, learn, reason, and make effective decisions.”

The HeartMath Institute is not alone in this view of consciousness. The remarkable work of Dr. Joe Dispenza also suggests the importance of coherence between our cognitive thought processes and our emotional states, with regard to physical health and healing. In his popular books, You Are the Placebo, and Becoming Supernatural, Dispenza explains the importance of creating new neural pathways (neuroplasticity) in the brain that allows for a deeper state of coherence that then allows for healing to occur through the layers of the human energy fields and energy centers (chakras). While acknowledging stress, grief and emotional pain is important, being stuck in these emotional states creates neural pathways that inhibit the healing process; also a form of dissonance.

Can our thoughts and intentions affect the greater good? The answer appears to be yes! From a larger perspective of group consciousness, it is easy to see what effect repeated, fear-based headlines and news broadcast have on society. It creates a sense of cognitive distortion, social unease and mental/emotional exhaustion.  Experts in the field of stress management, specifically, Positive Psychology, often encourage people to dramatically decrease how much attention they pay to the news, particularly if they are following social media where doom-scrolling has become the norm. What is the best way to use coherence in our own lives so we can benefit of planetary healing? Perhaps the best way is to maintain a robust meditation practice and end your meditations with some form of loving kindness that reaches out to the entire world. As more and more people engage in a regular meditative practice, then like the meditators in Washington D.C. we could add to the collective energies of peace and harmony on the planet in these times of dramatic change.

Dispenza, J., YOU ARE THE PLACEBO, Hay House Publishers (2014)
Dispenza, J., BECOMING SUPERHUMAN, Hay House Publishers (2016)

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Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D. is the author of the college textbook, Managing Stress (11e) and the popular, Stand Like Mountain, Flow Like Water. He is the executive director of the Paramount Wellness Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
He can be reached via www.brianlukeseaward.net

The image that leads this post is from Pixabay Stock Images, “Waves”.

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