Mindfulness
April 13, 2023
Julieta Galante, Andrea Grabovac, Malcolm Wright et al.
82 citations
About half of the millions of people who learn mindfulness meditation continue regular practice after initial instruction, but it is unclear whether benefits increase with ongoing practice or whether harm can occur. Evidence shows a wide range of experiences from positive to challenging and potentially harmful. Complex interactions and temporal sequences may explain these experiences and their links to health and well-being. Effects may vary systematically due to factors like initial dosage, accumulated practice, developing skill, and interactions with past experiences and environment. The authors call for interdisciplinary, ontologically agnostic research using longitudinal models and insights from contemplative traditions to develop safer, more effective applications.
Scientific Reports
July 1, 2024
Jonathan N. Davies, Anna Faschinger, Julieta Galante et al.
45 citations
Between 2002 and 2022, the use of meditation, yoga, and guided imagery or progressive relaxation among US adults rose significantly. By 2022, 18.3% (60.53 million) practiced meditation, 16.8% (55.78 million) practiced yoga, and 6.7% (22.22 million) used guided imagery or progressive relaxation. Growth was widespread across sociodemographic groups, but people of 'Other' race (54% Indigenous Americans) and those with moderate psychological distress were overrepresented across all practices. Individuals with severe distress were more likely to use meditation and guided imagery or progressive relaxation. Meditation use accelerated among adults aged 65 and older, those not accessing mental health care, and less educated groups, suggesting unmet health needs.
Psychological Medicine
December 7, 2020
Nicholas T. van Dam, Julieta Galante
19 citations
A critique of a recent study on harm after mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programs points out serious methodological limitations that undermine confidence in the authors' conclusion that MBSR is no more harmful than no treatment. The original study used a large observational dataset of 2,155 participants alongside active and wait-list arms of randomized controlled trials (156 and 118 participants respectively). The critique argues that despite the seemingly conclusive finding, the methods employed have potentially serious flaws.
Mindfulness
June 1, 2023
Toby J. Woods, Jennifer Windt, Lydia Brown et al.
15 citations
People who practice Shamatha, Thai Forest, or Stillness Meditation typically report a highly positive experience of stillness or silence with little awareness of thoughts and perceptions, but with a high degree of abstract content such as calm and mental relaxation. Across the three traditions, robust differences emerged in reports of bliss/joy, wakefulness, absorptiveness, and depth. The experiences are contentless only in the sense of lacking obvious mental content like thoughts, not in being devoid of all content, challenging the classical view that such states are identical across traditions.
Clinical Psychological Science
January 6, 2025
Nicholas T. van Dam, Jessica Targett, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
14 citations
Meditation use in the United States is about as common as accessing mental health services, making it important to understand its potential harms. In a survey of 886 U.S. adults, nearly all (96.6%) reported an unusual experience related to meditation, 58.4% reported an adverse effect on a standard inventory, 78.3% endorsed at least one item on a scale of meditation-related adverse effects, 31.4% said they had a challenging, difficult, or distressing experience, and 9.1% reported functional impairment due to such effects. Psychological distress, psychoticism, unusual beliefs, and attending a meditation retreat were each linked to more unusual experiences and adverse effects. The authors recommend informing potential meditators about possible experiences, considering risk factors, and routinely monitoring for adverse effects.
June 23, 2023
Nicholas Bowles, Jonathan N. Davies, Sarah Strohmaier et al.
10 citations
preprint
Mindfulness meditation is widely practiced in religious and secular settings, with many studies suggesting benefits for psychosocial well-being. Yet little is known about dose-response effects—how often or how long one must practice to achieve specific goals. Recommended practice durations are becoming shorter, but the impact of this reduction on outcomes is unclear. This review critically appraises evidence from empirical studies, traditional sources, and contemporary teaching trends. It argues that previous studies' limited dose ranges and analytic approaches hinder understanding of dose-response. The authors propose a research agenda prioritizing dose-response questions, using designs optimized to examine how the relationship varies by outcome and individual, which could reconcile conflicting knowledge and tailor mindfulness offerings.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
October 26, 2024
Saampras Ganesan, Nicholas T. van Dam, Sunjeev K. Kamboj et al.
