The Occurrence of Psychologically Profound, Meaningful, and Mystical Experiences During a Month-Long Meditation Retreat

Zanesco, Anthony P.; King, Brandon G.; Conklin, Quinn; Saron, Clifford D.

doi:10.1007/s12671-023-02076-w

Cited by 6 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Accordingly, and in line with preliminary findings from a recent smaller scale study (Zanesco et al, 2023), we found no differences between groups in mean hedonic tone, mean frequency, or mean duration of unpleasant peak experiences. Importantly, this study was fully powered to detect moderate sized effects, and thus these null effects of meditation retreats on unpleasant peak experiences likely reflect a substantive absence of meaningful difference between these experiences during retreats and daily living.…”

Section: Peak Experiences During Meditation Retreatssupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Six latent orthogonal factors or domains accounted for the largely pleasant meditation-related peak experiences (ordered according to their endorsement rates in descending order): F1 tranquility, F2 interpersonal connection, F5 insight, F6 intense physical sensations, F3 selflessness, and F4 altered states of consciousness. Importantly, factors of meditation-related peak experiences largely overlap with domains of positive and extraordinary experiences associated with meditation practice in previous studies, such as positive emotions, insight, altered states of consciousness, and altered sense of self (Anderson et al, 2019;Lindahl et al, 2017;Vieten et al, 2018;Zanesco et al, 2023).…”

Section: Peak Experiences During Meditation Retreatsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Recently, Zanesco et al (2023) conducted a non-randomized controlled study assessing extraordinary experiences among 32 participant in a month-long residential mindfulness meditation retreat and 34 control participants during daily living recruited from the same community of meditators. Retreat participants reported a greater extent of insights, powerful positive emotional experiences, non-ordinary sensory or perceptual events as well as mystical experience than controls in daily living.…”

Section: Extraordinary Subjective Experience During Mindfulness Medit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, Zanesco et al (2023) conducted a non-randomized controlled prospective study (previously mentioned with respect to extraordinary subjective experiences during mindfulness meditation) assessing extraordinary experiences, some of which were unpleasant and potentially adverse, among participants in a month-long residential mindfulness meditation retreat.…”

Section: Unpleasant or Adverse Subjective Experiences During Mindfuln...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fourth, the present study did not test for possible mechanisms which may lead to the salutary or adverse impact of peak experiences. Future studies may also prospectively test for such possible factors including, the meaning and interpretations participants ascribe to experiences or the degree to which participants recollect or reexperience peak experiences post-retreat (Lindahl et al, 2017;Zanesco et al, 2023).…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Peak Experiences During Insight Mindfulness Meditation Retreats and Their Salutary and Adverse Impact: A Prospective Matched-Controlled Intervention Study

Hadash¹,

Veksler²,

Dar³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Objective: We sought to address a growing debate regarding the adverse and salutary impact of unusual, extraordinary, or intense subjective experiences during mindfulness interventions. To do so, we empirically characterized such peak experiences during an intensive mindfulness meditation intervention and their impact post-intervention. Method: We conducted a preregistered prospective intervention study among 96 adults who registered to a six-day mindfulness meditation retreat and 47 matched-controls. Controls were selected from a pool of 487 people recruited from the same community of meditators as retreat participants and systematically matched to retreat group on age and lifetime meditation experience. Measures included the Peak Meditative Experience Scale (PMES) and the Impact of PMES (I-PMES). Results: Seventeen peak experiences that were predominantly pleasant (e.g., deep and unusual peace, aha! moment) occurred more frequently among retreat participants than among matched-controls in daily living (ps < .05; mean φ = .33). In contrast, 14 peak experiences that were mostly unpleasant (e.g., flashbacks, overwhelming sadness) occurred at similar rates in both groups (ps > .05). At two-week follow-up, the perceived impact of all pleasant and most unpleasant peak experiences was more salutary than adverse (ps ≤ .015; M Cohen’s d = 1.61). Conclusions: Peak experiences that resulted from intensive mindfulness meditation training were primarily pleasant and had a large salutary impact post-retreat. Inconsistent with conclusions from uncontrolled studies, findings document that intensive mindfulness meditation training may not contribute to unpleasant peak experiences, and even when they occurred their impact was typically more salutary than adverse.

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Section: Peak Experiences During Meditation Retreatssupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Peak Experiences During Meditation Retreatsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Extraordinary Subjective Experience During Mindfulness Medit...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Unpleasant or Adverse Subjective Experiences During Mindfuln...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Peak Experiences During Insight Mindfulness Meditation Retreats and Their Salutary and Adverse Impact: A Prospective Matched-Controlled Intervention Study

Hadash¹,

Veksler²,

Dar³

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Peak experiences during insight mindfulness meditation retreats and their salutary and adverse impact: A prospective matched-controlled intervention study.

Hadash,

Veksler,

Dar

et al. 2024

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

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Development and Validation of the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME)

Van Dam,

Targett,

Burger

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Meditation is increasingly popular and yet studies of unexpected and/or distressing meditative events have focused on extremely pleasant or unpleasant experiences, despite the wide range of possible experiences. We collected data from 886 US meditators, representative of major types of meditation practices and experience levels. Participants answered questions about meditation history, mental health, and 103 meditation-related experiences generated for the development of the Inventory of Unusual Experiences (IUE). Parallel analysis indicated a 3- factor solution; exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis yielded good model-to-data fit on a 30-item version of the scale. The total scale and subscales showed expected correlations with measures of adverse events, meditation characteristics, and mental health symptoms. Analysis indicated utility in examining experience intensity and valence as potentially distinct or combined features of unusual experiences. The IUE30 is a useful tool to assess unusual experiences among meditators and can identify a variety of experiences.

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The Occurrence of Psychologically Profound, Meaningful, and Mystical Experiences During a Month-Long Meditation Retreat

Cited by 6 publications

References 42 publications

Peak Experiences During Insight Mindfulness Meditation Retreats and Their Salutary and Adverse Impact: A Prospective Matched-Controlled Intervention Study

Peak Experiences During Insight Mindfulness Meditation Retreats and Their Salutary and Adverse Impact: A Prospective Matched-Controlled Intervention Study

Peak experiences during insight mindfulness meditation retreats and their salutary and adverse impact: A prospective matched-controlled intervention study.

Development and Validation of the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME)

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