Research study update: Quantifying the amount of meditation practice necessary for benefits

Update on gift card draw and charitable donations made during the recruitment phase.

The Contemplative Studies Centre research study, titled Quantifying the amount of meditation practice necessary for benefits, aimed to identify the optimal ‘dose’ of mindfulness meditation required to see possible changes in wellbeing in a varied sample of meditators. Additionally, this research aimed to better understand how personality characteristics influence the possible effects of meditation on wellbeing. Finally, the aim was to investigate how meditators perceive and evaluate intense or unusual experiences they encounter during or after their meditation practice and how these evaluations are associated with their wellbeing. This information will help us understand how meditators make sense of their intense or unusual experiences, and if certain people are better able to deal with challenging experiences during meditation than others. Our findings will help make meditation and mindfulness training safer.

Recruitment for this project occurred in two phases: Phase 1 (2020–2021) and Phase 2 (late 2023–early 2024). Participants in Phase 2 were entered into several draws to win one of 40 electronic gift cards (total value: AU$4,000). Alternatively, participants could choose to donate their winnings to a charity of their choice. Additionally, we pledged to donate $5 for every participant who completed all four survey sections to the charity receiving the most votes (out of three options).

We’re pleased to share the results:

• The gift card draw has been completed and all winners notified by email.
• A total of AU$2,100 in gift cards has been distributed, and $1,900 has been donated to various charities selected by participants.
• Thanks to 607 participants who completed all sections of the survey, the Centre has donated an additional $3,035 to UNICEF, the charity that received the highest number of votes.