Deconstructive meditations and psychotherapy: Transforming the perception of the self

Table 1 Hypothesized experiential and neurocognitive mechanisms of self-perception transformation in deconstructive meditations

Mechanism	Description	Transformation of self-perception
Sustained non-reactive awareness[17]	Sustained, non-reactive observation of present-moment experience that reduces conceptual elaboration and promotes direct awareness	The self is experienced as a dynamic and impermanent process, rather than as a fixed entity
Exploration of narratives and patterns[16,18]	Systematic self-inquiry into beliefs, emotional schemas, and bodily patterns of identification	Unveils the interdependence of narrative, emotion, and embodiment in constructing self-rigidity
Progressive disidentification[18]	Cognitive defusion and dereification processes that weaken habitual identification with thoughts, emotions, and sensations	Increases cognitive-affective flexibility and reduces experiential fusion with rigid self-schemas
Embodied meta-awareness[12,16]	Awareness of bodily, emotional, and cognitive processes as impermanent and constructed involves interoceptive and metacognitive networks	The self is experienced as an emergent, relational phenomenon embedded in context, rather than a core identity