BeDo

You’ve probably heard of introspection. But how often do you practice its counterpart, interoception? When feelings of overwhelm or frustration arise, we typically intellectualize those feelings through the process of introspection. We may be able to name and cognitively understand the emotion in question, but can you identify it as an embodied experience?

Interoception is an important supplement to introspection. It is a nonjudgmental observation of the present moment—it does not seek to identify the source of emotional pain or rationalise feelings based on an existing narrative. It is simply sensing, observing, feeling from the inside out.

Emotion is grounded in the physical body. When you feel angry, you experience a flood of adrenaline and cortisol. Your face might become red, your breath shallow. According to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, it takes approximately 90 seconds for these physiological processes to run their course. It is our pesky analytical mind that insists upon grafting blame, shame, or judgement onto that physical experience. Those mental narratives about why something happened and whose fault it was keeps us in a state of reactivity and entrenches negative emotions that would otherwise be processed and cycled through the physical body.

Interoception reverses that process. We bring our attention first and foremost to the physical sensation. This activates the brain’s Default Mode Network, pulling us out of the mental narrative and plopping us right back in the present moment. 

Let’s consider an example. Say you woke up feeling angry. You attribute your anger to a bad dream that you had, wherein a close friend betrayed your confidence. You recognise that this was only a figment of your imagination, that this event did not occur in real life. And still, you feel a sense of indignation when you think about the friend in question. Even if you’re able to let the dream go, your day is off to a rocky start.

While your brain recognises the experience of anger as irrational, your body experiences the flush of hormones in the same way it would if this friend had, in fact, thrown you under the proverbial bus. Your body cannot distinguish between anger in dreamland and anger in real life. The conscious acknowledgement of physical sensations associated with ‘difficult’ emotions is the first step towards releasing that pent up tension and soothing a stress response.

Practicing introspection and interoception in tandem allows us to deepen self-awareness and strengthen our capacity for self-compassion when ‘difficult’ emotions arise. By shifting our attention to the physical sensations, we distance ourselves from harmful mental narratives about whether or not what we are feeling is ‘right’ or ‘justified’. We simply allow the emotion to run its course, for the flood of adrenaline and cortisol to flush itself through our system, so we can emerge, lighter on the other side.

In fact, it’s the contraction around difficult emotions that keep us stuck in mental feedback loops and harmful patterns of behaviour. When we solely practice the mental gymnastics of introspection, trying to decode something someone said or replaying an event over and over to determine where we went wrong, we deepen those grooves. Like tires spinning in a muddy road, the ruts become deeper and deeper, making it harder and harder to see the situation clearly.

Try it for yourself. Bring to mind a recent, low-level conflict with a colleague or a loved one, perhaps a moment where you felt disrespected or unappreciated. You might close down the eyes as you let this memory fill your awareness. 

Before you follow the analytical mind into a mental narrative about why this altercation occurred, who was right or who was wrong… just pause. Where do you feel this experience in the physical body? It might be a lump in my throat, a tightness in my belly. How would you describe the quality of your breath, is it deep or shallow? Where do you feel contraction?

Focus on the physical sensations and allow your breath to travel to these spaces of tension and discomfort. In closing, place a hand on the heart or bring any kind of gentle touch to the area of the body where you feel this experience most acutely.

As a practice, interoception has been proven to enhance social connection and emotional regulation (Arnold et al 2019). When we engage with our emotions as they arise, we give them space to breathe. We allow them to run their course, so that difficult experiences can be processed and integrated, and we create space for more meaningful connection.

Next time you’re engaging in a practice of self-inquiry—whether it’s in talk therapy, journaling, or confiding in a friend—pause. Observe the sensations arising in the physical body. Speak them aloud, allow them to be there. Strengthen your capacity for interoception, your ability to feel those feelings from the inside out.