Peak experiences during insight mindfulness meditation retreats and their salutary and adverse impact: A prospective matched-controlled intervention study.
Journal of consulting and clinical psychology April 1, 2024 Yuval Hadash, Tatyana Veksler, Omer Dar et al. 8 citations
Intensive meditation retreats produce primarily pleasant peak experiences—such as deep peace or sudden insights—rather than unpleasant ones. In a preregistered study, 96 adults attending 6-day Vipassana retreats reported more pleasant peak experiences than 47 matched controls from the same meditation community. Unpleasant peak experiences did not differ significantly between groups. At two-week follow-up, both pleasant and most unpleasant peak experiences were rated as more beneficial than harmful, with a large average effect size (Cohen's d = 1.61). The findings contradict uncontrolled retrospective studies suggesting that intensive meditation training often leads to adverse experiences.