Abstract
Objectives
Previous research has investigated potential synergies between classic psychedelics and meditation practice, but relatively little remains known about the relationship between classic psychedelic experiences and engagement with meditation practice. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between classic psychedelic experiences and engagement with two popular types of meditation: mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness or compassion meditation.
Method
This retrospective, population-based observational study included 2822 respondents aged 18 years or older in the United States. Using covariate-adjusted regression models, this study examined associations of classic psychedelic experiences with current practice of mindfulness meditation and loving-kindness or compassion meditation.
Results
In covariate-adjusted regression models, lifetime classic psychedelic use was associated with a higher frequency of current mindfulness meditation practice but not current loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice. Both psychological insight and “ego dissolution” were associated with a higher frequency of current mindfulness meditation practice and current loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice. Notably, when psychological insight and “ego dissolution” were entered into the regression model simultaneously, only greater psychological insight was associated with having a higher frequency of current mindfulness meditation practice and current loving-kindness or compassion meditation practice.
Conclusions
Although the findings in this study cannot demonstrate causality, they suggest that classic psychedelic experiences may exert a positive effect on the cultivation and maintenance of health-related behaviors such as regular meditation practice, with psychological insight appearing to be a stronger predictor than “ego dissolution.”
Preregistration
This study was not preregistered.
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Data Availability
The data and Stata syntax are available at Figshare: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.22099673.v1 [Data] and https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.22092968.v1 [Syntax].
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Funding
OS was supported by the Osmond Foundation and Ekhaga Foundation. SG was supported by a grant (K23AT010879) from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Support for this research was also provided by FORMAS, Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (grant number: FR-2018/0006), Three Springs Foundation through the Monash Centre for Consciousness & Contemplative Studies, the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, and the University of Wisconsin—Madison Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education with funding from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and with funding from the Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
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Charlotta Simonsson: writing — original draft. Richard Chambers: funding acquisition; writing — review and editing. Peter S. Hendricks: conceptualization; funding acquisition; methodology; supervision; writing — review and editing. Simon B. Goldberg: conceptualization; funding acquisition; methodology; supervision; writing — review and editing. Walter Osika: conceptualization; funding acquisition; methodology; supervision; writing — review and editing. Marco Schlosser: writing — review and editing. Adam Ryde: writing — review and editing. Emma Christersson: writing — review and editing. Otto Simonsson: conceptualization; data curation; formal analysis; funding acquisition; investigation; methodology; project administration; supervision; writing — review and editing.
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Ethical Approval
All procedures performed involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Study procedures were determined to be exempt from review by the Institutional Review Board at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the studies.
Conflict of Interest
PSH is on the scientific advisory board of Bright Minds Biosciences Ltd., Eleusis Benefit Corporation, and Reset Pharmaceuticals Inc. EC is a board member of Osmond Foundation. OS and RC are co-founders of Eudelics AB. The remaining authors have nothing to disclose.
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Simonsson, C., Chambers, R., Hendricks, P.S. et al. Classic Psychedelic Use and Current Meditation Practice. Mindfulness 14, 763–768 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02103-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02103-w