A study recently published by Dr Jordi Riba and his team in association with The Beckley Foundation on ayahuasca and mindfulness traits.

Soler, J., Elices, M., Franquesa, A., Barker, S., Friedlander, P., Feilding, A., Pascual, J.C. & Riba, J. (2015) Exploring the therapeutic potential of Ayahuasca: acute intake increases mindfulness-related capacities. Psychopharmacology, 1-7.


Abstract

Ayahuasca is a psychotropic plant tea used for ritual purposes by the indigenous populations of the Amazon. In the last two decades, its use has expanded worldwide. The tea contains the psychedelic 5-HT2A receptor agonist N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), plus β-carboline alkaloids with monoamine-oxidase-inhibiting properties. Acute administration induces an introspective dream-like experience characterized by visions and autobiographic and emotional memories. Studies of long-term users have suggested its therapeutic potential, reporting that its use has helped individuals abandon the consumption of addictive drugs. Furthermore, recent open-label studies in patients with treatment-resistant depression found that a single ayahuasca dose induced a rapid antidepressant effect that was maintained weeks after administration. Here, we conducted an exploratory study of the psychological mechanisms that could underlie the beneficial effects of ayahuasca.

Methods

We assessed a group of 25 individuals before and 24 h after an ayahuasca session using two instruments designed to measure mindfulness capacities: The Five Facets Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and the Experiences Questionnaire (EQ).

Results

Ayahuasca intake led to significant increases in two facets of the FFMQ indicating a reduction in judgmental processing of experiences and in inner reactivity. It also led to a significant increase in decentering ability as measured by the EQ. These changes are classic goals of conventional mindfulness training, and the scores obtained are in the range of those observed after extensive mindfulness practice.

Conclusions

The present findings support the claim that ayahuasca has therapeutic potential and suggest that this potential is due to an increase in mindfulness capacities.

http://link.springer.com...0.1007/s00213-015-4162-0

Wow, great find! Thanks for sharing this vital information.

Thanks for sharing Banco. Attached is the full text that will allow for a more thorough understanding of the study. I found the sample composition to be quite interesting;



Having only skimmed over the article I'm sure others might find some interesting points in the paper.

Attached

Soler, Joaquim, Matilde Elices, Alba Franquesa, Steven Barker, Pablo Friedlander, Amanda Feilding, Juan C. Pascual, and Jordi Riba. "Exploring the therapeutic potential of Ayahuasca: acute intake increases mindfulness-related capacities." Psychopharmacology (2015): 1-7.