Some people are described disparagingly as being overly sensitive. While our western culture idealizes the opposite, being more attuned to the inner workings of the mind-body connection can actually increase our wellbeing.
This connection is called interoception, or the way we make logical sense of emotions through physical sensation. It’s considered an addition to our five senses and is something that cannot be quantified, but only experienced. Interoception is becoming more widely talked about and applied in therapy sessions and mindful movement classes to build body awareness and resilience.
Deep within our brains lies the insular cortex. This area of the brain picks up subtle sensations from throughout the body via unmyelinated nerve endings, meaning the information is picked up through gut feelings, sensing and intuition. It translates this information to influence functions ranging from “sensory processing to representing feelings and emotions, autonomical and motor control, risk prediction and decision-making, bodily- and self-awareness, and complex social functions like empathy”(Science Direct, June 19, 2017).
What this means is that our individual level of interoceptive awareness has a huge influence over self-regulation, mental and emotional health and interpersonal relationships– all big aspects of being human! Or as neuroscientist and author of “How Do You Feel? Bud Craig says, “Interoception is the crucial pathway towards the feeling of being alive, offering vivid perception of feelings and the sense of self.”
A 2004 experiment highlighted participants’ abilities to perceive their own heartbeat and concluded that those with greater interoceptive awareness were more likely to estimate the beats correctly after the two minutes. The significance of this study revealed that those with greater inner awareness were better at reading their body’s cues and making adjustments to adapt (aka resilience). Bud Craig took this study further and wrote,” better heartbeat perceivers function better not only on an emotional level, but cognitively.” Having a better sensing of time and better at reading their own and others’ emotions, they also pick up on subtle social and environmental cues. This deeper awareness of feelings affords this group the ability to respond more quickly to intuitive decisions.
We can all become better “heartbeat perceivers.” The key to building awareness and improving this inner skill is to take the time to practice movements that focus on going slowly. With mindful attention, first-hand insight into our personal feelings and inner workings is revealed. With practice, this new awareness opens up the possibility of greater empathy, understanding and compassion towards others, changing the narrative from, “ I think therefore I am” to “ I feel therefore I understand.”
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