Mindfulness Practice Outcomes Explained Through the Discourse of Experienced Practitioners

Abstract

Mindfulness-based interventions are increasingly popular, and many practitioners maintain the practice for several years. Experienced mindfulness practitioners (N=22) explained how they perceived the outcomes, the process, and the particularities of their experience. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed leading to the identification of four distinct moments in mindfulness practice: introduction to mindfulness and life immersion, mindfulness skill and life discomfort, mindfulness living and life connection, and mindfulness and life engagement. Practitioners report perceived efficacy and flexibility of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional processes as a consequence of long-term mindfulness practice. Changes in the differentiation of the self, in self/other perspectives, in equanimity, in the locus of control, and in choice patterns seem to be central mechanisms to receive research attention.

The Lived Experiences of Experienced Vipassana Mahasi Meditators: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

“…Although these subordinate themes are in line with previous qualitative findings (Hölzel et al 2006;Machado and Costa 2015), the extracts here make a clearer link to insights arising during the physical act of meditation. Furthermore, Peter's repetitive use of 'Ah' in both extracts to preface his insights suggests that these insights were experienced spontaneously, an interpretation made more plausible by Sophie's remark: 'suddenly the answer is there or you see things clearly'.…”

“…The link between mindfulness meditation and eudaimonic well-being has received less empirical attention (Garland et al 2015). Nevertheless, the present findings are in line with a qualitative study reporting that longterm mindfulness meditators feel fully engaged with their lives (Machado and Costa 2015).…”

“…This extract conjures up a powerful image of stability and continuity amidst chaos, suggesting that equanimity is not simply a transient pleasant emotional state, but a more enduring quality of mind which emerges with more advanced practice, enabling the practitioner to discern impermanence-a characteristic of 'ultimate reality' and therefore, wisdom (Mahasi 2016). Although previous qualitative studies report that mindfulness helped participants experience greater equanimity in everyday life (Machado and Costa 2015), the present findings offer a more dynamic, nuanced and experiential characterization of this construct as well as its relationship to Buddhist wisdom. Furthermore, participants' experiences of equanimity also appear to reflect undertones of sukha, a Buddhist notion referring to a long-lasting Bstate of flourishing that arises from mental balance and insight into the nature of reality^ (Ekman et al 2005, p. 60).…”

“…Importance of Buddhist Ethical Practices Unlike the aforementioned study by Machado and Costa (2015), participants of the present study did not just attribute these positive outcomes to meditation:…”

“…These extracts indicate that VM meditation served as a gateway through which participants were able to achieve both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. The beneficial effects of mindfulness meditation have most consistently been linked to improved hedonic well-being in both quantitative (Eberth and Sedlmeier 2012) and qualitative (Hölzel et al 2006;Machado and Costa 2015) studies. The link between mindfulness meditation and eudaimonic well-being has received less empirical attention (Garland et al 2015).…”