Understanding the Narrative and Experiential Self in Meditation

"Who am I?"

If this question feels difficult to answer, you're not alone. The concept of the self is far more complex than it seems, with competing explanations in academic research and everyday life.

At first glance, the self appears simple: it’s a collection of beliefs about who we are that shape our motivations, attitudes, perceptions, and the way we see and describe ourselves. Yet articulating the self is challenging, perhaps because it isn’t a singular, fixed entity. Instead, it consists of loosely connected aspects that evolve over time. Since our sense of self begins forming in childhood, the distance created as we grow older can leave us feeling disconnected from our earlier selves.

Interestingly, the concept of self vastly differs in different cultures and stems from long-standing societal philosophies and traditions. In Western cultures, the self is viewed as individualistic and independent, defined by personal traits, achievements, and autonomy, with a clear boundary between the individual and the external world. In contrast, Eastern cultures see the self as interdependent and fluid, emphasizing connection, harmony, and collective well-being, often influenced by traditions like Buddhism, which views the self as an illusion arising from interconnected experiences.

No matter your cultural background, meditation offers an intriguing path toward understanding the self. It presents itself as a tool for exploring these connections, bridging gaps, and uncovering deeper insights.

The Two Selves

The self has often been described as a singular concept, but modern research highlights two distinct aspects: the narrative self and the experiential self. These frameworks help clarify how we perceive ourselves over time and in the present moment.

The narrative self involves our sense of identity that extends across time. It is a collection of self-knowledge built through reflection and experiences, describing traits such as personality, memories, and beliefs (“I am outgoing,” for example). This aspect of the self relies heavily on the default mode network (DMN) in the brain. The DMN, particularly its hubs in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and associated regions, is active during rest, self-reflection, and autobiographical thinking. The DMN processes the emotional and cognitive significance of self-referential stimuli, which helps us evaluate and integrate our understanding of who we are over time.

The experiential self, on the other hand, is tied to moment-to-moment awareness and the first-person experience of being. It eludes description because it is the part of the self actively observing and experiencing. This aspect of the self is linked to the insula and the salience network (SN), which process bodily sensations and interoception—our awareness of internal states such as heartbeat, hunger, and breathing. Interoceptive feedback plays a critical role in shaping emotions, stabilizing awareness, and grounding us in the present moment.

The narrative self and experiential self represent two facets of identity that serve different but interconnected functions. While the narrative self offers a sense of continuity across time through memories and conceptual frameworks, the experiential self remains grounded in the present moment, providing an immediate and embodied sense of existence. The narrative self allows us to reflect on who we are, our personality, past experiences, and future goals, while the experiential self allows us to feel who we are, directly through our moment-to-moment awareness of bodily sensations and agency. These distinctions highlight the dual nature of self-awareness: one that constructs and evaluates, and one that simply is.

Interestingly, while the narrative self often involves a degree of cognitive elaboration, the experiential self can act as a stabilizing force. By focusing on immediate experiences like the breath or bodily sensations, the experiential self anchors awareness in the present, quieting the mental chatter associated with the DMN. This balance between the two selves is essential: an overactive narrative self can lead to over-identification with thoughts, anxiety, or rumination, while an absence of the narrative self may disrupt one’s ability to plan, reflect, or make sense of life events. Meditation, therefore, offers a way to integrate both aspects, allowing individuals to observe their narrative self without becoming consumed by it.

Ultimately, understanding the relationship between the narrative and experiential self provides a deeper appreciation of the human experience. While the narrative self helps us define who we are across time, the experiential self reminds us that we are more than our stories. We are also present, embodied beings capable of simply being. Meditation offers a bridge between these two selves, creating a more balanced, adaptive, and flexible sense of identity.

Meditation, the Brain, and the Self

Meditation practices offer profound insights into the nature of the self by changing how individuals experience and relate to their sense of identity. Through meditation, there is often a shift from the narrative self, which is built on personal stories and conceptual thought, to the experiential self, which focuses on immediate sensations and present-moment awareness. By anchoring attention in the body and physical sensations, meditation reduces overidentification with static ideas of the self. This shift allows for a more flexible and dynamic perception of identity, free from the constraints of constant mental narratives.

Different meditation techniques influence this transformation in unique ways. Focused attention practices, such as concentrating on the breath or body scans, develop attentional control and heighten awareness of bodily sensations, also known as interoception. Open monitoring practices expand attention to a broader, receptive awareness, fostering an ability to observe thoughts and sensations without attachment. While these approaches engage attention differently, they share common benefits: improved focus, emotional regulation, and a heightened sense of clarity. All meditative practices ultimately contribute to a more present-centered experience, reducing mind-wandering and deepening awareness.

Neuroscientific research highlights the central role of the insula and salience network in these changes. The insula serves as a key hub for interoception, integrating sensory signals from the body to create a sense of subjective awareness. It works alongside the salience network to regulate attention and switch between networks involved in executive control and self-reflective thought. Meditation strengthens these systems, allowing for better balance between bodily awareness and cognitive processes. This leads to enhanced meta-awareness, the ability to observe one’s mental and emotional states, and fosters a more embodied, fluid sense of self.

Overall, meditation reshapes how individuals experience themselves by encouraging a shift from conceptual self-narratives to direct, moment-by-moment awareness. By enhancing attention, interoceptive awareness, and emotional regulation, meditation enables a more grounded and flexible sense of identity. These changes are reflected in the brain’s networks and translate into greater clarity, focus, and presence in daily life. Through this process, the self becomes less of a fixed idea and more of a dynamic, evolving experience rooted in the present moment.

