Self-Transcendent Perceptual Dynamics and the Effects of Dispositional Mindfulness on Altered States of Consciousness: A Prospective Longitudinal Observational Study of a Naturalistic Psychedelic Retreat
Sebastian Ehmann, Nikoloz Mosahvili, Angela White, John Cuzzupe, Brooke Tompkins, Jodi McKibben, John J.B. Allen, Michael J. Gawrysiak
PsyArXiv December 31, 2025 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/6jf49_v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Naturalistic longitudinal study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 54 |
| Population | Participants in a medically supervised psychedelic retreat |
| Interventions | Psilocybin dimethyltryptamine (DMT) |
| Duration | Retreat with 1- and 2-month follow-ups |
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness Meditation Philosophy of mind |
| Key findings | Mindfulness and non-dual awareness increased and persisted through two months after a psilocybin and DMT retreat, with increased bodily boundary transparency and a lasting shift toward an allocentric spatial frame of reference. Baseline mindfulness did not predict acute psychedelic experiences or follow-up self-transcendence outcomes. Acute mystical-type experiences were associated with greater bodily boundary transparency at both follow-ups and showed a trend-level association with non-dual awareness at two months. |
Abstract
Psychedelic substances reliably occasion transient self-transcendent states, including mystical-type experiences, which are theorized to support salutogenic psychological change and long-term well-being. Despite growing interest in these phenomena, little is known about how acute self-transcendent states translate into enduring trait-level changes, or whether individual differences such as baseline mindfulness shape these effects in real-world psychedelic settings. This naturalistic longitudinal study examined changes in mindfulness and multiple dimensions of self-transcendence during and following a medically supervised psychedelic retreat involving sequential psilocybin and dimethyltryptamine (DMT) administration. Fifty-four participants completed validated self-report measures of dispositional mindfulness, non-dual awareness (NDA), perceived body boundaries, spatial frame of reference, and acute psychedelic experiences at baseline, post retreat, and 1- and 2-month follow-ups. Linear mixed-effects models assessed longitudinal change, and regression analyses tested whether baseline mindfulness predicted acute psychedelic experiences or sustained self-transcendence. Results revealed sustained increases in mindfulness and NDA through the 2-month follow-up. Participants also reported increased bodily boundary transparency following the retreat and at the 1-month follow-up, as well as shifts toward a more allocentric spatial frame of reference that persisted across both follow-up assessments. Contrary to expectations, baseline mindfulness did not predict acute psychedelic experiences, nor self-transcendence outcomes at follow-up. Exploratory analyses revealed that acute mystical-type experiences were associated with greater bodily boundary transparency at both follow-ups and showed a trend-level association with NDA at 2 months. These findings suggest that brief, ecologically valid psychedelic retreat interventions can elicit transient selfless states that consolidate into enduring self-related trait changes, largely independent of baseline mindfulness.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on altered states of consciousness, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neural correlates of the DMT experience assessed with multivariate EEG. 6 female, 7 male human participants | 2019 | Observational cohort | n = 13 |
| Measures of entropy and complexity in altered states of consciousness Subjects during resting wakefulness, different sleep stages, and epileptic seizures | 2017 | Observational study | |
| Altered States of Consciousness and Short-Term Psychological After-Effects Induced by the First Time Ritual Use of Ayahuasca in an Urban Context in Brazil First-time ayahuasca users in Santo Daime and União do Vegetal rituals | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 28 |
| Quantifying arousal and awareness in altered states of consciousness using interpretable deep learning Healthy individuals during sleep, individuals under general anesthesia, and patients... | 2022 | Observational cohort | n = 71 |
| Subanaesthetic ketamine and altered states of consciousness in humans Human volunteers | 2018 | Observational study | n = 15 |