Defensive Freezing and the Evolutionary Origins of Meditation in Humans.

Meditation may have evolutionary origins in defensive freezing, a survival response observed across species. The paper argues that the capacity for sustained, voluntary stillness in meditation builds upon ancient neural circuits that evolved for threat-induced immobility. This perspective reframes meditation not as a cultural invention but as a biological capacity rooted in ancestral defensive behaviors, with implications for understanding its physiological and psychological effects.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Defensive Freezing and the Evolutionary Origins of Meditation in Humans.