3 citations
preprint
Personalized high-precision neurofeedback (NF) can help novice meditators better disengage from mental activity during meditation, improving emotional well-being and mindful awareness. In a single-blind, controlled study, 40 novices received two days of meditation training with feedback from either their own or a matched participant's posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) activity, measured using 7 Tesla fMRI. The experimental group showed stronger functional decoupling of PCC from dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, indicating improved control over disengagement. This led to greater improvements in emotional well-being and mindful awareness during a week of real-world self-guided meditation, supporting the utility of NF-guided meditation training.
May 13, 2024
Nicholas T. van Dam, Jessica Targett, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
2 citations
preprint
Meditation use is now as common as mental health service access. In a cross-sectional, population-based survey of 886 US adults, 96.6% reported an unusual experience related to meditation, 58.4% reported an adverse effect (AE), 78.3% endorsed at least one item on the Meditation-related AEs Scale, 31.4% reported a challenging, difficult, or distressing experience, and 9.1% reported functional impairment due to AEs. Psychological distress, psychoticism, unusual beliefs, and meditation retreat participation were positively associated with unusual experiences and AEs. The findings suggest that potential meditators should be informed about possible experiences, providers should consider risk factors, and AEs should be routinely and actively monitored.
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
January 3, 2023
Saampras Ganesan, Bradford A. Moffat, Nicholas T. van Dam et al.
1 citation
preprint
Using ultra-high strength 7 Tesla fMRI, a pilot study scanned 10 beginner meditators during focused attention meditation and rest. Meditation significantly reduced activity in Default-mode network hubs—antero-medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus—and in visual and thalamic regions, even after adjusting for physiological differences between conditions. State Mindfulness Scale scores significantly increased after the meditation session and remained elevated at a two-week follow-up. The findings support that focused attention meditation attenuates default-mode activity linked to self-referential processing, establishing the feasibility of 7 Tesla fMRI for meditation research.
June 25, 2026
Nicholas Bowles, Nicholas T. van Dam, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
preprint
Among 716 meditation-naïve healthy adults randomly assigned to 4, 10, 20, or 30 minutes of daily mindfulness meditation over 28 days, all groups showed significant improvements in wellbeing and mental health symptoms from baseline to post-intervention. No evidence of a dose–response effect emerged: longer assigned practice durations were not more beneficial than shorter ones. Adherence declined with longer assignments; 70.9% of the 10-minute group completed at least two-thirds of sessions versus 48.5% of the 30-minute group. Exploratory analyses indicated that actual practice engagement and confidence in meditation's efficacy predicted better outcomes, suggesting that adherence and expectancy may matter more than prescribed length.
Scientific Reports
May 19, 2026
Karin Matko, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
Seventy percent of adults in Australia and New Zealand engaged in contemplative practices such as meditation, yoga, or breathing techniques in the past year, most commonly meditation (31%). Practitioners reported higher psychological distress and greater use of mental healthcare than non-practitioners. After adjusting for sociodemographic differences, the association with distress disappeared for yoga and relaxation practitioners but remained for breathing techniques, which were linked to increased distress in all models. Among those with unmet healthcare needs, meditators and relaxation practitioners reported less distress than non-practitioners with unmet needs. The findings suggest contemplative practices may serve as complements to mental healthcare, but their complex relationships with mental health require further study.
Mindfulness
February 25, 2026
Cate Bailey, Nicholas T. van Dam, Jonathan N Davies et al.
A nationally representative Australian survey compared quality of life, health service use, and costs among meditators, other contemplative practitioners, and non-practitioners. Unadjusted quality-of-life scores were higher for non-practitioners, and this difference persisted after accounting for demographics but disappeared when mental health service use was included. Unmet mental-health service need was highest among meditators (13.9%) versus non-practitioners (2.4%). The average annual cost of contemplative practice was $1,281 per person. The findings provide preliminary data for future economic evaluations of contemplative practices.
Pedagogy Culture and Society
December 8, 2025
Christopher T. Mccaw, Haisu Sun, Julieta Galante et al.
