The Impact of a Short Body–Focused Meditation on Body Ownership and Interoceptive Abilities
Franziska Anna Schroter, Markus Siebertz, Petra Jansen
Mindfulness 2023 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-022-02039-7 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 111 |
| Population | Healthy students |
| Intervention | Body-focused meditation |
| Duration | 20-minute intervention |
| Measures | Rubber hand illusion questionnaire, proprioceptive drift, heartbeat detection task |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Only participants with high interoceptive awareness experienced a weaker rubber hand illusion following the meditation. |
Abstract
Abstract Objectives The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a brief body-focused meditation on body ownership, while considering interoceptive abilities, dissociative experiences, mood, trait mindfulness, and meditation experience.
Method: The sample consisted of 111 healthy students who participated in a randomized controlled trial and either listened to a 20-min meditation or audio-book reading. Before and after the intervention, the rubber hand illusion and a heartbeat detection task were completed. The rubber hand illusion consisted of a synchronous and an asynchronous condition and the illusion intensity was measured using a questionnaire and by assessing the proprioceptive drift. In the heartbeat detection task, participants were instructed to count their heartbeats, so interoceptive accuracy of their counting, confidence in their own abilities (interoceptive sensibility), and the correspondence between both measures (interoceptive awareness) could be determined.
Results: The intervention type had no effect on mood and interoceptive abilities. Independent of intervention type, valence increased, arousal decreased, and interoceptive accuracy and interoceptive sensibility improved over time. Additionally, trait mindfulness and interoceptive accuracy were negatively related to the subjective rubber hand illusion intensity. There was not a mere effect of the intervention on the rubber hand illusion, but an interaction of synchrony, time, group, and interoceptive awareness was found for both measures, showing that only participants with high interoceptive awareness experienced a weaker illusion following the meditation.
Conclusions: We concluded that meta-awareness of interoceptive abilities may help protecting oneself against manipulations of the body boundaries. Preregistration Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/6dvh5).
Comparable studies
Other randomized controlled trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Healthy employees in a work environment | 2003 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 41 |
| Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2000 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 145 |
| Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Working adults | 2008 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 139 |
| Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Undergraduate Chinese students | 2007 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 40 |
| Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Recovered recurrently depressed patients | 2004 | Randomized controlled trial | n = 73 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Two weeks to tune in: Evaluating the effects of a short‐term body scan on interoception Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being September 4, 2025
- The Effectiveness of Brief Meditation Assisted with Cardiac Biofeedback on Interoceptive Accuracy, Sensibility and Awareness: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback July 11, 2025
- Human-Computer Co-Regulation: A Review of Biofeedback for Meditative Practice Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive Mobile Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies September 30, 2026
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