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Body image phenomenology in reports of psychedelic and meditative experiences: main themes and associations with body attitudes.

Hilla Väyrynen, Nanna Strid, Emma Ylönen, Jarno Tuominen, Pilleriin Sikka, Jussi Jylkkä

Neuroscience of Consciousness 2026 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niag062 (opens in new tab)

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AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Qualitative study Peer reviewed
Sample size 138
Population Participants reporting their most personally meaningful psychedelic (N=90) or meditation (N=48) experiences
Topics Meditation Philosophy of mind
Keywords Body image Embodiment Psychedelics
Key findings Body image narratives most commonly involved reduced sense of bodily self and heightened sensory sensitivity. Psychedelic reports more frequently described disembodiment and loss of body as an anchor, whereas meditation reports more often involved boundary dissolution while maintaining embodied presence. Both heightened embodiment and disembodiment narratives were associated with perceived improvements in body dissatisfaction and body connection.

Abstract

Psychedelics and meditation can facilitate transformative experiences with acute changes in sensory processing and self-perception, but research about their relation to narrative and affective-attitudinal body image remains limited. We examined body image themes in psychedelic and meditative experience narratives, compared these between experience types, and examined their associations with body attitudes. We qualitatively analyzed retrospective reports of participants' most personally meaningful psychedelic and meditation experiences (psychedelics: N = 90; meditation: N = 48). Using regression models, we examined associations between identified themes, current body appreciation, and perceived changes in body dissatisfaction, body appreciation, and body connection, and whether individuals with eating disorder traits reported distinctive themes or body attitude changes. Body image-related narratives most commonly involved reduced sense of bodily self and heightened sensory sensitivity. Psychedelic reports more frequently described disembodiment, the loss of body as an anchor, while meditation reports more often involved boundary dissolution while maintaining embodied presence. 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) reports described heightened embodiment more often than classical psychedelic reports. Both heightened embodiment and disembodiment narratives were associated with perceived improvements in body dissatisfaction and body connection. Positive affective-attitudinal body image themes were associated with perceived improvements in body connection. Participants with current eating disorder traits, including histories of eating disorders, more frequently reported positive affective-attitudinal body image themes and greater perceived reductions in body dissatisfaction. These findings suggest that psychedelic and meditative body image phenomenology, particularly embodiment-related, can be perceived as meaningful for subjective body attitudes.

Comparable studies

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Study Year Design Participants
Qualitative thematic analysis of the phenomenology of near-death experiences Cardiac arrest survivors 2018 Qualitative study n = 34
Phenomenology and Sequelae of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Use Psychiatrists who had taken MDMA 1992 Qualitative study n = 20
A phenomenology of meditation-induced light experiences: traditional buddhist and neurobiological perspectives American Buddhist practitioners 2014 Qualitative study
Evoking the ineffable: The phenomenology of extreme sports. Extreme sports participants across three continents, including BASE jumping, big wave... 2017 Qualitative study n = 15
Phenomenology and content of the inhaled N, N-dimethyltryptamine (N, N-DMT) experience. Naturalistic inhaled N,N-DMT experiences posted to the r/DMT Reddit community 2022 Qualitative analysis n = 3,778

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Meditation Philosophy of mind MDMA