Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Self-Transcendent States: Perceived Body Boundaries and Spatial Frames of Reference.
Adam W Hanley, Michael Dambrun, Eric L Garland
Mindfulness May 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-020-01330-9 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractFive sessions of mindfulness training, compared with an active listening control, led healthy young adults to report a decreased sense of body boundary dissolution and a more allocentric (less self-centered) spatial frame of reference. The effect on spatial frame of reference was mediated by the reduction in perceived body boundaries. The findings suggest that even brief mindfulness practice can shift the experience of self, relaxing the boundary between self and environment and extending the spatial frame of reference beyond the physical body.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 45 |
| Population | Healthy young adults |
| Intervention | Mindfulness training |
| Duration | Five sessions |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Perceived body boundary Self-transcendence |
| Citations | 66 |
| Key finding | Mindfulness training decreased perceived body boundaries and encouraged more allocentric frames of reference, with the effect on allocentric frames mediated by reduced body boundaries. |
Abstract
Mindfulness training is believed to encourage self-transcendent states, but little research has examined this hypothesis. This study examined the effects of mindfulness training on two phenomenological features of self-transcendence: 1) perceived body boundary dissolution, and 2) more allocentric spatial frames of reference. A sample of healthy, young adults (n=45) were randomized to five sessions of mindfulness training or an active listening control condition. Results indicated mindfulness training decreased perceived body boundaries (F 4,172=6.010, p<.001, η 2=.12) and encouraged more allocentric frames of reference (F 4,168=2.586, p=.039, η 2=.06). The expected inverse relationship was observed between perceived body boundaries and allocentric frames of reference ((β=-.58, p=.001)), and path analysis revealed the effect of mindfulness training on allocentric frames of reference was mediated by decreased perceived body boundaries (β=.24, se=.17, CI: 0.11 to 0.78). Taken together, study results suggest that mindfulness training alters practitioners' experience of self, relaxing the boundaries of the self and extending the spatial frame of reference further beyond the physical body. Future studies are needed to explore the psychophysiological changes that co-occur with phenomenological reports of self-transcendence and the behavioral consequences following self-transcendent experiences.