A model for applying contemplative pedagogy in higher education emphasizes rich contextualization and interdisciplinarity. The framework places embodied contemplative practices within concentric layers of context, drawing from multiple disciplinary perspectives. It addresses challenges educators face in contemporary universities, using cosmopolitanism to navigate epistemological, cultural, and practical diversity. The course 'The Art and Science of Meditation' illustrates this approach.
October 20, 2025
Karin Matko, Cate Bailey, Julieta Galante et al.
preprint
A nationally representative survey of 2,640 Australians and New Zealanders found that 70% had engaged in contemplative practices over the past year, most commonly meditation, relaxation, breathing techniques, and yoga. Users of these practices reported higher psychological distress and mental healthcare use than non-practitioners. After adjusting for socio-demographic differences, the association with distress disappeared for yoga and relaxation practitioners; for meditators it disappeared when accounting for mental healthcare use. Breathing practice remained linked to increased distress across all models. However, meditators and relaxation practitioners with unmet healthcare needs reported less distress than non-practitioners with unmet needs. The practices may play a complementary or alternative role in managing mental health.
September 16, 2025
Cate Bailey, Nicholas T. van Dam, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
preprint
A nationally representative Australian survey of 2,065 people found that meditators and other contemplative practitioners had lower unadjusted quality-of-life than non-practitioners, a difference that persisted after accounting for demographics but disappeared when mental health service use was considered. Unmet mental-health service need was highest among meditators (13.9%) versus non-practitioners (2.4%), and 8.9% of the overall sample had unmet need. The average annual cost of contemplative practices was $1,281 per person. The findings provide preliminary data for future cost-effectiveness evaluations of contemplative practices, with the EQ-HWB-9 index performing well as an outcome measure.
July 25, 2025
Tom Wood, Merle Kock, Nicholas T. van Dam et al.
preprint
Intense meditation-related experiences (IMREs) can alter the sense of self, worldview, and emotions, impacting daily life. Through in-depth interviews with thirteen meditators, four themes emerged: watching the self and world transform; emotional explosions leading to insight; gaining new perspectives and agency; and challenges in talking about the experience. Meditators used concepts from science and meditative traditions to make sense of IMREs, which were profound transformative experiences that changed how they perceived and acted in the world. The meaning of these experiences was immediately clear for some but clarified over time for most.
May 27, 2025
Prai Wattanatakulchat, Julieta Galante, Timothy Wood et al.
preprint
Unwanted meditation-related experiences are common and alternate with positive ones, but predicting them is difficult because they have been studied as isolated events. This survey of 886 U.S. meditators tested whether a modern interpretation of the Stages of Insight (SoI), a Buddhist model of meditative progression, fits contemporary meditators. Only four of the eight stages could be assessed. The pattern of item endorsement predicted the number of stages reached better than chance, but early stages were not more frequently endorsed than later ones, and more meditation experience did not predict classification into later stages. The findings provide no clear evidence that the SoI model applies across contexts and traditions, but show that traditional models can guide research on meditation experiences as developmental processes.
February 17, 2025
Nicholas Bowles, A. Bürger, Jonathan N. Davies et al.
A planned online mindfulness course for healthy adults aged 18–65 years will test whether longer daily meditation practice (10, 20, or 30 minutes) produces greater improvements in well-being and other psychological outcomes than a short control practice (4 minutes). The study aims to enroll at least 688 participants, but recruitment has been slow and affected by fraudulent entries; by the end of 2024 only 70 eligible participants had enrolled. The trial will measure well-being, distress, anxiety, depression, and other factors at several time points, with results expected by March 2026.
February 11, 2025
Christopher T. Mccaw, Julieta Galante, Cullan Joyce et al.
A conceptual framework is presented for applying contemplative pedagogy in higher education, emphasizing rich contextualization and interdisciplinarity. The model places embodied contemplative activities within concentric layers of socio-cultural, political, religious, ethical, and material context. Cosmopolitanism is introduced to address epistemological, cultural, and practical diversity encountered by educators and students. The framework is illustrated through a case study of an undergraduate subject, The Art and Science of Meditation, designed by the authors.