July 2024
As mindfulness practices become more common, academia increasingly studies them. In a recently published Cambridge study, participants who had received mindfulness training were twice as likely to experience altered states of consciousness, such as disembodiment and unity.
The Cambridge researchers wanted to verify anecdotal evidence that mindfulness can induce alterations of the senses, self, and body boundaries, sometimes similar to what is achieved through psychedelic drugs.
The study was based on a randomised controlled trial conducted between 2015 and 2016 to assess how effectively mindfulness practices could help students cope with stress and mental health issues.
“Because we’d been running a randomised trial of mindfulness practice with several hundred students at Cambridge, we realised this offered us an opportunity to explore this question further”, said Cambridge psychiatrist Julieta Galante in a press release.
The team followed up with the original participants to assess and quantify possible connections between experiences of altered states and mindfulness practices.
Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire that explored 11 “dimensions” of consciousness, such as disembodiment, a blissful state, a spiritual experience, insightfulness, and a sense of unity.
The results showed that alterations in consciousness were twice as common among those who had been practicing meditation or other forms of mindfulness techniques compared to a control group.
In most cases these experiences were described as positive, but not always.
“Some [experiences], such as bliss, can feel extremely pleasant. But some experiences, such as disembodiment or altered sense of self could be perceived as unpleasant, or startling, even alarming, especially if you’re not expecting them”, said Dr Galante.
She pointed out that it is important for mindfulness teachers and their students to be aware of this and be open to talking about it.
According to recent surveys, 15 percent of adults in the UK have learnt some form of mindfulness.
Anders Bolling
