Residential meditation retreats: their role in contemplative practice and significance for psychological research

Brandon G. King; Quinn A. Conklin; Anthony P. Zanesco; Clifford D. Saron

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.021

Residential meditation retreats: their role in contemplative practice and significance for psychological research

Brandon G. King, Quinn A. Conklin, Anthony P. Zanesco, Clifford D. Saron

Psychology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

Contemporary investigations of mindfulness and meditation have predominately emphasized the short-term effects of brief inductions or standardized, multi-week interventions in people with little to no prior meditation experience. Considerably less is known about the effects of continued or intensive meditation practice as proficiency and expertise are acquired over time. In this article, we describe the form and function of residential retreats, an understudied class of meditation intervention that holds promise for bridging this gap in the empirical literature. We outline a number of design features that distinguish retreats from other meditation-based interventions, and highlight their utility for informing functional and developmental perspectives on meditation, cognition, health, and well-being.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	238-244
Number of pages	7
Journal	Current Opinion in Psychology
Volume	28
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.021
State	Published - Aug 2019

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd

Funding

This work was supported by an Affective Science Training Fellowship ( NIH 5T32MH020006-20 ) to QAC, and Hershey Family Foundation and research gift funds from an anonymous donor to CDS. We thank Alea Skwara for comments on an early draft of the manuscript.

Funders	Funder number
Hershey Family Foundation
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute of Mental Health	T32MH020006
National Institute of Mental Health

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Psychology

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10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.12.021

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abstract = "Contemporary investigations of mindfulness and meditation have predominately emphasized the short-term effects of brief inductions or standardized, multi-week interventions in people with little to no prior meditation experience. Considerably less is known about the effects of continued or intensive meditation practice as proficiency and expertise are acquired over time. In this article, we describe the form and function of residential retreats, an understudied class of meditation intervention that holds promise for bridging this gap in the empirical literature. We outline a number of design features that distinguish retreats from other meditation-based interventions, and highlight their utility for informing functional and developmental perspectives on meditation, cognition, health, and well-being.",

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AB - Contemporary investigations of mindfulness and meditation have predominately emphasized the short-term effects of brief inductions or standardized, multi-week interventions in people with little to no prior meditation experience. Considerably less is known about the effects of continued or intensive meditation practice as proficiency and expertise are acquired over time. In this article, we describe the form and function of residential retreats, an understudied class of meditation intervention that holds promise for bridging this gap in the empirical literature. We outline a number of design features that distinguish retreats from other meditation-based interventions, and highlight their utility for informing functional and developmental perspectives on meditation, cognition, health, and well-being.

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Residential meditation retreats: their role in contemplative practice and significance for psychological research

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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