The Dark Side of Meditation — What Brown University Research Actually Found | Willoughby Britton PhD

Willoughby Britton PhD is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Brown University and the founder of Cheetah House. She has spent 25 years researching the full spectrum of meditation effects — including what happens when it goes wrong. In this episode we talk about how she ended up in neuroscience, the sleep study that upended everything she assumed, two meditators hospitalised after an intensive retreat, and the landmark research that documented 59 categories of meditation-related challenges. We also get into why more practice isn't always better, the 1 in 10 statistic she co-authored with Richard Davidson, and the question she gets asked most — what is mindfulness, really? One of the most honest and important conversations I've had on this podcast. Links mentioned Varieties of Contemplative Experience study — https://www.cheetahhouse.org/vce Meditation teacher and clinician training — https://www.cheetahhouse.org/about-tr... Participate in Willoughby's current research — www.meditationchallenges.org Cheetah House — www.cheetahhouse.org Mindfulnews is a podcast exploring mindfulness through honest conversations with the people who live and research it at the highest level. Conversations, exercises and courses — www.mindfulnews.uk Instagram — @mindfulnews.uk