Interoception
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Our sense of (inner) self is a critical part of what makes us who we are
This system is a complex and sometimes puzzling part of our sensory selves.
So how do we ‘sense’ interoception?
Interoception allows our brains to detect and integrate our bodies’ internal physiological signals – but what does that mean?
Our inner sense of self is a difficult one to grapple with – it covers things from that itch that can’t be scratched on your leg, to that excited churning in your stomach, to feeling embarrassment when you stumble over something.
It may therefore not feel like an obvious one to reach for when recording and communicating collections information. But this sense is an important part of storytelling and empathetic thinking – for heritage professionals and visitors.
While this may require us to be more conscious of our inner selves, it is a rich and nuanced sense to get to grips with.
Feeling a little unnerved about what interoception actually is?
Watch the videos and/or read the transcripts below.
Transcript
Your brain is keenly aware of what’s going on inside your body at all times.
- Some things are obvious – like when you feel hungry or thirsty.
- But some things you never notice – like how blood vessels all over your body simultaneously contract as you stand up, so you don’t lose blood flow to your brain.
But how does your brain know when to send the signal to squeeze?
It’s all part of concept scientists call interoception – the dialogue between your brain and the rest of your body.
- Interoception is involved in everything from keeping us balanced while we walk, to keeping our blood pressure and heart rate steady.
- It even appears to influence our moods and emotions.
And thanks to recent discoveries, we’re learning more about how interoception works.
- Researchers identified two special channels in neurons that react to touch and named them PIEZO1 and PIEZO2.
- Since first identifying these pressure sensors, researchers have found PIEZOs in internal organs like the heart, lungs, and blood vessels lining the stomach
- This suggests that many physiological functions involve mechanical forces that our brain and other parts of our nervous system must monitor and influence.
As the study of interoception grows, scientists are hopeful the field could lead to breakthroughs in treating heart disease, controlling blood pressure, relieving anxiety and depression, and treating a number of other disorders.
Transcript
Interoception is our capacity to witness and feel the environment inside ourselves:
- From muscular tension to the beat of our heart
- From the rhythm of the breath to the relative fullness of our stomach
- From the soft calm of relaxation and laughter to the tense rigidity of fear and anxiety
Since inner sensations can often not be separated from emotion, interoception is a key concept in holistic mind-body practices, and is an important indicator of self-awareness and well-being.
Interoception is often considered alongside proprioception, which is the sense of one’s body position in space.
- It is the awareness of your body in relation to the things around you.
- Interoception builds on proprioception, by focusing on the internal experience.
- Proprioception is the awareness that might help you to avoid bumping into things, while interoception is the experience of pain in your body when you stub your toe.
- Interoception is also key to helping the individual regulate bodily needs, such as hunger, cold and exhaustion.
- In other words it is the experience of the embodied self.
The range of interoception varies widely among human beings, as the experiences of one’s life will shape the tone and texture of one’s inner world.
- Trauma, disease, diet, socio-economic factors, and dynamics of oppression can all intersect to inform and impact the character of interoception for an individual.
- For example, on the one hand one can suffer from PTSD and experience reduced access to interoceptive awareness, often described as feeling nothing.
- On the other hand one may suffer from acute anxiety disorder and experience a hypersensitivity to interoception, and in turn have more inner feelings than one can handle.
- These examples imply that interoception is a continuum, and extremes in either direction can throw us from our centre.
Contemplative practice and somatic forms of therapy in part aim to expand the orbit and balance the field of interest, as an aid to liberating individuals from unnecessary suffering.
By developing a new relationship with our inner world we can begin to taste the fruits of a more fully embodied life.
Interoception is best understood in terms of how you sense, perceive and are affected by the other sensory systems.
Terminology can therefore be linked across your sensory systems, but understood within your internal self.
Here are a few terms that may help you to understand where your interoceptive self ‘is’, and how you use it.
Interoceptive accuracy
- The ability to objectively identify internal body signals
Interoceptive sensibility
- The self-perceived ability to recognise internal body signals
Interoceptive awareness
- The ability to be aware of how accurate you are at detecting internal body signals
Emotions
- It is also highly linked with emotion. Work with the following emotion chart (from How We Feel) to support you.
This can also be found in the system guide ‘Evaluative and Evocative‘ page.
To better develop your interoceptive accuracy, sensibility and awareness, there are a number of exercises you can try, a few of which we have set out for you below.
Though, for some, it can feel ’embarrassing’ or difficult to be with your ‘inner self’, it is an important way of understanding how sense affects us, and why it is so important in our sensory understandings of our world.
NB Your body may not be a safe ‘place’ for you, for a number of reasons, so being actively interoceptive may not be a sensory exercise for you. Please do not continue with any exercises that make you feel distressed, unsafe or in pain.
Spinal Twist
- In a seated position, ensure your feet are placed on the ground and you sit up straight.
- Place both of your hands to the right side of your chair.
- Gently rotate your torso to the right.
- Only twist as far as you feel comfortable and keep your back straight while your hips square.
- Hold the stretch for 30 seconds.
- Where did you feel it in your body when we held that stretch?
- Repeat the activity again, but this time we are going to focus on our back muscles.
- How did your back muscles feel while holding that stretch?
Feet squish
- Sit comfortably in a chair with your feet placed on the ground.
- With your feet on the ground, raise your toes upwards.
- Try and spread your toes apart.
- Lower your toes to the ground – see if you can try to keep your toes open.
- Where did you feel it in your body?
- Repeat the activity again, but this time focus on the webs
of your toes. - What change did you notice in your body after focusing on the webs of your toes?
Infinity breathing
- Start by sitting in a chair.
- With your index finger, start to trace an infinity symbol on your table.
- Start in the middle, go up to the left and trace the left part of a figure of 8 while breathing in through your nose.
- When you get back to the middle of the 8 again, breathe out through your mouth while you trace the right part of your infinity symbol.
- Where did you feel it in your body?
- Repeat the activity again, but this time focus on your breathing, in through your nose and out through your mouth.
- Did you notice a change in your body after focusing on your breathing?