In recent decades, millions of people globally have taken up Buddhist spiritual and secularized meditation practices, such as mindfulness, with the aim of improving their quality of life and well-being. Practitioners are recommended to continue meditating regularly for the long term; however, the effects of regular meditation practice after introductory instruction remain scientifically...
Background/Objectives: Psychological benefits have been demonstrated across a variety of different meditation offerings. There remains, however, limited evidence clarifying how different ‘doses’ of meditation relate to benefits, highlighting fundamental limitations for clinical best practice. The present study aimed to examine dose–response effects across a range of daily mindfulness meditation...
Meditation apps are increasingly popular but face significant engagement challenges. Most research does not meaningfully capture real-world engagement or associated user characteristics. Engagement patterns and reasons for engaging or disengaging remain relatively unexplored. This study aimed to examine Medito app user engagement over the first 30 days after download and how intended use,...
Abstract Objectives Meditation can elicit intense experiences that change the sense of self, alter worldview, and evoke strong negative and positive emotions, impacting daily life. These intense meditation-related experiences (IMREs) often begin suddenly but their emotional impact and meaning can change significantly as meditators reflect on and interpret them over time, shaped by an interplay...
Abstract Contemplative practices (including meditation and yoga) are increasingly popular worldwide, especially as alternatives and/or complements to mental health treatment. However, nationally representative samples that allow for accurate estimates of prevalence and relation to mental health are scarce. We conducted a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey in Australia and New...
Depersonalization/derealization (DPDR) involves feeling detached from one's body, thoughts, or emotions and is often triggered by trauma, stress, mental health issues, or drug use, typically causing high distress. Similar experiences are also reported in meditation contexts, where they are often described as positive, insightful, and meaningful. However, no study has systematically compared...
April 26, 2026Olivier Sandilands, Julieta Galante, Brian Spittles et al.
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Emergent phenomena, experiences, and effects (EPEEs)—such as flow states, energetic phenomena, and visionary experiences—occur widely through diverse causes and across various contexts. These include practices that are gaining popularity in clinical settings and beyond like meditation and psychedelics, but also triggers like stress or major life changes. While some EPEEs are therapeutic,...
Abstract Objectives The prevalence of mental health disorders globally is increasing, and contemplative practices (such as meditation/mindfulness) are recommended by many health professionals to address this issue. These practices now need to be carefully evaluated for safety, effectiveness, and cost-effectiveness. We aimed to investigate key data to inform future economic evaluations in this...
Meditation apps are increasingly popular, yet there is limited understanding of how much users actually engage with them. While meditation apps show promise for supporting mental health, engagement in real-world settings appears to be notably low. The patterns of app use and the factors that influence usage remain relatively unclear. This study aims to examine the extent of meditation app use...
This article presents a model for the application of contemplative pedagogy in higher education, with a focus on rich contextualisation and interdisciplinarity. We articulate a vision for a multiplicity of contemplative pedagogies and present a conceptual framework to guide the understanding, analysis, and evaluation of contemplative practices within learning processes. This framework draws...
BACKGROUND: Meditation use has grown significantly in recent decades. However, population prevalence data is largely absent in Australasia. METHODS: We surveyed adults in Australia (n = 2,072) and New Zealand (n = 571) in 2023, using census-informed quotas for age, gender, ancestry/ethnicity, region and income. We calculated lifetime and past year meditation use estimates and conducted...
Employers and universities globally subsidise access to mindfulness-based programmes (MBPs) for their employees and students to improve work performance, despite unclear evidence. This paper offers the highest quality synthesis of MBPs' impact on work performance in academic and occupational settings to date (PROSPERO #191756). On 2nd August 2024, we searched eight databases. The primary...
The mind-brain relationship (MBR) problem is an important philosophical pursuit with far-reaching implications for research and practice in the realm of mental health. Although there is a multitude of proposed resolutions to this quandary, the fundamental questions associated with MBR still persist unexplained. This article is an invitation to the reader to embark on an exploration of this...
Introduction: Contemplative practices (including meditation and yoga) are increasingly popular worldwide, especially as alternatives and/or complements to mental health treatment. However, nationally representative samples that allow for accurate estimates of prevalence and relation to mental health are scarce. Methods: We conducted a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey in...
Mindfulness meditation has demonstrated modest benefits for mental health and well-being, although the relationship between practice dose and outcomes is unclear. Meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials have shown mixed results so far, although such results may stem from methodological issues rather than reflecting the absence of an underlying effect. Research outside structured programs...
Introduction Meditation can elicit intense experiences that change the sense of self, alter worldview, and evoke strong negative and positive emotions, impacting daily life. Intense meditation-related experiences (IMREs) are often sparked by a profound moment, can change in appraised emotional valence and conceptual meaning over time, and are shaped by an interplay of embodied and conceptual...
Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have shown promise in reducing stress among family caregivers (FCs) of people with dementia (PWD). However, the long-term stress-relieving effects of traditional MBIs are often limited by challenges in maintaining regular practice, leading to issues with adherence and attrition. To address these limitations, this study protocol aims to test a novel...
June 2, 2025Maris Vainre, Lisa Doan, Cecilie S. Traberg et al.
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Misinformation about mindfulness is increasingly common, misleading consumers to engage in ineffective or potentially harmful programs. Inoculation theory suggests that resistance to misinformation can be fostered by inducing a sense of threat and offering pre-emptive refutations of deceptive techniques. Yet, its application to mindfulness misinformation remains unexplored. Here, we evaluate...
Objective. Unwanted meditation-related experiences commonly occur and alternate with positive experiences over time. So far, effects have been studied as discrete events, creating difficulties to predict challenging experiences. We explored meditation experiences through a developmental lens, investigating whether a modern interpretation of the Stages of Insight (SoI), a Buddhist model of...
Abstract We offer an invited commentary on the article entitled “Mindfulness for Global Public Health: Critical Analysis and Agenda” by Doug Oman. First, we question his proposal that it would be advantageous to include a more diverse set of contemplative practices under the mindfulness umbrella term, and instead we argue for the opposite. We propose that academics move the term mindfulness...
BACKGROUND Mindfulness meditation has demonstrated modest benefits for mental health and well-being, although the relationship between practice dose and outcomes is unclear. Meta-analyses and randomized controlled trials have shown mixed results so far, although such results may stem from methodological issues rather than reflecting the absence of an underlying effect. Research outside...
This article presents a model for the application of contemplative pedagogy in higher education settings, with a focus on rich contextualisation and interdisciplinarity. We articulate a vision for a multiplicity of contemplative pedagogies, and present a conceptual framework to guide the understanding, analysis, and evaluation of contemplative practices within learning processes. This framework...
Estimates suggest that meditation use is comparable to mental-health-service access in the United States. Understanding meditation-related adverse effects (AEs) is therefore critical. We aimed to (a) estimate the incidence of meditation-related unusual experiences and AEs using different methods and (b) identify sociodemographic and health-related characteristics predicting their incidence. We...
Caregiver stress can pose serious health and psychological concerns, highlighting the importance of timely interventions for family caregivers of people with dementia. Single-session mindfulness-based interventions could be a promising yet under-researched approach to enhancing their mental well-being within their unpredictable, time-constrained contexts. This trial will evaluate the...
Background: Involving the public in evidence synthesis research is challenging due to the highly analytic nature of the projects, so it is important that involvement processes are documented, reflected upon, and shared to devise best practices. There is a literature gap on the involvement of the public in individual participant data meta-analyses, particularly in public health projects. We...