Meditation has stronger relationships with mindfulness, kundalini, and mystical experiences than yoga or prayer.
Consciousness and Cognition September 1, 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.04.022 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Individuals who self-reported meditation, yoga, contemplative prayer, or a combination of practices |
| Interventions | Meditation Yoga Contemplative prayer |
| Topics | Meditation Mystical experience |
| Keywords | Kundalini effects Mystical experiences Prayer Yoga |
| Citations | 23 |
| Key findings | Amount of practice, not pattern or social conditions, influences mindfulness and possibly mystical experiences, with meditation showing particularly strong associations. |
Abstract
Contemplative practices can have profound effects on mindfulness and on physical and sensory and mystical experiences. Individuals who self-reported meditation, yoga, contemplative prayer, or a combination of practices and their patterns of practice were compared for mindfulness, kundalini effects, and mystical experiences. The results suggest that the amount of practice but not the pattern and social conditions of practice influences mindfulness and possibly mystical experiences. Meditation, yoga, contemplative prayer, or a combination of practices all were found to be associated with enhancements of mindfulness, kundalini effects, and mystical experiences, but meditation had particularly strong associations and may be the basis of the associations of yoga and prayer with these outcomes. The results further suggest that the primary association of contemplative practices is with the real time awareness and appreciation of sensory and perceptual experiences which may be the intermediary between disparate practices and mindfulness, kundalini effects, and mystical experiences.
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 13
- Spontaneous Spiritual Awakenings: Phenomenology, Altered States, Individual Differences, and Well-Being Frontiers in Psychology August 19, 2021
- Predictors and potentiators of psychedelic-occasioned mystical experiences Journal of Psychedelic Studies March 22, 2022
- The role of non-ordinary states of consciousness occasioned by mind-body practices in mental health illness. Journal of Affective Disorders August 15, 2023
- Differential relationship between meditation methods and psychotic-like and mystical experiences. PLoS One December 5, 2024
- Mindfulness and mystical experiences in Sufis and non-Sufis Mental Health, Religion & Culture August 9, 2023
and 8 more in the library
Cites 34
- Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Assessment January 27, 2006
- Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Assessment February 29, 2008
- Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Psychoneuroendocrinology June 1, 2011
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction as a Stress Management Intervention for Healthy Individuals Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine July 22, 2014
- A PILOT STUDY OF GROUP MINDFULNESS-BASED COGNITIVE THERAPY (MBCT) FOR COMBAT VETERANS WITH POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) Depression and Anxiety April 17, 2013
and 29 more in the library