MIU alumna Varsha Khatri recently published a book titled Think Healthy, Choose Healthy: Make Healthier Dietary and Lifestyle Choices through the Holistic Approach of Nutrition and Ayurveda. The book covers areas of holistic living such as nutrition, sleep, exercise, and self-care and also addresses the importance of digestion and the immune system.

Varsha grew up in San Diego, California, and had wanted to be a physician. After her mother made a near miraculous recovery from a serious injury by practicing yoga asanas, Varsha became interested in studying a holistic approach to health. She discovered MIU at a college fair and decided to major in Maharishi AyurVeda®.

She enrolled at MIU in 2004 and experienced a major personal transformation from an under-confident student to a woman with a purpose. “When I came to MIU, I found my calling,” she said. “TM helped me with my anger and I became a happier person.”

In one of her Ayurveda classes on prevention, Varsha recognized the value of education in the prevention of disease. This led her to earn a graduate degree from JFK University in holistic education and nutrition. She began to integrate her knowledge of Ayurveda with the modern science of nutrition and decided to write a book about it.

Varsha realized that in order to have the job she wanted, she needed to create it for herself. When she relocated to London in the UK, she started her own business in 2012. At Illuminated Health she provides holistic nutrition consultations, teaches classes, and runs group programs on yoga, nutrition, Ayurveda, and digestion.

Based on her ten-year experience, she was finally ready to write her book last fall. “This book doesn’t give people a specific diet,” she said. “I talk about how you need to listen to your body and make your own choices. I give people a way to create their ideal wellness plan.”

Varsha is a mother of two young children, and she continues to value her practice of the Transcendental Meditation® technique and the balance it brings to both her work and family life.

Eugene and Julia Rohozhnikov met while studying software engineering in Ukraine. Julia already had plans to apply to MIU, inspired by her cousin Kate, who attended the MS in Computer Science Program. Julia joined MIU after she graduated and Eugene soon followed.

The couple felt at home on the MIU campus and made lifelong friendships with classmates. “The MIU network is very strong, and we keep our bond all across the world,” said Eugene. “Whenever we travel, we visit dear MIU friends. They open their houses, prepare delicious traditional meals, and we spend hours chatting about life and reminiscing. One of my classmates, Boldkhuu Dandarvanchig from Mongolia, is officially part of our family now.”

Both Eugene and Julia enjoy learning and challenging themselves, so they welcomed the variety of classes at MIU. “The courses are tightly related to real-world professional work requirements, and the professors are very knowledgeable and helpful,” said Julia. “We often worked in teams, sharing creative thought processes and getting great results.”

They found the Transcendental Meditation® program a valuable tool for maintaining a healthy body and state of mind. “TM helped us get the most out of our education and maintain a stable study-life balance,” said Julia.

Eugene and Julia graduated in 2017 and they now live in Baltimore, Maryland. Eugene started working as a junior developer and has now advanced to senior software engineer. His eagerness to stay up to date with the latest trends in technology has helped him advance at work and become a trusted adviser.

Julia works as lead quality assurance engineer and product owner and enjoys managing teams and working with customers. Since completing her degree at MIU, she has accumulated an impressive collection of certifications and additional graduate degrees in the fields of project management and IT.

Julia and Eugene love to travel and are planning to return to MIU for its 50th anniversary and the ComPro program’s 25th anniversary in September.

Michael Sternfeld, a professional dancer with the Chicago Movement Company, moved to Fairfield in 1983 and completed the master’s program in the Science of Creative Intelligence® in 1989 at MIU.

Michael had two interests, dance and great heroic stories, so he decided to write two thesis papers: one about consciousness as the source of movement and another about the structure of myth in consciousness. Inspired by Maharishi’s insights, he also developed a deep desire to create a theatrical production of the Ramayan.

His first production of the great Indian epic took place in 1993 at Maharishi School, where he co-directed a cast of 400 students in a stage play. In 1995 and ’96 he created an adventure theme park based on the Ramayan in Vedic City.

A few years later he embarked on his opus, the first complete audio recording of the unabridged version of the Ramayan of Valmiki. The project took seven years to complete, resulted in the world’s longest audiobook with a run time of 75 hours, and received the 2004 Outstanding Project of the Year award by Humanities Iowa/National Endowment for the Humanities.

At the same time, Michael also pursued his interest in dance and became a certified somatic movement therapist. Michael feels very fortunate to have made a career out of the subjects he studied during his master’s program at MIU.

“I was always surprised how my deep dive into Vedic wisdom during my MA in SCI sparked such a wellspring of creativity,” said Michael. “But what amazed me even more is that these impulses translated into practical career paths that have continued to grow over the last 30 years.”

Michael has also taught several continuing education courses at MIU, spoken at international conferences, developed executive leadership programs, and published articles in academic journals—all about the Ramayan.

When asked about what he, a Westerner, brings to the study of the Ramayan, he replied, “We have a unique specialty here at MIU. We learn to go to that source level where all the impulses originate. This brings out a fresh, Consciousness-Based approach to knowledge.”

During the past 40 years Michael has produced over 400 events, courses, and pieces of content. In addition to his work with the Ramayan, he has put on events for MIU and the David Lynch Foundation, including large fundraising concerts with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Donovan.

Watch Michael’s talk on the Ramayan and leadership here.