Beigi Yoga and Beigi Meditation: A Biological, Embodied, Interventional, Granular, and Integrative Framework for Component-Based Mechanistic Research in Mind-Body Practices

Background: Neuroscientific research on yoga and meditation has expanded markedly during the past two decades; however, the conceptual frameworks guiding this work remain insufficiently developed. Existing studies commonly treat yoga and meditation as unitary interventions despite substantial heterogeneity in postures, breathing patterns, attentional strategies, social contexts, and expectancy effects. Objective: To introduce Beigi Yoga and Beigi Meditation, operationalized through the BEIGI framework (Biological grounding in measurable physiology, Embodied recognition of subjective experience as a variable, Interventional manipulation of testable components, Granular decomposition into micro-operations, and Integrative synthesis across neural, autonomic, endocrine, cognitive, and phenomenological levels), as a mechanistic model for investigating contemplative practices. Methods: The framework was developed through conceptual analysis of contemporary neuroscientific literature and traditional contemplative models. Results: The framework preserves historical metaphors, including prana and chakras, as pre-neuroscientific descriptions of embodied experience while rejecting literal interpretations lacking measurable physiological correlates. By decomposing practices into biomechanical, proprioceptive, vestibular, respiratory, and interoceptive components, BEIGI converts traditional techniques into experimentally testable neuro-interventions. The model further generates a research agenda incorporating component-based randomized trials, real-time autonomic and neural monitoring, computational models of interoceptive inference, and standardized taxonomies of practice elements. The framework also facilitates identification of active ingredients, dose-response relationships, and responder profiles across diverse populations and clinical conditions, thereby improving reproducibility and comparative evidence synthesis. Conclusions: BEIGI provides a translational bridge between contemplative traditions and neuroscience, enabling mechanistic explanations of therapeutic effects, individual variability, and intervention pathways while advancing the field beyond descriptive observations toward explanatory understanding.