Just Open Your Mind? A Randomized, Controlled Study on the Effects of Meditation on Creativity.
Frontiers in Psychology January 1, 2021 Iana Bashmakova, Olga Shcherbakova
A two-week program of open monitoring meditation did not improve creativity in metaphor production or cognitive flexibility compared with an active control (listening to a narrative about house plants) or a passive control (no task). No significant differences emerged between groups on any measure, and no link was found between metaphor creativity and cognitive flexibility. The results highlight challenges in using meditation as a cognitive enhancement tool and point to methodological issues in meditation research and the measurement of creativity and cognitive flexibility.