What is Interoception and Why Should You Care?

Interoception is simply internal perception. It is our capacity to sense into & feel what lives inside of us.

Just as we have sensory receptors that make sense of our external environment, we also have internal receptors that make sense of our internal environment. And! Interestingly enough, we have 7 times more interoceptive receptors than sensory receptors! This reflects that we are biologically designed to understand & experience our interior landscape 7 times greater than our external landscape! 

Yet, these receptors remain relatively dormant due to lack of engagement & lack of learning how to actually use them. Fueling a very common experience of life happening to us rather than through us.

But when we learn how to access this superpower sense, we not only learn the language of our own body, what the body is holding, and what needs to be completed in order to heal & grow, but we also unlock a subtle realm of sensation that allows the same level of joy & satiation of sinking our teeth into a juicy, freshly picked peach as feeling the blood flow through the rivers of our veins. The rhythm of our own heartbeat can become the most beautiful tune we could ever know. The tiny electrical impulses in your brain can become a current of ecstatic bliss. Interoception awakens our own aliveness and has the potential to transform the seemingly ordinary, everyday into miracle, pleasure, & awe. 

Interoception is also the foundation of nearly every somatic practice. In order to access the body, we have to learn how to f e e l it!

How to practice?

Simply take the time to slow down, get quiet & NOTICE what is happening on the inside. Notice specifically sensation-temperature, weight, density, frequency, shape, movement. The invitation is to notice from a space of compassionate curiosity. We are not changing or judging our experience, but holding it as it is in that moment.

If these sensations are not obvious, you can imagine how they would feel. Imagination is a magical tool that creates an actual physiological response in your body. The imagining begins to awaken dormant interoceptive receptors which with time and practice, turns them on more automatically and allows them to become easier to access. Know that with any new practice, we must actually practice it for it to become embodied. Think not once or twice, but 100 or more times before it becomes second nature. Trust that you are teaching your receptors how to behave, even when it isn’t obvious.

As we explore our subtle, inner universe, we can discover that there is no end to what we can sense & learn inside of ourselves.

Please share your experience with interoception in the comments below. What do you notice? What can you feel? What mysteries become known?

Wishing you the most blissful journey inside! 🌹

Would you like a free guided interoception mediation? Click here.