A Qualitative Meta-Analysis of Participants’ Experiences in Meditation Intervention Programs: Focusing on Noblit & Hare’s Meta-Ethnographic Approach

ABSTRACT

[Objective] This study conducted a qualitative meta-analysis using Noblit and Hare's meta-ethnography to comprehensively understand the experiences and meanings of meditation intervention program participants.[Contents] Eight qualitative studies on Buddhist meditation published between 2024 and 2025 were selected from Korean academic databases. Following the seven-stage procedure, core concepts were reciprocally translated and synthesized. Three superordinate themes emerged: deepening of self-awareness and insight, construction of coping strategies and practice systems, and changes in relational and social connections, along with 7 subthemes and 21 descriptive themes. Changes followed a sequential yet cyclical process from internal awareness through coping strategy development to relational expansion.[Conclusions] Meditation interventions generate ‘Embodied Transformation’ via a bottom-up pathway from bodily awareness to emotional, cognitive, and behavioral change. A ‘Relational Mindfulness’ model was identified, expanding individual practice to collective mindfulness. This study proposes connections with Gross’s emotion regulation model and Seligman’s PERMA model, and presents a stage-based intervention model for meditation program design and clinical application.