Interoception

Stephen
Oct 12
5 min read

Reconnecting mind and body - the missing link in healing

World Mental Health Day is not the main event - it’s a reminder. Just as we all have physical health, we all have mental health - and the goal is mental fitness built day by day, not awareness for one date in the diary. We know what builds a strong body: small, regular reps that compound over time. The same applies to the mind.

So where’s the sticking point? The problem is that we have thousands of thoughts a day and we have a tendency to live in our heads. We try to analyse, fix or reframe our thoughts - and when that doesn’t work, to wrestle them into ‘behaving’ so that we can 'think differently'. The reality is that people don’t change because they can’t think better; they change when they can feel better. That shift begins with interoception.

Interoception is simply your ability to sense what’s happening inside your body: the uncomfortable feeling in your stomach before a tough conversation; the tightness in your chest when stresses pile up; and the warmth in your legs after a long exhale. These signals are the raw data your brain uses to decide whether you’re safe, stressed, hungry, tired, threatened or ready. If you can read those signals earlier, you can respond sooner and more appropriately.

What interoception actually is

Think of your body as a dashboard. Interoception is the instrument panel: heartbeat, breath, muscle tone, temperature, gut feelings, thirst, fullness, the urge to move or rest. Most of us glance at this dashboard only when the warning light flashes - the panic spike, the blow-up, the shutdown. Training interoception is like learning to read the gauges before the red light. It’s noticing 'my jaw is tight', 'my breath is shallow', 'my stomach is heavy' and using that information as a cue to do something simple and regulating now, rather than after you’re flooded.

This isn’t about becoming obsessed with sensations or making everything about the body. It’s practical awareness. You’re building a more accurate map of your internal state so your brain stops over, or under-reacting.

Why top-down approaches often overlook it

Stephen Hall Stand Tall Walk and Talk and Online Therapy in Sedbergh Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales. Breathwork and Interoception — Photo by Gilly Photograpy

Traditional, cognitive approaches work well when your system is relatively steady. You can reflect, reframe, plan. But when your nervous system is on high alert or numbed out, the part of the brain that does careful thinking is not in the driving seat. You can know the right tool and still not use it because your state hijacks the moment.

That’s why people say things like, 'I knew I shouldn’t have snapped, but it happened anyway,’ or ‘I tried to challenge my thoughts, but my chest was really tight and I felt trapped.’ Without interoception, we ask the mind to override an unrecognised body alarm.

With interoception, we catch the first sensations of that alarm and apply a simple state-shift - a longer exhale, 100 slow steps, loosening the jaw - so the cognitive approach can land. In short: top-down needs bottom-up.

Trauma and scrambled signals

After trauma, the body’s alarm system often gets stuck. For some people, it fires too quickly: a racing heart, a tight throat, a churning stomach. For others, it shuts down: numbness, emptiness, checking out. Both patterns make internal signals confusing or distant. Interoceptive practice, done gently and safely, gives the brain up-to-date information about the present: ‘I can feel this and I’m still safe.’ Over time, those old predictions of danger soften. You spend less time in spikes or shutdown and more time in a steady, workable range.

How interoception builds mental fitness

Mental fitness isn’t just mindset; it’s your capacity to notice, recover and respond. Interoception supports that in concrete ways:

Early warning equals choice. You spot stress rising and can act before you’re overwhelmed.
Better emotion regulation. You learn to stay with sensations instead of suppressing or overreacting.
Clearer decisions. Sensations are the building blocks of emotion. When you can tell tight from heavy and restless from flat, you can name what you feel and choose what you need.
Fewer compulsions. Many urges - scrolling, drinking, overworking - are attempts to escape uncomfortable sensations. When you can feel and settle them, the urges ease.
Recovery and resilience. You bounce back faster after setbacks because you can downshift your state. Sleep, focus and patience improve as a result.
Stronger relationships. When you’re more regulated, you listen better, set cleaner boundaries and repair faster.

Simple ways to practise

You don’t need long routines - you need tiny, consistent reps. Try these:

60-second check-in: Place a hand on your chest or belly. Notice your breath without changing it. Name what you sense in plain words - tight, warm, jittery, heavy.
100-step scan: Walk slowly and count 100 steps. Track footfall, hip sway and breath rhythm. If your mind wanders, return to the next step.
Three points of contact: Feel your feet on the floor; your seat on the chair; your hands on your thighs. Press lightly for five seconds each. Notice any pressure, warmth or tingling.
Name and nudge: Notice one sensation, name it, then nudge your state by lengthening the exhale for 4–6 breaths.

Work in sips, not gulps. Thirty to ninety seconds is enough. If you feel dizzy, spaced out or flooded, look around the room, name five objects, feel the floor and come back out. If big swings keep happening, think about getting some support.

Why nature and movement help

Outdoors, the environment does some of the heavy work. Walking provides a steady rhythm. The ground, wind, birdsong and changes of light give you simple anchors so you can notice inside without getting lost. Movement regulates; space gives breath; the present moment becomes easier to access.

Bringing it into everyday life

Attach interoception to things you already do. After you boil the kettle, do a 60-second check-in. When you park the car, do the three points of contact. Before you open your inbox, take 10 longer exhales. Log a single word about what you noticed. Tiny habits, repeated, retrain your system.

A better way to mark World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day is a useful reminder, but what we really need is mental fitness all year round. Real change comes from treating mental health like physical health and training it the same way - with small, repeatable reps across the 365 days of the year. Interoception is one of those reps: