Search Results (11)

This paper discusses the role of energy and movement in facilitating experiences of well-being from an anthropological perspective that considers energy as a situated form of knowledge. Drawing on fieldwork among Core Energetics (CE) and 5Rhythms (5R) groups, I examine how the circulation of energy is achieved through bodily movements and dances, attention to the senses, somatic self-cultivation, and deep experiences of consciousness. Focus is hold on the ritual elements, including a specific spacetime framework and intersubjective exercises that facilitate energetical experiences that renew the subjective and intersubjective relationship to the self in a restorative way. I argue that mind–body–energy groups conflate two Western sources: on the one hand, the legacy of early Western medical offshoots that have been marginalized by mainstream biomedicine, and on the other, discursive references to contemporary interpretations of quantum physics. Full article

Background/Objectives: Indigenous perspectives, which emphasize non-materialistic dimensions of healing, such as the interconnectedness of the body, mind, and spirit, align with one foundational principle of osteopathic care. Integrating these perspectives into person-centered care may enhance therapeutic effectiveness by accommodating diverse understandings of health and well-being. This perspective paper explores how various epistemological frameworks, including Indigenous non-materialistic approaches, can inform manual therapy techniques and therapeutic alliances to advance person-centered care. Methods: We synthesized the best available evidence with expert insights and interdisciplinary viewpoints to address the gaps in the scientific literature. Our approach integrates conceptual analysis and emerging research to provide a comprehensive discussion for a broad professional audience. Results: We focused on detailing the existing sociocultural and experiential frameworks available to describe patients’ bodily perceptions rather than abstract intellectual constructs. Our findings were divided into two sections. The first examines the incorporation of diverse body representations that extend beyond purely biomechanical interpretations, emphasizing the role of non-materialistic components in therapeutic processes. The second explores recent neuroscientific research on self and consciousness, demonstrating how these insights intersect with Indigenous perspectives to enrich the theoretical and practical applications of osteopathic principles in different clinical contexts. Conclusions: Epistemological flexibility has the potential to refine clinical frameworks and ensure that they reflect the full scope of osteopathic practices beyond musculoskeletal care. By integrating diverse sociocultural perspectives without reinforcing stereotypes or rigid cultural constructs, this approach clarifies the diversity of body representations in osteopathic practices, addresses gaps in academic discourse, and promotes the integration of multiple worldviews as a foundation for truly person-centered care. Full article

Phenomenological research has focused on embodiment. This paper examines how the body is experienced in passive contemplation, understood as a finite province of meaning in Alfred Schutz’s sense. The six features characteristic of any province of meaning (epoché, form of spontaneity, tension of consciousness, sense of self, temporality, and sociality) function distinctively in each province of meaning and alter one’s experience of one’s body. In the foundational province of pragmatic everyday life, one transforms deliberately and bodily the surrounding world, but this experience undergoes modifications in the religious/spiritual contemplative province. To clarify passive contemplation, the paper develops, as a contrast, active contemplation, the active, restless pursuit of chains of appresentational symbols and images. In passive contemplation, one separates from everyday life, orients toward unity rather than dialogue with God, refrains from following appresentative chains, and relaxes one’s tension of the consciousness/body (e.g., through breathing), single-mindedly attending to God’s presence. One can trace passive contemplation genetically to a primordial entwinement with one’s mother’s body, in which subjective/objective boundaries are blurred (as in Merleau-Ponty’s “flesh”). In passive contemplation, one assumes an often-wordless social role (child, lover) toward God and abides tranquilly in the present rather than moving distractedly toward any future. Full article

Bodily self-consciousness (BSC), a subject of interdisciplinary interest, refers to the awareness of one’s bodily states. Previous studies have noted the existence of individual differences in BSC, while neglecting the underlying factors and neural basis of such individual differences. Considering that BSC relied on integration from both internal and external self-relevant information, we here review previous findings on individual differences in BSC through a three-level-self model, which includes interoceptive, exteroceptive, and mental self-processing. The data show that cross-level factors influenced individual differences in BSC, involving internal bodily signal perceptibility, multisensory processing principles, personal traits shaped by environment, and interaction modes that integrate multiple levels of self-processing. Furthermore, in interoceptive processing, regions like the anterior cingulate cortex and insula show correlations with different perceptions of internal sensations. For exteroception, the parietal lobe integrates sensory inputs, coordinating various BSC responses. Mental self-processing modulates differences in BSC through areas like the medial prefrontal cortex. For interactions between multiple levels of self-processing, regions like the intraparietal sulcus involve individual differences in BSC. We propose that diverse experiences of BSC can be attributed to different levels of self-processing, which moderates one’s perception of their body. Overall, considering individual differences in BSC is worth amalgamating diverse methodologies for the diagnosis and treatment of some diseases. Full article

