Interoception, the sense of internal bodily signals, is essential for embodiment, motivation, and well-being but remains poorly understood. This review integrates perspectives from neuroscience, clinical practice, and contemplative studies, introducing an expanded taxonomy of interoceptive processes. It argues that many of these processes can be explained by a predictive coding model of mind-body integration, which describes tension between expected and felt body sensations. This model parallels contemplative theories and links interoception to affective and psychosomatic disorders. Maladaptive interpretation of bodily sensations may underlie many contemporary maladies, and contemplative practices may reduce these biases, restoring a sense of presence and agency.
Body awareness is a key element in mind-body therapies such as yoga, Tai Chi, and mindfulness meditation, yet its meaning across these approaches is not always clear. Through focus groups with leading practitioners and their patients, the study finds that body awareness is understood as an inseparable part of embodied self-awareness, realized through action and interaction with the environment. It is seen as an innate tendency of the organism toward self-organization and wholeness. Patients experience a progression toward greater unity between body and self, mirroring a philosophical concept of embodiment as a dialectic experienced at distinct developmental levels.
Telomere length, a marker of cellular aging, is linked to chronic stress and depression. Psychological stress cognitions, such as threat appraisals and rumination, can prolong stress reactivity and may shorten telomeres. In contrast, mindfulness meditation shifts appraisals from threat to challenge, reduces rumination and stress arousal, and may increase positive arousal states. A review of data connects telomere length to cognitive stress and arousal, and new data links cognitive appraisal to telomere length. The authors propose that mindfulness meditation may benefit telomere maintenance by reducing cognitive stress and arousal and enhancing positive states, with ongoing trials testing this model.