Interoception – Body Sensing
How do you know when to go to the bathroom? When to eat? When to drink? When to go to bed? When to breathe? How do you know when you’re upset? How do you know when you feel safe? Your body senses what’s happening inside you and sends a signal to your brain. This body sensing skill is called interoception.
Interoception is considered by many to be your 8th sense. So what are these 8 senses? Some you probably know and others you may not.
- Sense of Smell
- Sense of Taste
- Sense of Sight
- Sense of Touch
- Sense of Sound
- Sense of Space or Proprioception. Sensing where your body is in space. This sense allows you to walk and move.
- Sense of Spatial Orientation, your Vestibular balance sense from your inner ear. Sensing your position in relation to gravity.
- Sense of Inner Happenings or Interoception.
Your interoception skills are dynamic, they will change overtime and can be further developed if you pay attention and notice.
“Interoception is the nervous system’s ability to notice and recognize sensations.” – Stephen Porges
Stephen Porges defined interoception as the nervous system’s ability to notice and recognize sensations. Our mind will often attach stories to various sensations. These stories can get us into trouble if it becomes habitual and reactional. The sensation are just sensations. Can you become more aware of the sensations without the stories you’ve historically attached to them?
Use your breath to practice body sensing and improve your 8th sense: interoception.
You can also use your heartbeat, tension, temperature, and any aspect of your inner self to practice your body sensing or interoception skills.
“All our reactions to people, to situations, to thoughts in our mind – are actually reactions to the kind of sensations that are arising in our body.” – Tara Brach
Tara Brach wrote about interoception in her book, Radical Acceptance, as she discussed coming home to the body. All our reactions to people, to situations, to thoughts in our mind, are actually reactions to the kind of sensations that are arising in our body. When we become riveted on someone’s ineptness and are bursting with impatience, we are reacting to our own unpleasant sensations; when we are attracted to someone and filled with longing and fantasy, we are reacting to pleasant sensations. Our entire swirl of reactive thoughts, emotions and behaviors springs from this ground of reacting to sensations. When these sensations are unrecognized, our lives are list in the waterfall of reactivity – we disconnect from living presence, from full awareness, from our heart.
Learning to recognize these sensations is a skill you can develop. This is your body sensing skill, your 8th sense, your interoception. You can develop this skill by taking the time to check in on the body and increasing your awareness of what’s going on inside the body. You can become more aware and sensitive to these sensations. If you’d like to explore your self sensing and practice sensing subtleties around your breath, your heartbeat, and other sensations, join an upcoming 4 week series on Interoception.
What are the benefits of interoception?
- Emotional Regulation – As you become more aware of your internal sensations you increase the opportunity to be less reactivity to those sensations. By noticing, you create a brief second to determine if you want to respond to the sensations in the ways you historically have or if at all.
- Stress Management – By sensing the body, you’ll be more aware of what’s important to you enabling you to make choices that are more in line with supporting your body and what you truly want to do.
- Self-awareness – You will understand more about who you are and how you function.
- Physical Health – Recognizing internal cues helps you identify when you need food, water, rest, movement, or a restroom break before discomfort or exhaustion sets in.
- Social Connection – As you become in touch with your internal sensations, you create a framework to begin to notice emotional cues in others.
If you want to explore the concept of interoception more, check out the Ted Talk by Carrie DeJung, Interoception – Your Super Power.
