PLoS One
September 5, 2017
Ausiàs Cebolla, Marcelo Demarzo, Patricia Silveira Martins et al.
186 citations
About a quarter (25.4%) of meditation practitioners report unwanted effects (UEs), which are usually temporary and do not lead to stopping practice or seeking medical help. UEs are more common during focused attention meditation, when practicing alone for more than 20 minutes, and during individual practice; body awareness practices are associated with fewer UEs. The findings come from an online survey of 342 experienced meditators (at least two months of practice), mostly women from Spain with university education. The authors recommend using standardized questionnaires to better assess these effects in future research.
Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy
January 28, 2016
Albert Feliu-Soler, Juan Carlos Pascual, Matilde Elices et al.
131 citations
Three weeks of loving-kindness and compassion meditation (LKM/CM) increased acceptance of present-moment experience in patients with borderline personality disorder, compared with mindfulness continuation training. The LKM/CM group also showed remarkable improvements in borderline symptomatology, self-criticism, and self-kindness. LKM/CM appears to be a promising complementary strategy for inclusion in mindfulness-based interventions and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy for treating core symptoms in borderline personality disorder.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2023
Jaime Navarrete, Marta Fontana-Mcnally, Ariadna Colomer-Carbonell et al.
9 citations
The Spanish versions of the Toronto Mindfulness Scale (TMS) and the State Mindfulness Scale (SMS) show adequate reliability and validity for measuring state mindfulness, though the SMS specific factors have poor reliability when controlling for the general factor. Data from six non-clinical Spanish samples (TMS n=119, SMS n=223) were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis. The best-fitting model for the TMS was a correlated two-factor structure (curiosity and decentering). For the SMS, a bifactor structure (general factor, mindfulness of body, and mindfulness of mind) fit best. Both scales detected changes in state mindfulness after meditation practices. The patterns of correlations with measures of trait mindfulness, decentering, non-attachment, depression, anxiety, stress, affect, self-criticism, and self-reassurance were mostly as expected.
Mindfulness
October 13, 2025
Xingjian Ruan, Jannis T. Kraiss, Kim J. M. Tönis et al.
1 citation
A pilot study of a nature-based contemplation intervention combining mindful awareness with contemplative practice in natural settings found short-term improvements in spiritual well-being that were not maintained at follow-up. Emotional well-being showed sustained gains across all time points, while nature connectedness and social well-being showed delayed effects emerging only at one month. Participants reported moderate to high satisfaction, but qualitative analysis revealed implementation challenges, particularly with the contemplative component. The authors conclude the intervention is acceptable with promising short-term effects but requires refinement to improve long-term sustainability.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2024
Tania Badia-Aguarón, Estíbaliz Royuela-Colomer, Vanessa Pera-Guardiola et al.
1 citation
A 5-month randomized controlled trial will test whether adding Mindfulness for Health, cognitive training using the NeuronUP® platform, or their combination to usual care improves outcomes for 120 children aged 7–12 with ADHD. The study will assess ADHD symptoms, executive functions, and comorbid symptoms before and after the interventions and at a 5-month follow-up. It will also explore whether mindfulness and emotional regulation mediate clinical outcomes and whether certain characteristics predict treatment response. This is the first test of the combined intervention and of cognitive training alone in this setting, aiming to lay groundwork for a larger definitive trial.
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
May 1, 2026
María Arqueros, J L Fayos Soler, Ausiàs Cebolla et al.
Ego dissolution, a temporary state of reduced self-referential processing and increased unity with the environment, can be modulated by both psychedelics like ayahuasca and contemplative practices like meditation. In a comparison of 37 ayahuasca users and 137 meditators, meditators scored significantly higher on the 'Delusion of Me' index, which measures acceptance, decentering, and non-attachment. While meditation practice showed a significant non-linear association with cumulative practice and higher scores, repeated ayahuasca exposure showed no evidence of a cumulative association with the index in this sample.
Virtual Reality
December 21, 2025
Joana Vidal, Catherine I. Andreu, Maja Wrzesien et al.
A single multi-person virtual reality experience can induce a state of selflessness—where the sense of self as the immediate subject of experience fades—and enhance interpersonal connectedness. It also increases low-arousal positive affect and warmth, and generates mystical and peak experiences in a notable subset of participants. The experience is widely accepted, with few adverse effects reported. This offers a cost-effective, non-pharmacological alternative to meditation and psychedelics for cultivating selflessness.
International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology
December 17, 2025
Aida Palacios, Sara Martínez‐Gregorio, Catherine I. Andreu et al.
