Peak experiences during insight mindfulness meditation retreats and their salutary and adverse impact: A prospective matched-controlled intervention study.
Yuval Hadash, Tatyana Veksler, Omer Dar, Romi Oren-Schwartz, Amit Bernstein
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology April 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1037/ccp0000875 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Prospective intervention study Preregistered Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 143 |
| Population | Adults who registered for 6-day insight (Vipassana) mindfulness meditation retreats and matched controls from the same meditation community |
| Intervention | Insight (Vipassana) mindfulness meditation retreat |
| Duration | 6-day intervention, 2-week follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation Mystical experience |
| Citations | 8 |
| Key points | Intensive insight meditation retreats primarily yield pleasant peak experiences, and even unpleasant ones are typically perceived as more salutary than adverse at follow-up. |
Abstract
We sought to address a growing debate regarding the adverse and salutary impact of unusual, extraordinary or intense subjective experiences during meditation-based interventions. To do so, we empirically characterized such peak experiences during an intensive meditation intervention and their impact postintervention. We conducted a preregistered prospective intervention study among 96 adults who registered for 6-day insight (Vipassana) mindfulness meditation retreats and 47 matched controls. Controls were selected from a pool of 543 people recruited from the same community of meditators as retreat participants and systematically matched to retreat participants on age and lifetime meditation experience. Measures included the novel Peak Meditative Experience Scale and the Impact of PMES. Seventeen peak experiences that were primarily pleasant (e.g., deep and unusual peace, aha! Moment) occurred more frequently among retreat participants than among matched controls in daily living (ps .05). At 2-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). Peak experiences that resulted from meditation retreats were primarily pleasant and had a large salutary impact postretreat. Inconsistent with conclusions from uncontrolled retrospective studies, findings document that intensive insight mindfulness meditation training in retreats may not contribute to unpleasant peak experiences and even when they occurred their impact was typically more salutary than adverse. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on mystical experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neural correlates of a mystical experience in Carmelite nuns Carmelite nuns | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| EEG activity in Carmelite nuns during a mystical experience Carmelite nuns | 2008 | Observational cohort | n = 14 |
| Neural correlates of mystical experience Vietnam veterans with penetrating traumatic brain injury and matched healthy controls | 2015 | Observational cohort | n = 148 |
| The Peak Experience Variable in DPT-Assisted Psychotherapy with Cancer Patients Cancer patients | 1977 | Observational study | n = 128 |
| Psilocybin-Induced Mystical-Type Experiences are Related to Persisting Positive Effects: A Quantitative and Qualitative Report Healthy volunteers | 2022 | Observational cohort | n = 28 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 9
- A prospective ecological momentary assessment study of an ayahuasca retreat: exploring the salutary impact of acute psychedelic experiences on subacute affect and mindfulness skills in daily life Psychopharmacology January 18, 2025
- Deconstructive meditations and psychotherapy: Transforming the perception of the self. World Journal of Psychiatry June 19, 2025
- Mental Health Symptoms Do Not Increase Risk for Distressing Experiences During Intensive Mindfulness Meditation Training: Evidence from a Prospective Matched-Control Intervention Study Mindfulness September 30, 2026
- Mindfulness and Informed Consent: Navigating Ethical Complexity Across Contexts Mindfulness August 1, 2026
- Prevalence and Predictors of Self-Reported Adverse Experiences in Digital Meditation Training: 2 Randomized Controlled Trials JMIR Mental Health June 12, 2026
and 4 more in the library