Intersectional Neuroscience: Why Meditation Research is Becoming More Inclusive – and What This Means for Meditation Teachers
As interest in meditation teacher training in the UK continues to grow, so too does the scientific understanding of how meditation supports health and wellbeing. Meditation has become one of the most researched wellbeing practices in the world. Over the past three decades, hundreds of scientific studies have explored its effects on attention, emotional regulation, stress, resilience and brain function. This growing body of evidence has helped establish meditation as an effective practice for supporting both mental and physical wellbeing, strengthening the foundations of evidence-based meditation teacher training.
However, as the field of contemplative neuroscience has matured, researchers have begun asking an important question:
Who exactly has this research been studying?
For many years, meditation research has largely focused on relatively narrow groups of participants—typically people who are Western, educated and from more socially and economically privileged backgrounds, often referred to as WEIRD populations (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic). While these studies have provided valuable insights, they cannot automatically be assumed to represent the experiences of everyone.
For those undertaking meditation teacher training or already teaching mindfulness and meditation, this is an important consideration. If the science we rely on is based primarily on one section of society, we need to be thoughtful about how we interpret and apply that evidence when teaching students from diverse backgrounds and life experiences.
Introducing Intersectional Neuroscience
One of the most exciting developments in recent years has been the emergence of intersectional neuroscience.
Intersectionality is a concept first introduced by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, recognising that our lives are shaped by multiple, overlapping aspects of identity and experience, including race, gender, disability, age, sexuality, socioeconomic status, culture and the environments in which we live. Rather than viewing these characteristics separately, intersectionality recognises that they interact to influence our opportunities, challenges and overall wellbeing.
When applied to neuroscience, this perspective acknowledges that our lived experiences influence not only our psychological health but also our stress physiology, brain development and nervous system functioning. Experiences such as discrimination, poverty, chronic stress, trauma, social exclusion and unequal access to healthcare can all shape the biological systems that meditation seeks to influence.
This does not mean that people from particular groups have fundamentally different brains. Rather, it recognises that our brains continually adapt to the environments and experiences we encounter throughout life. Understanding these influences allows researchers to build a more complete picture of how meditation affects different individuals and why inclusive meditation teaching matters.
A Turning Point in Contemplative Neuroscience
A significant milestone came in 2020 with the publication of Toward a Compassionate Intersectional Neuroscience: Increasing Diversity and Equity in Contemplative Neuroscience.
The authors argued that contemplative neuroscience had reached a point where it needed to become more inclusive. They highlighted that much of the existing meditation research had overlooked the influence of social context, structural inequalities and lived experience when investigating how meditation works.
Rather than asking simply, "Does meditation work?", the authors proposed a more meaningful question:
"Who does meditation work for, under what circumstances, and why?"
This represents a subtle but profound shift in scientific thinking.
For example, someone living with chronic stress due to discrimination, financial insecurity or adverse childhood experiences may engage with meditation very differently from someone whose daily life is relatively stable. Likewise, cultural beliefs, neurodiversity, disability, physical health and previous experiences with trauma may all influence how a person experiences contemplative practice.
If these differences are ignored, we risk oversimplifying both the science and the teaching of meditation.
How Meditation Research is Becoming More Inclusive
Fortunately, this shift is already well underway.
Researchers increasingly recognise that understanding meditation requires studying a much broader range of people and experiences than has traditionally been the case.
Many recent studies now make deliberate efforts to recruit participants from communities that have historically been underrepresented in meditation research. This includes people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, LGBTQ+ communities, older adults, people living with disabilities, individuals experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage and those living with long-term physical or mental health conditions.
This makes research findings more representative of the wider population while providing a richer understanding of how meditation can support wellbeing across diverse communities.
Researchers are also embracing community-engaged research, working alongside community organisations, meditation teachers and participants when designing studies. Rather than treating people simply as research subjects, this collaborative approach helps ensure that research questions, meditation interventions and outcomes are meaningful, culturally sensitive and accessible.
Another important development is the growing recognition of individual differences.
Earlier neuroscience often searched for the "average" response to meditation by combining data from large groups of participants. Today, advances in neuroscience and data analysis allow researchers to explore how individuals respond differently to the same meditation practice. Rather than viewing these differences as statistical noise, researchers increasingly see them as an important source of understanding.
This reflects a broader movement towards personalised approaches to health, wellbeing and mindfulness practice.
The Growing Importance of Trauma-Informed Meditation
One particularly significant area of development is trauma-informed meditation.
For many years, meditation was widely presented as universally calming and beneficial. While this is true for many people, researchers now recognise that individuals with histories of trauma, post-traumatic stress or chronic adversity may sometimes experience meditation differently.
Practices involving prolonged silence, sustained inward attention or heightened awareness of bodily sensations can occasionally feel overwhelming for some individuals, particularly when introduced without appropriate preparation or support.
As a result, researchers and clinicians are increasingly exploring how meditation practices can be adapted to promote psychological safety, offer greater choice and better support people with different nervous system responses.
Importantly, this does not suggest that meditation is unsafe. Rather, it reflects a more nuanced understanding that effective meditation teaching considers the individual sitting in front of us, rather than assuming every practice is equally appropriate for every person.
What This Means for Meditation Teachers
These developments have important implications for anyone completing meditation teacher training or continuing their professional development as a meditation teacher.
They encourage us to move beyond asking whether meditation works and instead become curious about how different students experience the practice.
Each person who joins a meditation class brings a unique combination of life experiences, culture, beliefs, health, nervous system regulation and personal history. While two students may follow exactly the same guided meditation, their experiences may be very different—and both experiences are equally valid.
Inclusive teaching is not about changing the principles of meditation or lowering standards. Rather, it is about recognising the diversity of human experience and creating conditions in which every student has the opportunity to practise safely, confidently and meaningfully.
As we explore throughout our Meditation Teacher Training Course, this may involve offering different meditation options, providing choices around posture or practising with eyes open or closed, using inclusive language, remaining flexible in our teaching approach and acknowledging that difficult experiences can sometimes arise during practice.
It also involves creating an environment where students feel respected, supported and safe to ask questions, rather than expected to fit a single model of meditation.
Looking Ahead
Intersectional neuroscience is helping to shape the future of contemplative science. It reminds us that meditation does not occur in isolation from the realities of people's lives. Our biology, psychology and lived experiences are deeply interconnected, and understanding those connections allows both researchers and meditation teachers to develop more compassionate, accurate and effective approaches to teaching meditation.
For meditation teachers committed to ongoing professional development, this represents an exciting opportunity. Evidence-informed teaching is no longer just about understanding the latest brain scans or neuroscience terminology. It is also about understanding whose experiences have been represented in the research, whose voices may have been overlooked, and how we can teach in ways that are inclusive, flexible and responsive to the diversity of the people we serve.
Ultimately, the future of meditation research is becoming less about finding one universal answer and more about appreciating the richness of human experience. As the science becomes more inclusive, our teaching can become more inclusive too—and that can only strengthen the transformative potential of meditation for everyone.
After all, helping every student feel seen, supported and empowered is at the heart of great meditation teaching.