Time perception is closely related to spatial and bodily perception, yet little is known about how this interrelationship is impacted by meditation and biological sex. To examine this, we studied the effects of a stepwise application of three meditation techniques, from focused attention, to open monitoring to non-dual meditation, encompassed in the Place of Pre-Existence technique (PPEt) on the subjective perception of time, space and body using a pre–post research design. A total of 280 participants (mean age = 47.09 years; SD = 10.13; 127:153 males to females) completed the Subjective Time, Self, Space inventory before and after PPEt. Following PPEt, participants perceived time passing as slowing down, while time intensity, relaxation, ‘awareness of space’ and ‘awareness of body’ increased, suggesting heightened mindfulness to these constructs following the training. Awareness of space revealed to be modulated by biological sex and meditation expertise, with males showing a decrease of spatial awareness as a function of meditation expertise while females showed an opposite pattern. The speed and intensity of the experience of time both correlated with body and space awareness. In line with previous studies demonstrating a connection between relaxation and perception of time, a significant correlation was found between relaxation and the subjective experience of the intensity of time. The current results are discussed in the context of the embodied experience of time, and the Sphere Model of Consciousness. Full article

Religious or spiritual experiences (RSE) are often difficult to fully express even if one might be able to describe particular aspects of them. Yet the influences that such carry in a person’s mode of being can be vast, and they are clearly a fundamental part of the human condition (whether accepted, denied, or dismissed, their occurrence appears universal). How then might these RSE—and the corresponding grounding implications—be better explained? This paper seeks to elucidate the problematic via an applied investigation of a self-theoretical framework which is composed of three interlaced “sets”: (1) Self-defining traits, (2) Self-directing traits, and (3) Self-evaluating traits. We will suggest that these elements (with consciousness and bodily presence) form a core self that is a separable facet from those of personal identity and whole person; and this finding will in turn require a brief look at consciousness and a two-tiered mental model. Taking the self-view into a phenomenological hermeneutical examination will illuminate the position at which RSE might reside within an individual’s cognition, and thence to exploring the pre-thought (the functionally pre-aware) foundations involved. Finally, some considerations will be given for how an understanding of the foregoing structure (if it be found valid) might contribute towards the purposive shifting of that self-basis from out of and towards which RSE are situated in a lifeworld. Full article

In an experimental evaluation of an introductory Arka Dhyana (Intuitive Meditation) course, HeartMath (HM) Inner Balance or emWave2 electronic technology showed highly significant increases in both coherence and achievement in six participants who learned how to change their level of consciousness as proposed by the Theory of the Six Main Levels of Consciousness. During the course, which was offered to an international audience via Zoom technology, participants intended to connect with their deeper self, being, or essence, by bringing their I-ego-awareness from the thinking mind, often associated with the frontal part of the brain, to 19 energetic stations in the body including the heart centre. Considering the results from the HeartMath Coherence Model viewpoint, it seems this intended shift leads to cardiovascular phase synchronicity and interconnection of various bodily subsystems, which is also comprehensible based on our bodily development during embryogenesis. Qualitative statements involving feeling also point to increases in well-being, indicating changes in levels and individual transformative experiences as predicted by the Theory of the Six Main Levels of Consciousness. Increased focus, stilling of the mind, and calming of emotions also seem to be health benefit by-products of Intuitive Meditation (IM), but further research on more advanced practitioners is needed. This preliminary study needs to be repeated using a bigger sample size and further research on more advanced IM practitioners is required. Full article

