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Mindfulness Practice Outcomes Explained Through the Discourse of Experienced Practitioners

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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.

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Acknowledgments

This study has been conducted in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and amendments. All participants provided their informed consent prior to inclusion in the study. Grant was sponsored by Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/60622/2009). The authors would like to thank Tânia Gouveia for the comments on grammar in the first draft of this manuscript.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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  1. CPUP, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Sónia Matos Machado & Maria Emília Costa

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  1. Sónia Matos Machado
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  2. Maria Emília Costa
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Correspondence to Sónia Matos Machado.

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Matos Machado, S., Costa, M.E. Mindfulness Practice Outcomes Explained Through the Discourse of Experienced Practitioners. Mindfulness 6, 1437–1447 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0417-4

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