Indian Journal of Positive Psychology

Sarika Khandelwal ¹, Kavita Koradia ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Home Science, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Rajasthan, IN

Abstract

Literature on meditation suggests multi fold benefits on personality. Yet, very few researches explored meditation in its traditional context utilising both empirical and anecdotal evidence to get insights about the way it impacts the practitioners and their subjective experiences. The study aims to explore the impact of a Buddhist Mediation retreat on Depression, Stress, Anxiety and Affect regulation of participants and their qualitative outcomes. One hundred subjects were studied through convenience sampling who participated in a ten day meditational retreat for the first time at Tushita Meditation Centre. Further, qualitative analysis was conducted on ten participants who exhibited significant changes on their quantitative measures to understand their motivation, deeper perspectives and experiences of the retreat. The retreat was found to be effective in reducing the severity of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms significantly and also in regulation of emotions (all p >0.001). The qualitative analysis yielded overarching themes - (a) Self development, Distress and imbalance regulation; (b) Self exploration, Insightful values and Physical challenge; (c) internalizing Impermanence and attaining Equanimity. The findings revealed a complex and dynamic set of interdependent outcomes and processes, which are reinforced by Buddhist teachings and ethical practices. It also provides a detailed understanding on the impact of meditation retreat interventions which can be of strategic research benefit for studying as a model system to understand the transforming effects and in realizing the holistic effect of meditation training at an individual level. It also highlights the need to recontextualize traditional philosophies into modern meditation practices.

Keywords

Meditation Retreat, Psychological Impact, Subjective Impact.

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Sarika Khandelwal ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Home Science, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, Rajasthan, IN

Abstract

The current study aims to evaluate the impact of a two-week Online Mindfulness Meditation (MM) intervention on levels of Depression, Stress, and Anxiety and gain insights into participants’ motivation and experiences of the intervention. Twentyfive participants (16 females & 9 males) were recruited through web-based advertisement using a random purposive sampling technique. DAS scale was administered before and after the intervention period to identify quantitative changes over time. Further, ten participants (6 females & 4 males) who exhibited significant changes in their quantitative measures were interviewed via video conferencing to understand the particular motivators and experiences of participating; where the responses were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Change in outcome measures over time was examined using Mean, S.D., and paired t-test. Results revealed significant improvements in reducing the severity of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms significantly (all p >0.001) and improvement was sustained at three months follow- up. The qualitative analysis depicted Spiritual inclination and Experience of stress and loneliness as motivation themes for enrolling. Moreover,the lived experience of the participants exhibited three overarching themes – a. Self- awareness, b. Insight development, c. Social cohesion. The study provides evidence in support of the effectiveness of brief, MM in a non-clinical population and suggests that low-intensity intervention can be used for modulating negative psychological states through easily accessible and non- physical contact training mode. However, more research is needed to confirm and better understand these results and to test the potential of such interventions.

Keywords

COVID-19, Mindfulness Meditation, Psychological Well-being.

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