Nationally representative survey of Australia 🇦🇺 and New Zealand shows meditators and yoga practitioners are over 5 times more likely than non-practitioners to report unmet mental health need. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

My close friend/colleague (Dr Pengfei Xu) has published an impressive 7-yr prospective study with nearly 400 young people, showing that functional brain dynamics in early childhood relate to adolescent anxiety and depression. www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S000... #PsychSciSky

Childhood electroencephalographic signatures predict distinct developmental trajectories to adolescent anxiety and depression

Adolescence is a vulnerable period for the onset of anxiety and depression, yet their neurodevelopmental origins remain unclear.

biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com

📣 Australasians lead the world in meditation use: ⅓ of Australians and ¼ of NZers meditated in the past year. Many turn to meditation when mental healthcare is hard to access, yet some report adverse effects. We need more research to make meditation safe & effective for all. 🔗 go.unimelb.edu.au/ba62

Glad to share that my PhD's final paper is finally out in @SpringerNature Mindfulness. link.springer.com/article/10.1... 7 Tesla fMRI neurofeedback training enhances meditation training and real-world practice for beginners. Summary (6 points) below~

Neurofeedback Training Facilitates Awareness and Enhances Emotional Well-being Associated with Real-World Meditation Practice: A 7-T MRI Study - Mindfulness

Objectives Novice meditators often struggle to recognise and intentionally disengage from self-referential thought during meditation. We investigated whether personalised high-precision neurofeedback (NF) training improves volitional disengagement from self-referential thought during meditation and enhances meditation’s outcomes. Method In a single-blind, controlled study, novices received 2 days of veridical (n = 20) or sham (n = 20) 7-T fMRI NF targeting posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) deactivation during meditation. After NF training, at-home meditation practice was monitored for 1 week, followed by an in-lab behavioural assessment. Results Both groups reported similar perceptions of NF contingency, performance, and expectancy (p > 0.05), suggesting effective participant blinding. PCC deactivation during NF-guided meditation was comparable across groups (p > 0.05). Veridical NF group showed significantly stronger negative functional coupling (d = 0.59) between PCC and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), significantly greater mindful awareness (d = 0.41) and emotional well-being (d = 0.40) associated with 1-week practice, and significant correlation (r = 0.71, p < 0.01) between emotional well-being and PCC-DLPFC negative coupling. Conclusions These findings suggest that high-precision NF can improve novices’ ability to volitionally disengage from self-referential thought during meditation, thereby fostering greater mindful awareness in real-world practice and promoting emotional well-being. Preregistration This exploratory study was not preregistered.

link.springer.com

Nice coverage of our work on how to maximise benefits and minimise harms related to meditation 🧘 @contemplateuom.bsky.social

Association for Psychological Science@psychscience.bsky.social · 12mo ago

A new study, published in Clinical Psychological Science, examines the extent of adverse effects for those who meditate and pinpoints those most at risk of experiencing them. @ntvandam.bsky.social 

📢 New paper alert A new longitudinal study by @nicbowles.bsky.social and @ntvandam.bsky.social of over 1,000 meditators found that meditating 35–65 minutes a day delivered meaningful improvements in well-being, while 50–80 minutes daily was needed for significant gains in mental health.

🔎 Is it normal to feel worse before you feel better in meditation or therapy? In a new article for Psyche, A/Prof Nicholas Van Dam, Director of the Contemplative Studies Centre, explores the fine line between discomfort, distress, and harm in mental health and contemplative practices.

👋 Hello Bluesky! We’re the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, from #UniMelb. We'll be sharing updates from our research community, highlighting staff & student achievements, and connecting with those advancing psychological science across disciplines. We can't wait to join the conversation!

Meaningful change often requires some discomfort, but it doesn’t necessitate that we experience lasting distress. So, when are we being pushed outside our comfort zone and when are we potentially just getting worse? ➡️ Read here: go.unimelb.edu.au/8e6p #Psychotherapy #Meditation

'Free your attention' was hosted at the Brunswick Ballroom by the Sophia Club in partnership with the Contemplative Studies Centre. 🔗🎧 Now you can listen to this conversation on ABC Radio National's Big Ideas: go.unimelb.edu.au/gq6p #ContemplativeStudies #Mindfulness #DigitalWellbeing

Free your attention — meditation and mindfulness in the digital age - ABC listen

How many times have you checked your phone today? How many tabs are open in your web browser? Do you feel in control of your attention?  In the digital age, attention is now a commodity. Can practice...

go.unimelb.edu.au

New article 🚨: Is it normal to feel worse before you feel better in meditation or therapy? I explore discomfort, distress, and harm in mental health and contemplative practices. Meaningful change often requires some discomfort, but not lasting distress. psyche.co/ideas/in-the...

