The Effect of Ten vs. Twenty Minutes of Mindfulness Meditation on State Mindfulness and Affect

A single session of mindfulness meditation, whether 10 or 20 minutes, increases state mindfulness more than listening to a National Geographic article. Ten minutes of meditation was sufficient to produce this effect, and extending the session to 20 minutes did not yield additional gains. For people with lower trait mindfulness, meditation boosted state mindfulness more than the control. Among those with high trait mindfulness, a 20-minute session led to greater reductions in state anxiety than a 10-minute session. The minimal dose-response relationships suggest that 10 and 20 minutes of meditation improve state mindfulness to a similar degree.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Abstract We aimed to elucidate the effects of “dose” of a single-session of mindfulness meditation on state mindfulness and affect as well as moderators of effects. 372 adults recruited remotely via Amazon’s MTurk platform were randomly assigned to either a: 10-minute mindfulness meditation, 20-minute mindfulness meditation, 10-minute control, or 20-minute control. Control conditions were recordings of a National Geographic article. Primary outcomes were changes in state mindfulness, anxiety, and negative and positive affect. Moderator variables included neuroticism, trait mindfulness, and prior meditation experience. Collapsing across doses, participants in mindfulness conditions reported greater increases in state mindfulness than in control conditions. There was a greater increase in state mindfulness in the 10-minute mindfulness condition vs. 10-minute control condition. There were no differences between 10- and 20-minute mindfulness conditions. Moderation analyses indicated that meditation (10 or 20) vs. control (10 or 20) predicted increased state mindfulness among participants with lower trait mindfulness. Additionally, 20-minute vs. 10-minute meditation predicted greater decreases in state anxiety among individuals with high trait mindfulness. Dose-response relationships were minimal, suggesting that 10 and 20 minutes of meditation may improve state mindfulness comparably. Findings support the benefits of brief mindfulness meditation and suggest that trait mindfulness moderates certain outcomes.