Mindfulness training encourages self-transcendent states via decentering.

Mindfulness training increased both decentering and self-transcendence in novice practitioners compared with an active listening condition. Greater decentering midway through five training sessions predicted greater self-transcendence at the end, suggesting that becoming better able to non-reactively observe thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations during meditation facilitates self-transcendent experiences. This provides initial empirical evidence that mindfulness can cultivate self-transcendence through decentering.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Self-transcendence is theorized to be a core, mechanism of mindfulness. Yet, no known empirical study has investigated the process by which self-transcendent experiences emerge in novice practitioners. To address this gap, this study explored whether changes in decentering in response to mindfulness training translated into increases in self-transcendence over the course of five mindfulness training sessions. Participants (N=26) were randomly allocated to either a mindfulness training condition or an active listening condition. Results indicated that mindfulness training increased both decentering ( p =.023) and self-transcendence ( p =.001) relative to the active listening condition. Furthermore, greater decentering at the mid-point of training predicted greater self-transcendence at the training(cid:146)s end, suggesting that those participants that become better able to non-reactively observe their thoughts, feelings and physical sensations while meditating were also more likely to experience self-transcendence. This study provides the first empirical evidence that mindfulness training can cultivate self-transcendent experiences through the process of decentering from internal phenomena.