Certified Transcendental Meditation Teachers and Maharishi International University (MIU) faculty Brandy Hyer, PhD, and Karen Aoki Kouider, PhD, discuss the development and implementation of the new online TM Teacher Training program. This innovative course, designed for mid- to late-career professionals who are unable to attend residential training options, is helping to preserve TM Founder Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s knowledge, while making TM teacher training more accessible across countries and cultures. This online training enables experienced professionals to easily bring the TM technique into their workplaces, organizations, and communities.

Brandy Hyer, PhD, and Karen Aoki Kouider, PhD, discuss the development and implementation of the new online TM    Teacher Training program.

Dr. Hyer is the director of the Center for Executive Education (CEE) at the Dr. Tony Nader Institute at MIU, the director of Digital TM Teacher Training for Maharishi Foundation International, and a course leader for the International TM Teacher Training Course for Professionals. She contributed to the early development of the TM App, a key digital initiative to expand access to the TM technique worldwide. Her doctoral research at MIU explored how Maharishi’s revival of Vedic knowledge can be preserved and transmitted with integrity across generations, a focus that continues to inform her work in teacher training and Consciousness-Based Education®. Dr. Hyer has been a TM Teacher since 2017.

Dr. Aoki Kouider is the lead faculty fellow for the CEE at the Dr. Tony Nader Institute and a Certified TM Teacher. She has been teaching the TM technique and yoga as an assistant professor of Maharishi Vedic Science® (MVS) at MIU for over a decade. With a doctoral degree in MVS, she also helps to develop the online TM Teacher Training Course, bringing the program to professional adults around the world in a flexible and accessible format. A classically trained flutist who studied at the Eastman School of Music, she brings creativity, discipline, and sensitivity to her teaching.

Christine Albers, host of TM Talks, interviewed Brandy Hyer, PhD, and Karen Aoki Kouider, PhD. This interview was aired on June 14, 2026.


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