Interoceptive ability—detecting and interpreting body signals—can be trained through mind-body interventions and is central to emotion regulation. Mindfulness meditation improves both interoceptive ability and emotion regulation via top-down brain-body processing. Interventions using bottom-up processing through body movement and emotional expression remain under-investigated. The authors argue that interoceptive ability is a crucial aspect linking mind-body interventions to emotion regulation and suggest that studying it with both quantitative and qualitative methods could integrate top-down and bottom-up emotion processing, observational and non-observational body awareness, and conscious and unconscious levels of interoception.
Yoga nidra, an ancient meditative practice, induces an altered state of consciousness distinct from sleep. In a preliminary study, six healthy volunteers completed 12 guided sessions during a retreat. EEG recordings showed no sleep markers (K-complexes or spindles) during practice. Compared to a resting baseline, participants reported increased dissociative effects, altered body image, reduced rational thinking, and less volitional thought control. One subject's EEG analysis revealed early increases in alpha, beta, and theta power followed by reductions, with gamma power rising in later stages. These findings suggest yoga nidra produces a unique psychophysiological state, though larger studies are needed.