Metaphor can influence meta-thinking and affective levels in guided meditation

Abstract

Inducing a state of meditation through conceptual metaphors used in the language of guided meditation instructions can have distinctive effects on well-being and meta-thinking. We hypothesized that the use of novel deliberate metaphor in the instructions of a guided meditation in which participants are invited to pay attention to thoughts would help novice meditators increase their meta-thinking activity and change their affective state during a guided meditation session. We conducted a study to test this hypothesis, using four experimental conditions (novel deliberate metaphor, conventional deliberate metaphor, non-metaphorical, silence) in micromeditation sessions with 324 university students. Results validate the instructions exploiting novel deliberate metaphor to activate meta-thinking activity and improve the affective state. These findings enhance our understanding of the short-term effects of guided meditation instructions, particularly regarding how the use of conceptual metaphor in the language of instructions can influence the meta-cognitive and affective levels of meditators, and open new directions both in applied metaphor studies and meditation research.