Default Mode Network

Meditation has been shown to significantly alter brain activity, particularly in the insula, salience network (SN), and default mode network (DMN). Through practices such as mindfulness, the insula and SN show increased activity, while the DMN becomes less active. This shift is most noticeable when comparing meditative states to the baseline resting state. These changes help individuals focus more on the present moment, promoting a sense of self that is less tied to the ongoing narratives and thoughts generated by the DMN, leading to a more flexible and grounded sense of identity.

The effect of meditation on self-awareness is profound, as it appears to shift self-reference from a conceptual, narrative-based focus to one based on direct experience. Meditation encourages experiential focus, where attention is anchored in the body’s sensations and the present moment, rather than in mental elaborations about the past or future. This state of awareness is different from the narrative focus that typically arises when the DMN is active, which involves reflecting on personal traits and life experiences in a more cognitive, often rumination-prone manner. Through consistent meditation, individuals learn to decouple these cognitive processes and embrace a more moment-to-moment awareness.

Studies have shown that long-term meditation practice leads to significant rewiring in the brain. Specifically, meditation strengthens connectivity within the insula and SN while diminishing the connection between the insula and DMN. This rewiring not only enhances the awareness of bodily sensations but also decreases the mental chatter that can distort self-perception. After meditation, individuals tend to experience a shift in their sense of self, which becomes less conceptual and more present-focused. This transformation is linked to a reduction in DMN activity and an increase in the insula’s ability to process sensory information in a more expansive and integrative way.

These brain changes contribute to a more stable and grounded sense of self-awareness. As meditation becomes more consistent, practitioners report increased emotional regulation and a better understanding of their internal states. Enhanced interoception, awareness of bodily sensations, plays a crucial role in this process, providing individuals with more clarity and reducing the need for self-referential thinking. Ultimately, meditation helps people reconnect with their physical and emotional states, leading to a deeper understanding of their true selves and a more present-centered way of being.

What's Next?

The research into meditation’s effects on brain networks has shown some interesting but varied results, particularly regarding the influence of different meditation types on large-scale brain networks. While some studies have found no global changes in brain activity after meditation, others have observed significant increases in connectivity between various brain regions, such as the default mode network (DMN) and the fronto-parietal network (FPN). These inconsistencies suggest that the impact of meditation on brain function may depend on the specific practices and techniques involved. Studies have also highlighted the differential effects of focused attention and open monitoring meditation types on connectivity within the salience network (SN) and the DMN.

Further research has shown that meditation can alter the insula and SN, both of which are linked to interoception, the ability to sense internal bodily states. However, more work is needed to understand how different meditation styles influence these regions and whether these effects are consistent across different populations. While meditation has been shown to enhance interoception, it's unclear whether mindfulness itself or simply the attention to internal body states is the key factor driving these changes. The research points to the importance of distinguishing between mindfulness and interoception, as these two concepts, though related, may involve different neural mechanisms.

Another crucial area for further investigation is the role of individual differences, particularly early life experiences, trauma, and attachment history, in shaping how meditation affects the brain. Childhood trauma and insecure attachments are known to alter the development of key brain networks, including those involved in interoception and emotional regulation. These early experiences may influence how meditation impacts brain function and self-awareness. Therefore, future research could benefit from incorporating personal histories and exploring how different types of meditation may be more or less effective depending on one's background.

Additionally, there is growing interest in how meditation affects different brain networks depending on the practitioner's level of experience. Expert meditators seem to show more predictable patterns of brain activity, with consistent changes in connectivity, particularly within the SN and DMN. Research could focus on understanding the specific neural “fingerprints” associated with different meditation practices and levels of experience, which may help clarify the mechanisms underlying the benefits of meditation.

There is also a need for more studies that directly compare different types of meditation to better understand their unique effects. Mindfulness and focused attention meditations, for example, might engage different brain circuits, yet studies often lump them together under the umbrella of "mindfulness," which could muddy the results. To address this, researchers should aim to more clearly define and differentiate between various meditation types, including their attentional styles and their corresponding neural effects.

Lastly, integrating the study of trauma and attachment theory into meditation research could offer valuable insights into the neurobiological processes involved in healing and self-regulation. Trauma can alter the brain's ability to process internal bodily signals, which may affect one's capacity to benefit from meditation practices. Understanding how meditation interacts with these early-life experiences could help tailor therapeutic practices to individuals' needs, enhancing the effectiveness of meditation-based interventions for mental health and well-being.

Summary

The concept of the self is complex and not fully understood, though meditation practices provide unique insights into its nature. Spiritual traditions and recent neuroscience research both contribute to this understanding by exploring how meditation influences self-awareness. Meditation has been shown to alter brain activity, particularly in areas linked to self-related processes, like the default mode network (DMN). These alterations suggest that the self, often shaped by external factors, can be influenced by meditation's ability to dampen the DMN and increase interoceptive awareness.

The experiential self, shaped by internal bodily signals, is closely tied to interoception, which meditation enhances by increasing activity in regions like the insula and salience network. These changes in brain activity help ground individuals in the present moment, contributing to a more stable and integrated sense of self. The most intimate and unchanging aspects of the self seem to be deeply influenced by interoceptive signals, in contrast to the transient, externally influenced features that are less tied to internal bodily awareness.

However, the effects of meditation on the self remain inconsistent across studies. Different meditation practices, each requiring specific attentional styles, produce varying neural outcomes. Researchers have called for more precise distinctions between types of meditation, as this can clarify the mechanisms at play and help separate concepts like mindfulness and interoception. Incorporating early life experiences, including trauma and attachment patterns, into future research may help address inconsistencies and provide more personalized insights into the effects of meditation on self-awareness. These individual differences are crucial in understanding how meditation can lead to lasting changes in self-perception and mental well-being.