Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health

Alternative medicine
ClaimsProponents claim that illnesses can be treated by reconnecting physiological functioning with the body's inner intelligence through reducing and eliminating impurities and imbalances.
Year proposedmid-1980s
Original proponentsMaharishi Mahesh Yogi
Subsequent proponentsOrganizations: Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation

Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health (MVAH) (also known as Maharishi Ayurveda[1][2] or Maharishi Vedic Medicine[3]) is a form of alternative medicine founded in the mid-1980s by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who developed the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM).[4] Distinct from traditional ayurveda, it emphasizes the role of consciousness, and gives importance to positive emotions.[5] Maharishi Ayur-Veda has been variously characterized as emerging from, and consistently reflecting, the Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, representing the entirety of the ayurvedic tradition.[6][7]

A 1991 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that promoters of MVAH failed to disclose financial incentives when they submitted a letter for publication and that their marketing practices were misleading. A 2008 study published in JAMA reported that two of the 19 Maharishi Ayurveda products tested contained heavy metals. A 1991 British case found two physicians guilty of "serious professional misconduct" for using MVAH in the unsuccessful treatment of HIV.

  1. ^ Wallace 1993, pp. 64–66
  2. ^ Sharma & Clark 1998
  3. ^ Reddy & Egenes 2002
  4. ^ Sharma & Clark 1998, Preface
  5. ^ For a brief history of traditional ayurveda, and selected translations from the original Sanskrit sources, see Wujastyk 2003
  6. ^ Cynthia Ann Humes, "Maharishi Ayur-Veda", chapter 17 in Wujastyk & Smith 2008, pp. 309 and 326
  7. ^ Sharma 1995

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