Meditating in Live Stream: An Autoethnographic and Interview Study to Investigate Motivations, Interactions and Challenges
Jingjin Li, Jiajing Guo, Gilly Leshed
arXiv Preprint Archive February 21, 2024 via arXiv
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractLive-streamed meditation offers weaker social presence than in-person sessions but helps attendees build a consistent practice routine and connect with other meditators. Teachers use live streams to deliver meditation globally, which also enhances their own practice and brand building. Challenges with live-stream tools were identified from both audience and teacher perspectives, leading to design recommendations to better support mental wellbeing through live meditation.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Autoethnographic study and semi-structured interview study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 12 |
| Population | Two researchers as audience participants and 10 experienced live meditation teachers |
| Intervention | live-stream meditation sessions |
| Duration | Three-month autoethnographic study |
| Keywords | H.5.2 Meditation-streaming live streaming Virtual meditation Online meditation Digital-mindfulness mindfulness technology |
| Key finding | Live-streamed meditation facilitates practice routines and community connection despite weaker social presence, and teachers benefit from global reach and brand enhancement. |
Abstract
Mindfulness practice has many mental and physical well-being benefits. With the increased popularity of live stream technologies and the impact of COVID-19, many people have turned to live stream tools to participate in online meditation sessions. To better understand the practices, challenges, and opportunities in live-stream meditation, we conducted a three-month autoethnographic study, during which two researchers participated in live-stream meditation sessions as the audience. Then we conducted a follow-up semi-structured interview study with 10 experienced live meditation teachers who use different live-stream tools. We found that live meditation, although having a weaker social presence than in-person meditation, facilitates attendees in establishing a practice routine and connecting with other meditators. Teachers use live streams to deliver the meditation practice to the world which also enhances their practice and brand building. We identified the challenges of using live-stream tools for meditation from the perspectives of both audiences and teachers, and provided design recommendations to better utilize live meditation as a resource for mental wellbeing.