Have you ever noticed your body reacting in a way you don’t fully understand — your skin breaks into goosebumps, or your body shivers on its own? Such reactions may occur during meditation, prayer, encounters with nature, or other deeply meaningful moments. Goosebumps have been studied not only as a response to changes in temperature but also as an emotional reaction triggered by both positive and negative experiences. The phenomenon remains partly unexplained, as it can arise from a wide range of stimuli and internal states (McPhetres & Zickfeld, 2022).
As early as 1872, Charles Darwin noted in The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals that intense emotions can cause the skin to break into goosebumps. In psychological literature, goosebumps are associated with strong emotional experiences such as being moved, fear, or excitement. They may also arise from astonishment or admiration toward something greater than oneself — a feeling referred to as awe. Additionally, goosebumps appear during peaks of pleasure, for instance when listening to music or experiencing art (McPhetres & Zickfeld, 2022).
Transcendental function and goosebumps
According to Carl Jung, the transcendent function is a spontaneous inner process that brings together opposing aspects of the psyche — such as reason and emotion, or the conscious and unconscious. This process emerges on its own and helps integrate inner conflicts, which can ease emotional tension. However, its unfolding requires tolerating discomfort and being willing to face one’s experiences as they are, without resorting to psychological defense mechanisms.
Experiences related to meditation and spiritual rituals may bring unconscious material into awareness. Goosebumps in such moments may indicate that a person is encountering something new or difficult to grasp within themselves, or something greater than themselves — such as a sense of the sacred. Goosebumps can be understood as a sign of a deeper psychological process in which a person experiences something profound, awareness expands, and emotion and reason begin to meet. These moments may reflect the activation of the transcendent function, which cannot be consciously controlled or initiated. They may support the development of inner wholeness.
Somatic reactions experienced during meditation, prayer, or other forms of stillness may signal more than a cool breeze. If you feel a vibration in your body or notice goosebumps arising during silence, deep concentration, or a powerful moment, pause and listen. The body may be signaling that something invisible yet meaningful is unfolding — perhaps a previously disconnected part of the psyche is coming into view, or something larger than the self becomes momentarily perceptible.
It is not always about inner conflict or emotion alone; sometimes the feeling is a mixture of bewilderment, reverence, and something that cannot yet be named. Such a reaction may be a sign that the moment carries something beyond ordinary thought. The body’s signal invites you to remain present and to attend closely to what is happening. If you notice a reaction like this, you might try lingering with it without rushing to understand. Perhaps you are one step closer to something essential, and something important is revealing itself in its own time and without force.
Authors
Sources
McPhetres, J., & Zickfeld, JH (2022). The Physiological study of emotional piloerection: A systematic review and guide for future research. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 179, 6–20.
Noschis, Kaj. (2011). Carl Gustav Jung: Life and Psychology. Jyväskylä University Press.
