Scientists say your “mind” isn’t confined to your brain, or even your body

What is a mind? Defining the concept is a surprisingly slippery task. The mind is the seat of consciousness, the essence of your being. Without a mind, you cannot be considered meaningfully alive. So what exactly, and where precisely, is it?

Traditionally, scientists have tried to define the mind as the product of brain activity: The brain is the physical substance, and the mind is the conscious product of those firing neurons, according to the classic argument. But growing evidence shows that the mind goes far beyond the physical workings of your brain.

A key component of the mind is the emergent self-organizing process, both embodied and relational, that regulates energy and information flow within and among us.

The most immediately shocking element of this definition is that our mind extends beyond our physical selves.

Our mind is not simply our perception of experiences, but those experiences themselves. It’s impossible to completely disentangle our subjective view of the world from our interactions.