Background
The benefits of mindfulness interventions are wellâknown, but their challenges and individual differences in reactions to these challenges are much less clear.
Methods
The study used a mixedâmethods design to investigate the individual trajectories of daily experiences during meditation in a sample of novice volunteers participating in a 3âweek, distanceâbased, guided meditation intervention (NÂ =â175).
Results
Multilevel modelling revealed individual differences in the change trajectories of the experiences of effort, meaning, and boredom during meditation, indicating that meditation gradually became less effortful, less boring, more interesting, and more important over the 3âweeks. The individual differences in the levels of these experiences and their change trends were associated with baseline differences in wellâbeing, reflective processes, selfâmanagement, and selfâcontrol skills, as well as autonomous motivation to engage in the course.
Conclusions
Individuals who are initially more autonomous and mindful find it easier to engage with online mindfulness interventions and draw more benefits from the process, whereas those with lower selfâregulation skills or higher proneness to rumination are more likely to experience mindfulness as effortful and boring, and, eventually, to give it up.