Can Psychedelic Use Benefit Meditation Practice? Examining Individual, Psychedelic, and Meditation-Related Factors
In a sample of 863 regular meditators who had used psychedelics, 73.5% reported that psychedelic use positively influenced the quality of their meditation. Machine‑learning analyses (elastic net, random forest) identified greater frequency of psychedelic use, intentional set‑up for trips, higher agreeableness and reported N,N‑DMT exposure as the strongest predictors of perceiving such benefits, though causal claims require longitudinal or randomised studies.
Authors
- Otto Simonsson
- Robin Carhart-Harris
- Samuel Goldberg
Published
Abstract
Introduction
Meditation practice and psychedelic use have attracted increasing attention in the public sphere and scientific research. Both methods induce non-ordinary states of consciousness that may have significant therapeutic benefits. Thus, there is growing scientific interest in potential synergies between psychedelic use and meditation practice with some research suggesting that psychedelics may benefit meditation practice. The present study examined individual, psychedelic-related, and meditation-related factors to determine under what conditions meditators perceive psychedelic use as beneficial for their meditation practice.
Method
Participants ( N = 863) who had reported psychedelic use and a regular meditation practice (at least 3 times per week during the last 12 months) were included in the study. To accommodate a large number of variables, machine learning (i.e., elastic net, random forest) was used to analyze the data.
Results
Most participants ( n = 634, 73.5%) found psychedelic use to have a positive influence on their quality of meditation. Twenty-eight variables showed significant zero-order associations with perceived benefits even following a correction. Elastic net had the best performance (R 2 = .266) and was used to identify the most important features. Across 53 variables, the model found that greater use of psychedelics, intention setting during psychedelic use, agreeableness, and exposure to N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (N,N-DMT) were most likely to be associated with the perception that psychedelics benefit meditation practice. The results were consistent across several different approaches used to identify the most important variables (i.e., Shapley values, feature ablation).
Discussion
Results suggest that most meditators found psychedelic use to have a positive influence on their meditation practice, with: 1) regularity of psychedelic use, 2) the setting of intentions for psychedelic use, 3) having an agreeable personality, and 4) reported use of N,N-DMT being the most likely predictors of perceiving psychedelic use as beneficial. Longitudinal designs and randomized trials manipulating psychedelic use are needed to establish causality.
Research Summary of 'Can Psychedelic Use Benefit Meditation Practice? Examining Individual, Psychedelic, and Meditation-Related Factors'
Introduction
Meditation practices and psychedelic use both induce non-ordinary states of consciousness and have attracted growing scientific and public interest as potential means to improve psychological wellbeing. Earlier research has suggested overlapping phenomenology and neural targets between some meditation forms and psychedelics, for example changes in the Default Mode Network and experiences of ego dissolution that have been associated with longer-term wellbeing. Empirical work to date includes a small experimental trial administering psilocybin during a five-day meditation retreat that reported greater ego dissolution and psychosocial gains at follow-up, large cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys linking psychedelic exposure with higher levels of current mindfulness practice, and qualitative reports that many people perceive enhancements when combining psychedelics with meditation. Despite these signals, it remains unclear which specific person-level, psychedelic-related, or meditation-related factors are associated with meditators perceiving that psychedelics benefit their meditation practice. Jiwani and colleagues set out to address this question using a large sample of regular meditators who had used psychedelics. Their aim was to identify which variables across three domains—individual characteristics, psychedelic-related factors (including set and setting), and meditation-related factors—were most strongly associated with the self-reported influence of psychedelic experiences on the quality of regular meditation. To accommodate a wide range of correlated predictors, the investigators employed machine learning methods and developed tailored survey items to capture perceived effects of psychedelics on meditation practice alongside multidimensional measures of meditation background and psychedelic use.
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Study Details
- Study Typeindividual
- Journal
- Compound
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- APA Citation
Jiwani, Z., Goldberg, S. B., Stroud, J., Young, J., Curtin, J., Dunne, J. D., Simonsson, O., Webb, C. A., Carhart-Harris, R., & Schlosser, M. (2024). Can Psychedelic Use Benefit Meditation Practice? Examining Individual, Psychedelic, and Meditation-Related Factors. https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.27.24312677
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