When we’re young, we often learn about the five senses: taste, touch, sound, sight, and smell. In recent decades, 2 additional senses have been receiving more attention… proprioception and vestibular, the sense of where your body is, and the sense of balance and movement, respectively. Modern technology has allowed for complicated understanding of our senses and how they interact to help us navigate all that we do on a daily basis. This technology has allowed neuroscientists to study the newest discovered sense—interoception– which is my personal passion and professional tool.
I have seen children and adults alike struggle with self-regulation skills, such as regulating toileting, sleep hygiene, hunger, thirst, pain, anxiety and more. We might all have our own individual difficulties with these from time to time, but I have noticed a commonality between my clients who have struggle most with regulation: differences with their inner sense of interoception.
How Do We Start to Define Our Inner Sense?
Interoception helps us to perceive and interpret our body’s signals that come from within ourselves – everything from our heartbeat or digestion to blushing or muscle tensing. These sensations can vary from body to body – maybe you feel hunger as an empty feeling, while your friend knows they’re hungry when they feel a little faint. Our inner sense is how our body communicates our physical needs and emotional states.
It is so important to remember that our bodies are unique, which means the signals they send will also be unique. When working with clients, I prioritize self-exploration and self-understanding. Commonly the internal experience is discussed using stock literary phrases – butterflies in the stomach, tickle in the throat, burning muscles – but for people with different inner body awareness, these phrases can be a mismatch to their experience resulting in confusion or anxiety about ‘feeling wrong.’ When we define our own unique inner sensations, it can be helpful to approach them from a perspective of curiosity, discovery and learning, rather than following generic messaging about how the body “should feel”.
Why Is a Rich Inner Sense Important?
Our sense of interoception is THE tool for self-regulation, emotional health, and physical health while living our best lives. These three benefits of inner sense recognition aren’t always obvious, but I’ve seen countless clients become more regulated and healthier thanks to our interoception-building techniques and exercises. Here are a few ways that these benefits come out:
Self Regulation
Self-regulation can be difficult even for those who don’t have differences with the internal sense of their body. However, with a more advanced and nuanced inner sense, we can develop better habits and responses to our body’s signals and needs. For example, when we recognize early signs of exhaustion, we can better deal with it by avoiding further activity, eating, or drinking to re-energize, or start preparing for bed. Interoception is, at its core, a tool to help us take care of our body’s physical needs.
Emotional Health
People often view suppressing emotions as a sign of maturity, but this can be just as unhealthy as feeling overwhelmed by emotions. Interoception can help us feel our feels…to better recognize when anger is bubbling up, sadness is dragging us down, or anxiety is threatening to lock us in place. Our body often signals these emotions are rising up in us, and having a reliable inner sense can help us express and when needed, head off dysregulation for a more healthy and positive release of emotions.
Physical Health
As a trickle-down benefit from self-regulation, our daily health is regularly impacted deeply by our interoception. Neglecting our basic needs can quickly lead to major health issues – a weakened immune system from lack of sleep, for example. While self-regulation provides regular updates to our body’s needs, interoception can also highlight things that our body can’t tolerate or should avoid. We might not consciously realize why we’re unhappy or unwell, but our inner sense can help us identify issues.
How Can I Improve My Inner Sense?
When supporting a client’s interoceptive awareness through mindfulness, it’s useful to categorize mindfulness into two types: outside mindfulness and inside mindfulness.
Outside mindfulness involves focusing on external stimuli. This includes activities like mindfully observing the sights and sounds in your environment or listening to a fading chime. This type of mindfulness directs attention outward.
Inside or Body Mindfulness involves paying attention to internal sensations and how the body feels. This is crucial for enhancing interoception, helping individuals connect with and understand their internal sensations.
There are challenges with traditional mindfulness approaches, which is why my approach is always inside-out. It is what makes interoception so different from these other approaches. Adapting traditional body mindfulness can make it more accessible. Strategies, known as Interoceptive Awareness Builders (IA Builders), can help:
- Chunk mindfulness work: Focus on one body part at a time, like noticing your hands or feet.
- Start with external body parts: Begin with more observable body parts, then gradually move to internal sensations.
- Ensure full body autonomy: Present IA Builders as invitations, respecting refusals and adapting as needed.
- Support communication: Help clients describe their inner experiences in a way that resonates with them, using diverse language supports.
- Evoke sensations playfully: Use engaging activities that evoke stronger sensations, such as squeezing putty or dancing to a song, to help capture attention.
By making these adaptations, body mindfulness becomes more inclusive and effective for a wider range of individuals.
Develop a Richer Inner Sense With Interoceptive Exercises!
These exercises are about helping you discover how your body uniquely feels through interoceptive work. It can be hard, but the reward is worth the journey. My resources are built around interoceptive call-and-response, which emphasizes exploring what our body tells us each day. While neurodivergents and/or people with trauma often have differences with interoception, most humans can benefit from developing a clearer, healthier relationship with their bodies and the signals they send throughout their lives.
I have seen how interoception is such an overlooked opportunity in the mental health field. This inner sense can help with anxiety, depression, and dozens of other common mental health issues – as well as just enhance our daily lives. I hope you’ll take the time to look through some of the resources and courses I have developed on the subject so that you can see the difference it makes in your comfort and understanding of your inner life.
Interoception Resources
These IA Builders are now available for many people to use. Whether you are a professional looking for strategies to enhance the interoceptive awareness in the clients you serve, a caregiver wishing to nurture your child’s interoceptive understanding or a self-helper on a quest to gain more clarity over your inner body signals and emotions I’ve got you covered.
