08/02/2026
✧ You may be wondering how do you connect with your inner wisdom. One way is through interoception.
✧ Our biology is constantly monitoring the outside world, but also the inside world of our body.
✧ On the inside, our nervous system is monitoring aspects such as: blood pressure, blood sugar, temperature, water-salt balance, nutrient levels, hormones levels, and sleep-awake cycles.
✧ When any of the above internal processes is not in balance then we might feel dizziness if there is low blood pressure, shaking if blood sugar is low, heart racing after too much coffee, fast breathing when scared.
✧ Interoception is the capacity to be aware, explore, and interpret these body sensations.
✧ Practices such as yoga therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and somatic experiencing, are focusing on growing the awareness of body sensations, and learning/re-learning to accurately interpret them.
✧ Interoception is essential in identifying what we need, feeling our emotions, and noticing how the body sensations relate to the emotions.
✧ Knowing what we need, and taking steps to fulfill those needs contribute to our emotional and mental well-being.
✧ Our biology is constantly working to balance our body systems, and reach optimum health. It is amazing!
Note: This is a short introduction to this concept, and the understanding of it is relatively new in the science field. The purpose of this post is for learning and not self-diagnosis or treatment.
⊳ References:
Understanding yoga therapy, Marlysa Sullivan with Laurie C. Hyland Robertson, book
Study materials provided by the Yoga Therapy Institute
Interoception: Our Real-Life Superpower, Carrie DeJong, Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGnt7L8KVXY
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/interoception, article
https://positivepsychology.com/somatic-experiencing/, article
https://tinyurl.com/bdzkm752, Science Direct article