What kinds of people are drawn to meditation? Excited to share the first paper from my PhD (w/ @ntvandam.bsky.social and Luke Smillie) now out in Mindfulness (doi.org/10.1007/s126...) Across 2 samples, we examined personality predictors of meditation and related constructs (1/3)

Who Wants to be Mindful? Personality Predictors of Meditation Practice - Mindfulness

Objectives Meditation has received increasing interest from scientists and the public for potential benefits to mental health and well-being. We examined personality predictors and expectancies of med...

doi.org

🧘‍♀️Meditation is often recommended for mental health, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. @ntvandam.bsky.social and Dr. Julieta Galante from the Centre recently shared insights with Liam Mannix at The Age about why some people find meditation challenging and what to do instead.

‼️ New research ‼️ from our group: unexpected or difficult experiences are the rule rather than the exception in #meditation. Potential to help also means potential to harm. For this reason, we need to take this powerful practice seriously and ensure practices are evidence-based & tradition-informed.

Managing about 15 min, ~4-5 days/wk of meditation 🧘 (day 26). I’m finding it harder to remind myself to practice than last time I did a year-long challenge; the benefits are notable but the struggle is real. Ppl need different practices at different times in their lives.

🌍✨ Big news from the United Nations! On 6 December, the General Assembly proclaimed 21 December as World Meditation Day, highlighting the role meditation plays in fostering mental and physical health, and reaffirming the universal right to the highest standard of well-being.

Here is a good beginning to a Contemplative Research Starter Pack. Suggestions welcome. I'll try to keep it updated as more people migrate over to the blue sky 🙏 #contemplativeresearch #contemplativescience #mindfulness #meditation #yoga #breathwork #psychedelics go.bsky.app/StDaiA6

After 2 weeks of near-daily meditation 🧘 (11/14 days), I have been experientially reminded of 2 things: 1) it’s hard work!, 2) my general level of anxiety/agitation are quite different when I don’t practice.

We hosted this inspiring event now featured on ABC Radio National on Big Ideas 🌏💡 Professor Emerita Rhonda V. Magee and @mariamtokhi.bsky.social joined @natashamitchell.bsky.social for a conversation on empathy that will empower you to hear and care for others even in times of division and conflict.

Hi #Bluesky 👋 We’re the Contemplative Studies Centre at the University of Melbourne. We envision a future where empirically underpinned knowledge gained from contemplative wisdom, research, education, dialogue and practice empowers individuals and societies to thrive. Thrilled to connect! 🌟

In the process of migrating my tweets, I was also reminded of my daily meditation challenge from a few years ago. Starting again - day 2! Will scale up to 20min/day, 5-6 days/week, for at least 1 yr.

a picture of yoda with the words " meditate on this i will "

ALT: a picture of yoda with the words " meditate on this i will "

media.tenor.com

If my feed looks super-active, it’s b/c I’m using @blueark.app to port over old tweets. Fun to see how good the bad place used to be. #AcademicSky

a woman says it 's a terrible place filled with the worst people in the galaxy in a video

ALT: a woman says it 's a terrible place filled with the worst people in the galaxy in a video

media.tenor.com

Here’s my Scholar Goggler

We strongly suggest that academic publishers and other platforms that host research rapidly implement a Share to Bluesky button for their articles. Here's how: docs.bsky.app/docs/advance... #AcademicSky #HigherEd #Altmetrics

Action Intent Links | Bluesky

Authors, websites, and apps can use action intent links to implement "Share on Bluesky" buttons, or similar in-app actions. Logged-in users will be directed to the corresponding action view in the Blu...

docs.bsky.app

🧘‍♂️📊 Exciting findings from our latest research developing and validating the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME)! 🧠🌟 @ntvandam go.unimelb.edu.au/7ob8

Development and Validation of the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME) - Mindfulness

Objectives Meditation is increasingly popular, and yet studies of meditation-related adverse effects, or experiences of unusual psychological states, have mostly focused on those of extremely unpleasa...

go.unimelb.edu.au

thought I’d repost: I’m a clinical psychologist at University of Melbourne. I’m interested in how people use #mindfulness, #meditation, and related practices to promote wellbeing and reduce mental health problems. Also, #anxiety, #depression, psychometrics, decision-making #PsychSciSky

🚨 New paper alert! 🚨 Thrilled to share our latest study on the prevalence and 20-year trends in 🧘🏿 #Meditation, #Yoga and #GuidedImagery/#ProgressiveRelaxation use by 🇺🇸 US adults, just published in Nature @SciReports https://dir.lat/KgxtT9 (1/x)

🚨job alert 🚨 Only ~1 week left to apply to work with us @ContemplateUoM as a post-doc or fellow in #mindfulness & #mentalhealth @Psychunimelb https://jobs.unimelb.edu.au/en/job/916687/post-doctoral-research-fellow-or-research-fellow-in-mindfulness-mental-health

@ContemplateUoM is #hiring fellow #mindfulness and #mentalhealth. Position open internationally. Main focus is how different modes of mindfulness instruction (incl. automated, digital, teacher supported) affect #mental health and wellbeing outcomes. https://go.unimelb.edu.au/whd8

A Framework for Assessment of Adverse Events Occurring in Psychedelic Assisted Therapies: http://osf.io/h2wfy/