Studying the experience of meditation through Micro-phenomenology
Current Opinion in Psychology October 25, 2018 Claire Petitmengin, Martijn van Beek, Michel Bitbol et al. 163 citations
Meditation research mostly examines neurophysiology, but the actual moment-to-moment experience of meditating—what it feels like at different stages and in different practices—remains largely unstudied. This article reports a pilot project that used 'micro-phenomenological' interview methods to help meditators describe their lived experience with rigor and precision. The results show that such detailed descriptions can deepen understanding of meditation, improve practice, and inform teaching, revealing a valuable but overlooked dimension of contemplative science.