A compassion practice improved mental health and prosocial behaviors across all groups, but adding virtual reality (VR) boosted positive affect more than the practice alone, while adding a heating pad as somatosensory priming reduced negative affect less than the practice alone. Among participants with low mental imagery skills, VR significantly reduced criticism toward others. The study suggests that tools like VR can optimize compassion-based interventions for individuals who struggle with mental imagery.
Mindfulness
September 1, 2025
Lorena Desdentado, Marta Miragall, Ausiàs Cebolla et al.
A pilot randomized controlled trial tested the feasibility of three online-delivered mindfulness practices—visceral body scan, somatosensory body scan, and external (non-body) meditation—in 48 adults recruited from social networks. The retention rate was 66.20% and adherence to meditation practice was 56.53%. Acceptability and practice quality were moderate, and most participants reported no adverse effects. Preliminary effects emerged: the visceral body scan was linked to decreased attention to unpleasant bodily sensations, and both visceral and somatosensory body scans were associated with a decrease in dampening of positive emotions. The authors conclude that feasibility improvements are needed before larger-scale research.
Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress
October 1, 2020
Miguel Bellosta-Batalla, María Del Carmen Blanco-Gandía, Marta Rodríguez‐arias et al.
A brief mindfulness session reduced negative affect and state anxiety while increasing salivary oxytocin in psychology students. The experimental group (42 students) participated in guided meditation exercises, while the control group (26 students) did an emotion recognition task with creative activities. The mindfulness group showed a significant reduction in negative affect and state anxiety, and a significant increase in salivary oxytocin compared to controls. These results suggest that guided mindfulness meditation may promote an emotional and biological state that facilitates empathy, with oxytocin activity as a possible underlying mechanism.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2020
Jesus Montero-Marin, Marta Puebla-Guedea, Paola Herrera-Mercadal et al.
correction
A correction notice for a previously published article on Vipassana meditation, personality, positive psychology, retreat, and wellbeing. The notice states that the original article's DOI is 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01935 and provides a correction to that work. No findings, methods, or results are presented.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2019
Jesus Montero-Marin, Maria C Perez-Yus, Ausiàs Cebolla et al.
Focused attention (FA) meditation session length was associated with higher happiness and positive affect and lower depression, negative affect, and emotional overproduction. Compassion meditation (CM) session length was linked to greater positive affect, and CM practice frequency to higher happiness. Lifetime FA practice related to happiness, and lifetime open monitoring (OM) practice to lower emotional overproduction. Religious beliefs and prayer were less relevant than these meditation practices in explaining psychological adjustment. The findings suggest distinct meditation practices may differentially influence well-being through specific practice variables.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2019
Ausiàs Cebolla, Rocío Herrero, Sara Ventura et al.
A self-compassion meditation procedure using a virtual reality body swap illusion (the machine to be another system) was compared with a standard audio-only meditation in 16 participants. Both conditions increased positive qualities toward self/others, decreased negative qualities toward self, and improved awareness of mental events and bodily sensations immediately after practice, with no differences between groups. After two weeks of home practice, both groups showed similar meditation frequency and increases in self-care behaviors, though clinical self-care behaviors were significantly higher in the VR group. Lower visual and cutaneous imagery ability moderated the VR condition's effectiveness in increasing adherence, suggesting embodied VR may help those who struggle with mental imagery in compassion-based interventions.
Papeles del Psicólogo
February 21, 2017
Ausiàs Cebolla, Angel Enrique, David Alvear et al.
Mindfulness and positive psychology share core values such as kindness, compassion, and positive emotions, yet their integration has been underdeveloped. This paper examines the commonalities and differences between the two fields, reviews studies on how mindfulness and contemplative practices affect human well-being, and proposes future research and interventions to bridge them. Mindfulness is presented as more than a technique—it carries an implicit ethical framework that aligns with positive psychology's assumptions.
Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2016
Jesus Montero-Marin, Marta Puebla-Guedea, Paola Herrera-Mercadal et al.
A one-month Vipassana meditation retreat, involving 8-9 hours of daily practice, a vegetarian diet, and compulsory silence, increased non-attachment, mindfulness (observing), well-being (positive affect, balanced affect), and cooperativeness in experienced meditators compared to matched controls who did not attend the retreat. Decreases occurred in describing, negative views of others, reward dependence, and self-directedness. Non-attachment partly explained changes in decentering, acting with awareness, non-reactivity, negative affect, balanced affect, self-directedness, and life satisfaction, and moderated changes in describing and positive views of others. The retreat appears to improve psychological outcomes even in experienced meditators, with non-attachment potentially enabling further gains beyond non-intensive practice.