Despite mirror self-recognition being regarded as a classical indication of self-awareness, little is known about its neural underpinnings. An increasing body of evidence pointing to a role of multimodal somatosensory neurons in self-recognition guided our investigation toward the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), as we observed single-neuron activity from a macaque monkey sitting in front of a mirror. The monkey was previously habituated to the mirror, successfully acquiring the ability of mirror self-recognition. While the monkey underwent visual and somatosensory stimulation, multimodal visual and somatosensory activity was detected in the SII, with neurons found to respond to stimuli seen through the mirror. Responses were also modulated by self-related or non-self-related stimuli. These observations corroborate that vision is an important aspect of SII activity, with electrophysiological evidence of mirror self-recognition at the neuronal level, even when such an ability is not innate. We also show that the SII may be involved in distinguishing self and non-self. Together, these results point to the involvement of the SII in the establishment of bodily self-consciousness. Full article

The multisensory regions in frontoparietal cortices play a crucial role in the sense of body and self. Disrupting this sense may lead to a feeling of disembodiment, or more generally, a sense of disownership. Experimentally, this altered consciousness disappears during illusory own-body perceptions, increasing the intensity of perceived ownership for an external virtual limb. In many clinical conditions, particularly in individuals with a discontinuous or absent sense of bodily awareness, the brain may effortlessly create a convincing feeling of body ownership over a surrogate body or body part. The immediate visual input dominates the current bodily state and induces rapid plastic adaptation that reconfigures the dynamics of bodily representation, allowing the brain to acquire an alternative sense of body and self. Investigating strategies to deconstruct the lack of a normal sense of bodily ownership, especially after a neurological injury, may aid the selection of appropriate clinical treatment. Full article

Emerging evidence suggests controversial results on the associations between sport activity and eating disorders (EDs). The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between sport activity in general, weight-dependent/independent sport activity particularly, and risk or protective factors in feeding and eating disorder (FED). The sample (n = 282, divided into two successive groups), included competitive athletes in the first analysis, non-competitive athletes, and sedentary peers; in the second analysis it has been divided into weight-dependent athletes, weight-independent athletes, non-competitive athletes, and sedentary peers. The participants were tested with Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Profile of Mood State (POMS) questionnaire, Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26), and Body Uneasiness Test (BUT). The results show higher levels of self-esteem among athletes in general and particularly in weight-independent athletes (p = 0.0210). We found higher levels of image and body dissatisfaction among sedentary peers and weight-dependent athletes (0.0005 < p < 0.0015). Sedentary peers also reported higher levels of tension/anxiety, depression/dejection, confusion/bewilderment and fatigue/inertia (0.0001 < p < 0.0331). Dieting and oral control were found to be higher among weight-dependent athletes (0.0337 < p < 0.0400). The findings suggest that sedentary condition is associated with higher levels of body-image discomfort and higher level of psychological distress, whereas weight-dependent athletes may report dietary issues and bodily concerns. Sport activity should be promoted and specific trainings on diet and body-consciousness encouraged among athletes. Full article

Mirrors have been studied by cognitive psychology in order to understand self-recognition, self-identity, and self-consciousness. Moreover, the relevance of mirrors in spirituality, magic and arts may also suggest that mirrors can be symbols of unconscious contents. Carl G. Jung investigated mirrors in relation to the unconscious, particularly in Psychology and Alchemy. However, the relationship between the conscious behavior in front of a mirror and the unconscious meaning of mirrors has not been clarified. Recently, empirical research found that gazing at one’s own face in the mirror for a few minutes, at a low illumination level, produces the perception of bodily dysmorphic illusions of strange-faces. Healthy observers usually describe huge distortions of their own faces, monstrous beings, prototypical faces, faces of relatives and deceased, and faces of animals. In the psychiatric population, some schizophrenics show a dramatic increase of strange-face illusions. They can also describe the perception of multiple-others that fill the mirror surface surrounding their strange-face. Schizophrenics are usually convinced that strange-face illusions are truly real and identify themselves with strange-face illusions, diversely from healthy individuals who never identify with them. On the contrary, most patients with major depression do not perceive strange-face illusions, or they perceive very faint changes of their immobile faces in the mirror, like death statues. Strange-face illusions may be the psychodynamic projection of the subject’s unconscious archetypal contents into the mirror image. Therefore, strange-face illusions might provide both an ecological setting and an experimental technique for “imaging of the unconscious”. Future researches have been proposed. Full article