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The Impact of Mindful Meditation in Nature on Self-Nature Interconnectedness

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Abstract

Previous research has shown that mindfulness and spending time in nature are both related to perceived self-nature interconnectedness, with implications for environmental and psychological well-being. More research is needed to better understand the relative influence of mindful meditation and nature exposure on self-nature interconnectedness. In study 1, we replicated evidence for a relationship between mindfulness and self-nature interconnectedness in a sample of Buddhist meditators attending a nature and meditation retreat. In study 2, undergraduate students participated in 3-day nature trips that were randomly assigned to either a meditation condition (which included formal meditation in the mornings) or a non-meditation condition (which did not include formal meditation practices). The results from pre- and post-trip surveys showed that the combined influence of mindful meditation in nature on self-nature interconnectedness is greater than nature exposure that does not include mindful meditation. One focus of the present research was to examine cognitive dimensions of nature connectedness, given that mindfulness meditation is based on cognitive processes such as selective attention. Study 2 revealed three types of concepts underlying self-nature interconnectedness: (1) mental models for behaviors in nature, (2) self-nature categorization, and (3) self-nature associations. In addition, participants who meditated in nature were more likely to foreground nature in their memories of the trip by emphasizing nature rather than other aspects (such as social interactions). Together, the results from the present research suggest that mindful meditation in nature can be used to reestablish or strengthen concepts of self-nature interconnectedness nature for urban adults.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank employees in the Aztec Adventures Program, Michelle Baroldi, Eddie Baggs, and Tiffany Habib for their contributions to this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social and Behavioral Sciences, Diné College, 1 Circle Dr., Tsaile, AZ, 86556, USA

    Sara Unsworth

  2. San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Sean-Kelly Palicki & Jim Lustig

Authors
  1. Sara Unsworth
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  2. Sean-Kelly Palicki
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  3. Jim Lustig
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Unsworth.

Ethics declarations

This study was funded by a start-up fund provided for the first author by San Diego State University. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at San Diego State University. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Unsworth, S., Palicki, SK. & Lustig, J. The Impact of Mindful Meditation in Nature on Self-Nature Interconnectedness. Mindfulness 7, 1052–1060 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0542-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-016-0542-8

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