Energizing compassion: using music and community focus to stimulate compassion drive and sense of connectedness.
Paul Gilbert, Jaskaran Kaur Basran, Ptarmigan Plowright, Hannah Gilbert
Frontiers in Psychology 2023 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1150592 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pre-post self-practice study with mixed methods (quantitative self-report and qualitative open questions) Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 43 |
| Population | Members of the Compassionate Mind discussion list (approximately 1,600 invited) who completed two weeks of practice |
| Intervention | Energizing music |
| Duration | 2 weeks of practice; 4.5-minute guided practice |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Compassion Connectedness Energizing Music Tonglen |
| Key findings | After two weeks of an energizing, music-accompanied compassion practice, participants showed significant increases in self-compassion, compassion to others, openness to compassion from others, activated and safe positive affect, social safeness, and wellbeing, with the largest effect size for self-compassion (d = -0.76). Participants described the practice as energizing, inspiring, and socially connecting, though some noted that engaging with suffering also stimulated sadness. |
Abstract
The last 20 years have seen considerable research on the nature and biopsychosocial impacts of compassion training on self and others. This training is usually focused on calming and slowing the mind and body and on individual imagery practices and mantras. This study explored the effects of three variations: 1. The impact of using energizing music to generate activation and "drive" for compassion; 2. To focus on imagining "breathing in and breathing out a white light or mist of compassion" to bring compassion to the world; and 3. While listening to energizing music, participants were guided to imagining connecting to the compassion (Sangha) community, imagining oneself as linking with others as part of communities seeking to help the world. From approximately 1,600 members of the Compassionate Mind discussion list, participants were invited to take part in a new energizing focused self-practice study. The study involved listening to recorded guidance on the evolutionary model of compassion and the need to address the potentially harmful side of our nature. This was followed by a 4 1/2-min tonglen-informed guided practice of breathing in and breathing out compassion accompanied by energizing music. Forty-three participants completed several self-report scales measuring compassion orientation, wellbeing, social safeness, and positive affect before and following 2 weeks of practice. Participant experiences were recorded from 6 open explorative questions. Self-report measures taken before and following 2 weeks of practice revealed significant increases in self-compassion, compassion to others, openness to compassion from others, activated positive affect, safe positive affect, social safeness, and wellbeing, with the largest effect size relating to compassion for the self (d = -0.76). In addition, qualitative data revealed that the participants had experienced the practice as energizing, inspiring, and felt socially connected and that it had significant impacts on other aspects of their lives. Some participants noted that engaging with suffering also stimulated sadness. This study found that pairing energizing music with breathing practices and specific compassion visualizations, focusing on the desire to bring compassion to the world and be part of a compassionate community, was well-accepted and had a range of significant positive impacts. This study indicates the potential value of exploring energizing in comparison to the more standard soothing and settling practices as ways of stimulating the biopsychosocial processes of compassion.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
Cites 4
- Learning Compassion and Meditation: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Experience of Novice Meditators. Frontiers in Psychology 2022
- Sustainable Compassion Training: Integrating Meditation Theory With Psychological Science Frontiers in Psychology September 11, 2020
- Visual Attention to Suffering After Compassion Training Is Associated With Decreased Amygdala Responses. Frontiers in Psychology 2018
- Compassion training alters altruism and neural responses to suffering. Psychological Science July 1, 2013