13/11/2025
If you have never heard of interoception, it is one of your eight sensory systems, and it is a key foundation of nervous system regulation.
Interoception is our sense of what is happening inside the body. The flutter in your chest. The heaviness in your stomach. The warmth of calm. The tightness that tells you something feels off. It is how we notice our internal signals and begin to understand what we need to feel safe, steady, and connected.
This awareness begins before birth. Even in the womb, development moves from body to brain. We feel and sense long before we can think or speak. That pattern continues throughout life. Regulation starts in the body.
Every emotion has a sensory component.
Every sensory experience has an emotional tone.
They live together.
To build regulation, we support both body based experiences like movement, deep pressure, rhythm, proprioception and vibration, and the gradual conscious awareness that helps us make sense of our internal cues.
That is where these phrases can help. They are not scripts or quick fixes. They are gentle invitations. They model curiosity, offer respectful guesses, and strengthen the mind body connection through relationship.
This only works when there is safety, connection, and no urgency. Children tune into our nervous systems long before our words. So much of the impact comes from the energy we bring, not the exact phrasing.
Not every phrase will be right for every child. Some may feel supportive, while others might be perceived as pressure. Our role is to stay curious, to be the detective, and to read the cues that tell us when something lands and when it does not. That is part of the modelling too.
Regulation is not just about teaching feeling words. It is about nurturing awareness, connection, and the ability to notice what is happening inside without becoming overwhelmed or needing to turn away from it.
If this resonates, share it with someone who is learning to understand their own body cues or supporting a child to do the same đ§Ą
