Meditation Experiences, Self, and Boundaries of Consciousness
International Journal of Complementary & Alternative Medicine 2016 DOI: 10.15406/ijcam.2016.04.00105 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Consciousness: awareness Self-awareness Perception Inner self Intrapersonal space Reality Mind-body connection: psychosomatic Integration Physiological changes Heart-brain synchronization Unified self Meditation: mindfulness Calm state Inner peace Self-enhancement Contemplation Mental health: well-being Stress reduction Therapy Cognitive health Psychological disorders Clinical techniques |
| Citations | 8 |
| Key points | Proposes that sensory experiences are integrated into a pre-existing internal three-dimensional space within the body, and that meditation can facilitate awareness of this space through physiological synchronization. |
Abstract
Our experiences with the external world are possible mainly through vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell providing us a sense of reality. How the brain is able to seamlessly integrate stimuli from our external and internal world into our sense of reality has yet to be adequately explained in the literature. We have previously proposed a three-dimensional unified model of consciousness that partly explains the dynamic mechanism. Here we further expand our model and include illustrations to provide a better conception of the ill-defined space within the self, providing insight into a unified mind-body concept. In this article, we propose that our senses “super-impose” on an existing dynamic space within us after a slight, imperceptible delay. The existing space includes the entire intrapersonal space and can also be called the “the body’s internal 3D default space”. We provide examples from meditation experiences to help explain how the sense of ‘self’ can be experienced through meditation practice associated with underlying physiological processes that take place through cardio-respiratory synchronization and coherence that is developed among areas of the brain. Meditation practice can help keep the body in a parasympathetic dominant state during meditation, allowing an experience of inner ‘self’. Understanding this physical and functional space could help unlock the mysteries of the function of memory and cognition, allowing clinicians to better recognize and treat disorders of the mind by recommending proven techniques to reduce stress as an adjunct to medication treatment
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 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 4
- Critique and Comparison of Prevailing Consciousness Models with a Novel Embodied Cognition Model World Journal of Neuroscience 2018
- Conceptual Advances in the Default Space Model of Consciousness World Journal of Neuroscience 2018
- Conscious experience and emotion: an attention-based account. Frontiers in Psychology 2026
- Sensory Consciousness is Experienced through Amplification of Sensory Stimuli via Lateral Inhibition June 19, 2017
Cites 24
- Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- No-Report Paradigms: Extracting the True Neural Correlates of Consciousness Trends in Cognitive Sciences November 13, 2015
- Physical Activity, Mindfulness Meditation, or Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback for Stress Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback June 25, 2015
- Meditation leads to reduced default mode network activity beyond an active task Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience April 22, 2015
- Alterations in the sense of time, space and body in the Mindfulness-trained brain: A neurophenomenologically-guided MEG study Frontiers in Psychology May 22, 2014
and 19 more in the library