In 2022 Matthew published the research establishing that body-based meditation reconnects body and mind more effectively than thought-based, technique-based and traditional approaches. The paper was written specifically to demonstrate the efficacy of the method behind the Undo app. It draws on research across philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and sociology, including the work of van der Kolk, Merleau-Ponty, Gendlin, and Porges.
Stress, trauma, and the conditions of modern life produce the same result in the body: dissociation. The body-mind connection breaks down, sensory awareness diminishes, and the effects accumulate as physical tension, anxiety, depression and chronic pain. Van der Kolk’s research establishes that the shutdown of sensory information is central to how distress is held and expressed in the body. Merleau-Ponty’s work on embodied experience confirms that bodymind unity is not a concept to be understood but a bodily experience to be recovered.
Existing meditation approaches all share the same inherent problem – they engage the mind. All of them: mindfulness, Vipassana, TM, body scan techniques, and the major meditation apps alike. The body-mind disconnection exists below the level of thought. Thought-based meditation addresses it from the wrong level.
The Undo approach works from the other direction. Rather than directing attention through the mind, it guides the user beneath thought into the direct sensory experience of the body. Feeling from within bodily sensations, without resisting or analysing them, activates what Gendlin and Porges identify as interoception – the body’s own mechanism for self-regulation and healing. The whitepaper demonstrates that this produces a more effective reconnection of body and mind than any thought-based approach.
A preliminary six-week case study was conducted with ten participants using the Undo app for a minimum of five days per week. Post-study interviews identified eight consistent outcomes: greater self-acceptance, reduced reactivity, improved focus, fewer negative thoughts, better sleep and an increased ability to address longstanding personal difficulties. Several participants reported changes they described as profound.
The full whitepaper and an abridged version are both available as PDF downloads on the Undo app site.
For the full explanation of Natural Meditation and how it works, see the Natural Meditation page.