Interoception
Interoception is the sense that can be best described as as the sense responsible for answering the question, ‘How do I feel?’
How you do feel is sorted, organised and fed to the brain by the interoceptive sense. Your heart pounding, your stomach growling, your need to go to the bathroom, to eat etc are all known by your brain thanks to the interoceptive sense. This sense works constantly monitoring your entire body including body parts like the hearts, lungs and kidneys. It takes information from very body part and then allows our brain to notice how we feel. Your interoceptive body sensations are what serve as your motivation to self-regulate, to do something that restores the comfort within your body.
If your interception isn’t working as well as it should your brain may be getting mixed messages. Have you ever wondered why some children are perfectly happy to go outside in winter snow without a hat, jacket or coat? Their body’s interception may not be functioning correctly and their skin hasn’t communicate with their brain that it is cold. Some children are extremely difficult to toilet train. Their kidneys do not recognise when they need to urinate so they can’t communicate their needs correctly with the brain. They are not deliberately being difficult they simple do not know when they need to go.
Similarly children may not be able to notice their ‘Feelings’ accurately. They can't feel/ communicate, sadness, excitement, distress in a healthy way since their body is struggling to ‘feel’ the emotions accurately. This may be partially why some children suffer from emotional deregulation even when they are doing something that they usually enjoy. Research has found that improving the awareness and understanding of our interoceptive signals is good for all people and has many benefits.
Mindfulness practices have been shown to be one of the most effective, evidence-based interventions for improving interoceptive awareness. It’s our ability to notice, understand, and respond to the internal signals our body sends us. Mindfulness is shown to activate the insular cortex, the interoceptive center in the brain. That is why those who practice meditation often have superior levels of interoception.
Unfortunately this is out of reach for many of our children due to the abstract nature of mindfulness. Like all other senses interception can be improved and worked upon. Parents and children often find that their interception naturally improves following an INPP movement program. This is most likely due to the deliberately slow movements in a program, as well as the significant proportion of exercises preformed with eyes closed. We are teaching children to be more in tune with their own body. Pilates and yoga movements also help with interception as does Tai Chi. From a personal stand, my child had never once used the words ‘full’ to describe themselves until after we had completed an INPP program. I believe they were unable to recognise the feeling prior to the program and as a result tended to overeat.