The Inner Compass: Listening to Your Body Through Interoception

Most people have heard of the five senses. Fewer are aware of the one that guides everything from hunger and heart rate to intuition, overwhelm, calm, and fatigue.

It’s called interoception, and it’s your ability to notice what’s happening inside your body.

If you've ever had a “gut feeling,” paused to notice your breath, or realised (belatedly) that you're hungry, dizzy, or holding your shoulders too tightly, you've experienced it.

But for many people, especially those who’ve lived with trauma, chronic stress, or busy lives that leave little room for reflection, the signals of the body become hard to detect or feel too much, too soon, too fast.

This post is about learning to reconnect with your internal landscape, and how that reconnection can gently shape the way you live, respond, and feel.

What Is Interoception, Really?

Interoception is your nervous system’s ability to monitor the state of your internal world.

It tells you when you’re hungry or full, when your heart is racing, when your breathing slows down, or when something feels “off” inside. It underpins how you recognise emotion, and how you respond to it.

In therapy, I often see people who either don’t notice their internal states until they’re overwhelmed (shut down, hungry, angry, exhausted) or notice too much, where every bodily sensation sparks anxiety or confusion.

Neither is a failure. These are adaptations. Survival strategies. But they come at a cost, disconnection from self, and a reduced ability to self-regulate.

The good news is, interoception can be re-learned.

Why It Matters for Emotional and Nervous System Health

Interoception plays a key role in:

• Emotion regulation: You can't manage what you can't feel.

• Decision-making: Gut instincts are often rooted in subtle internal cues.

• Safety and resilience: The body tells you when you're safe, not your thoughts.

• ADHD and autism support: Many people with neurodivergent profiles have interoceptive differences.

• Trauma healing: Reclaiming the body as a place of sensing rather than threat.

In short, interoception helps us tune in before we burn out.

Simple Ways to Start Noticing

You don’t need a mindfulness app or special training to begin. Start with curiosity and patience.

Here are a few entry points:

Body scan check-ins: Once a day, pause and ask, what’s happening inside? Any tightness, movement, temperature shifts? No need to label or fix. Just notice.

Track one sensation: Pick something like your breath or heartbeat. Spend a minute with it. Is it fast? Shallow? Steady? Let it be just as it is.

Use routine cues: Try noticing internal states just before or after brushing your teeth, making tea, or driving. Link internal check-ins to things you already do.

Name the feeling: “I feel a flutter in my stomach.” “My chest feels heavy.” Naming sensations can help the brain map them more clearly, reducing fear and confusion.

You may find this easy, or you may find it deeply unfamiliar. Either is OK. It’s a practice, not a performance.

Why This Work Matters

Reconnecting with your internal world isn’t about becoming hyper-aware of every twinge. It’s about rebuilding trust with yourself. Learning the signals your body gives you… before panic, before burnout, before you lash out or shut down.

When you learn to notice your internal state without judgment, you create space for choice.

With choice comes possibility, to rest instead of power through, to respond rather than react, to feel without drowning.

This is how regulation begins.

Next in the series: We’ll explore breath-work as a bridge between body and mind, one of the most powerful tools we have for regulating the nervous system in real time.