How does interoceptive awareness unlock body-mind wisdom?
What is interoceptive awareness?
- Interoception is simply our ability to feel physical and emotional sensations in our body.
- Physical sensations can include our hunger, fullness, thirst, pain, fatigue, having an itch, heat or coldness, or toileting needs etc.
- Emotional sensations arise from the feelings we have when we are sad, angry, scared, joyful, excited or any other emotion we may have. The sensations may be changes in heart rate, tightness of chest, wanting to cry, clammy hands, having a lump in the throat etc.
- Our awareness of these physical and emotional sensations, as well as the different signals our body gives us, is referred to as interoceptive awareness.
What is the brain's role in interoceptive awareness?
The insula (or insular cortex) is a small, deep region of the brain (in the cerebral cortex) that plays a key function in our interoceptive awareness. It is responsible for helping us to:
- Process senses in the body
- Connect senses to our cognitions and emotions
- Perceive and feel pain or empathy
- Control blood pressure
- Maintain our body in a neutral, balanced state (i.e. homeostasis)
- Allow us to have a sense of self or bodily agency
- Influence our risk and reward behaviour
How do we measure interoceptive awareness?
- Interoceptive awareness is most commonly determined by heart-beat detection tests. The greater your ability to detect your heart rate accurately, indicates higher degrees of interoceptive awareness.
- Behavioural tasks can help you recognise changes in your internal state, such as changes in your temperature after completing a task.
- Self-report questionnaires can also be helpful in identifying bodily awareness.
- Measuring interoceptive awareness can help to identify hyper or hypo sensitivity to bodily sensations. Hypersensitivity is when people have a heightened response to stimuli whereas hyposensitivity is when people have a dampened response to stimuli.
- Hyper or hyposensitivity to bodily sensations can be more common for people who are neurodivergent (e.g. have ADHD or have Autism- ASD), have experienced trauma or have certain physical and/or mental health conditions.
How does interoceptive awareness unlock body-mind wisdom?
- Body wisdom relies on our ability to be aware of what our bodies need through felt-sense… and then respond to these needs in an intuitive way.
- Our response style however is shaped by our mind as well as our body, as we hold certain beliefs that tend to influence whether we over respond or under respond to our body; both of which can exacerbate physical and mental health issues.
- Interoceptive awareness is crucial not only to unlock awareness of our body, but also to recognise what it feels like to not respond to our needs.
Examples of interoceptive awareness in action...
Hunger and fullness: Awareness of signs such as your stomach growling, lightheadedness, taste cravings or increased salivation can indicate hunger. This can guide you towards eating food items that are satisfying and food portions that bring you to comfortable levels of fullness.
Digestion: Awareness of digestive discomfort, such as bloating, sluggishness, nausea or cramping can help you to recognise the effects of particular foods on your body. You’re then in a better position to adjust eating habits or take active steps towards improving your gut health.
Emotional regulation: Awareness of your feelings and sensations can help you to recognise your emotions. For instance, if you have a tight chest, racing heart, clammy hands or shallow breathing, it indicates anxiety or fear. This can help you to calm through regulated breathing and relaxation rather than panicking or avoiding.
Stress management: Awareness of signs of stress such as feeling overwhelmed and irritable or having trouble with sleep or concentration can indicate that your body is under too much pressure to perform. You can then address the situations that are putting you under pressure and make effective lifestyle changes, such as better self-care or seeking therapy.
Physical movement: If you recognise when movement feels energising and enjoyable versus exhausting and stressful, it encourages movement that aligns with your body’s needs rather than pushing through pain or fatigue for external goals. Or if you notice sluggishness or stiffness in your body, it can indicate that more manageable movement is needed.
How can I start enhancing interoceptive awareness?
Mindfulness helps to train your brain to pay attention to present moment sensations in your body with curiosity and without judgement. By being mindful, you are less influenced by thoughts of the past or the future and also less inclined to label your inner experiences as good or bad, but rather accept them as fleeting events in the body.
Labelling inner states helps to strengthen the body-mind connection by making bodily awareness more conscious through the use of language. Labelling is effective in reframing your experiences as less threatening and more tolerable as you become familiar with what you are feeling and learn to describe changes in the intensity and subjectivity of the experience.
Sensory exploration involves activities that allow you to engage all your senses and explore how different stimuli in your inner or outer world feels within the body. Examples of sensory activities include touching different textures, experiencing different temperatures or pressure, smelling different scents, tasting different foods or hearing different sounds.
Key points
- Interoceptive awareness is essential for recognising what our body is trying to communicate through felt-senses.
- When we’re aware of our inner states and signals, we’re in a much better position to respond intuitively to our body’s needs without over-relying on what we think our body needs.
- There are internal and external factors that can hinder interoceptive awareness, however this capacity can be enhanced through mindfulness, labelling inner states and sensory exploration.
