Bodily Awareness in Advanced Meditation: A Three-Level Model of Interoceptive, Schematic, and Pacificatory Changes
Jes Golden, Terje Sparby, Matthew D. Sacchet
PsyArXiv May 26, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/utgjp_v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that bracketing the self reveals three partially dissociable dimensions of bodily awareness in advanced concentrative absorption meditation: interoceptive changes, body-schematic changes, and "pacification," the complete phenomenological absence of bodily awareness. The authors propose that interoceptive changes occur in the earliest jhāna states, that body schema is revealed through proxies distinct from interoception, and that pacification bears on broader questions about the nature of consciousness. |
Abstract
How should we understand the radical changes in bodily awareness that occur during advanced meditation? Existing approaches subsume these changes under frameworks of self-dissolution or operationalize them through interoceptive measures that assume ongoing bodily sensation. This paper argues for bracketing the self when studying bodily awareness in advanced concentrative absorption meditation (ACAM) in order to highlight the unique structure and nuance of bodily awareness changes in ACAM. We propose a three-level model that distinguishes interoceptive changes, body-schematic changes, and pacification, or the complete phenomenological absence of bodily awareness. Drawing on phenomenological data from jhāna practice manuals and neuroimaging studies (where jhāna is operationalized as advanced concentrative absorption meditation [ACAM-J]), we trace how these dimensions manifest across the eight stages of ACAM-J and varying depths of absorption. We show that the dimensions are likely partially dissociable: interoceptive changes occur in the earliest states of ACAM-J, while body schema, as a preconscious sensorimotor representation, is revealed through proxies that are distinct from interoception. Complete pacification bears on all proxies for interoceptive change and body schema, representing a novel dimension that bears on larger discussions about the nature of consciousness. Our model generates testable predictions: if the dimensions are partially dissociable, then interoceptive quieting and body-schematic transformation should be distinguishable phenomenologically and neurally across different practice styles and depths. The three-level model distinguishes phenomena that existing frameworks conflate, enabling more precise phenomenological description and targeted empirical investigation of body representation in advanced meditation.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |