Mindfulness training encourages self-transcendent states via decentering.

ST-related processes are associated with greater psychological flexibility, enhanced emotion regulation, increased connectedness, and more adaptive integration of challenging experiences.

“Emerging empirical and theoretical work on mindfulness, meaning-making, and self-transcendent experience suggests that ST-related processes are associated with greater psychological flexibility, enhanced emotion regulation, increased connectedness, and more adaptive integration of challenging experiences (34–39).”

Contemporary psychological models conceptualize self-transcendence as a cultivable mode of consciousness characterized by reduced self-salience, attenuation of rigid self-world boundaries, enhanced perceived connectedness, and emergence of self-transcendent emotions such as compassion and moral elevation.

“Contemporary psychological models increasingly conceptualize ST as a cultivable mode of consciousness characterized by reduced self-salience, attenuation of rigid self–world boundaries, enhanced perceived connectedness, and the emergence of self-transcendent emotions such as compassion and moral elevation (34, 35, 39, 56, 57).”

Mindfulness to Manage Moral Injury cultivates metacognitive awareness and attentional broadening-processes empirically associated with decentering and meaning-oriented cognitive-affective reappraisal.

“Mindfulness to Manage Moral Injury (MMMI), for example, cultivates metacognitive awareness and attentional broadening—processes empirically associated with decentering and meaning-oriented cognitive–affective reappraisal (30, 36, 39, 85).”

Although self-transcendence has not yet been directly examined as a mediating mechanism, converging evidence of overlapping processes-including decentering, broadened awareness, affective integration, eudaimonic meaning-making, and reappraisal-suggests that self-transcendence may function as a latent therapeutic pathway underlying observed clinical gains.

“Although ST has not yet been directly examined as a mediating mechanism, converging evidence of overlapping processes—including decentering, broadened awareness, affective integration, eudaimonic meaning-making, and reappraisal—suggests that ST may function as a latent therapeutic pathway underlying observed clinical gains (36, 39).”

In a randomized study, five brief mindfulness sessions significantly increased both decentering and self-transcendent experience relative to an active control condition.

“In a randomized study, Hanley, Dorjee, and Garland (39) found that five brief mindfulness sessions significantly increased both decentering and self-transcendent experience relative to an active control condition, suggesting that even short-term practice can produce measurable ST-related shifts.”

Increases in decentering prospectively predict greater self-transcendent experiences, and decentering mediates the effect of mindfulness training on self-transcendent states.

“Empirical evidence further indicates that increases in decentering prospectively predict greater self-transcendent experiences, with decentering mediating the effect of mindfulness training on self-transcendent states (34, 39).”