Interoception: Finding that inner state of comfort, wellbeing and health…

Always ready to fall in love with the blossoms!

Feeling spring like! Finally some beautiful skies to lift us all!

Have you ever just stood outside, taken a deep breath and just felt the exhilaration and calmness of breathing and that feeling of just being alive? With stunning blue skies this afternoon this wonderful and simple quotation popped up into my head!

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart.  I am, I am, I am…”

This coming from Sylvia Plath (who can be challenging as a read and not my favourite at all!) it contains a lot of wisdom as it really speaks of listening to that interoceptive self, here, that of listening to the heart,

Interoception, or the ability to feel our inner state, such as our heartbeat and our breath is an ability we all possess, and just like anything else can be developed and trained.  Understanding, sensing and feeling that inner state of our body is central to everything that we do, from the thoughts we form, to making decisions as well as our sense of self.  We are receiving so much information from our organ systems that our brains are busy interpreting in any given moment.  Our brains have evolved so that they can regulate the body, so that we can be efficient in what we do, so getting in tune with our sense of our inner world is really important! 

Embodied movement (another topic, but for today read it as a complete integration of movement with the mind and with a felt sense) and breathing, all help develop this sense.  Developing interoceptive skills raises our vagal tone - you may have heard about the vagus nerve - that all powerful nerve that activates our parasympathetic nervous system.  This system is responsible for overusing an array of crucial bodily functions, including control of mood, immune response, digestion, and heart rate.   It is also the part of the nervous system that is us at our most rested.  As modern day living and lockdowns take their toll, many of us spend a lot of time in the sympathetic nervous system - also known as flight or fight mode.  We evolved with this mode to allow us to flee tigers - however, in the modern world there is a part of our brains that can continually see tigers even when there are none!

Stress, or at least an element of it is needed to get things done - so a certain amount of stress is healthy. However, if we get stuck in that mode, if we are not even aware of how much we are operating in this mode our long term wellbeing and ultimately our health suffers.  Long term stress or living in a disembodied way results in us activating hormones through our systems that are unhelpful and can lower our immune response - so our thinking busy minds can actively play a role in changing our physiology.  Poor regulation and lack of awareness of stress or what to do with that stress can result in tension throughout the muscle and skeletal systems, problems within the organs at many levels and physiologically,  we lose high level functioning in our immune systems and become prone to many diseases common in the Western world.  

From understanding and getting in touch with our interoceptive self and embodying it we emerge calmer, a lot kinder and more understanding in our approach to ourselves and to others.  We develop the skill to self regulate, and from that we become less extreme in our thinking which really can send us into high level stress.  We place ourselves in the present moment we are more able to manage what life throws at us.  That is not to say we pretend the issues we may have do not exist, but merely that we acknowledge them, learn to live with them side by side and find joy in the present moment.  I often talk about ‘being’.  By that I mean just sitting in the present without the time travel, and taking real interest and notice in what is happening, without placing judgement on them.  It is a practice and a skill and you do get better at it and having been on a very long journey with this myself it is not always easy!  But the joy of feeling your body, sensing it and being able to listen to it is such a joy and leads to such a calmer and more joyous way of living.

In short, being is a phenomenal place to be.  So where to start today?  It begins just by taking a minute out of your day, just try to sense your body, be that breathing, heartbeat, anything that keeps you in your body.  And stay there and just listen without the time travel.  If the mind wanders come back to your focus.  And try not to criticise.  And see how easy or challenging it way for you, again without the criticism.  And see how you feel afterwards.   It is a practice and that is a start - I hope it makes you feel a little more grounded in your day and the here and now.

All of the activities in my studio encourage and develop this sense, but if you are really interested in developing this a lot more then I encourage you to try out any of my Franklin Method classes and workshops but especially the following that have a lot of interoceptive work in them:

All of the organ specific workshops such as Breathing and the Dance of the Heart work specifically on understanding, feeling and managing the organs.   We often work with muscles - but we have a much more intelligent system at our disposal with the organs.

My evening Franklin Method class, Relaxed Mind, Relaxed Body on Wednesday evenings is completely designed to help you wind down after a busy day, but also to leave you with a feeling of more energy as we take some of the stresses away from the body, layer by layer, to leave you with a more relaxed mind and body.

Here is what Heather, one of my clients had to say about it:

"… class was amazing. At the end of a busy, mind stretching day I anticipated struggling to switch off and relax. Following Sarah’s gentle prompts I was delighted. The breath work is immersive and my mind chatter stopped! The session left me relaxed but feeling healthy and energised..."

So if you are wanting to come and learn a little more come and visit my Somatic Movement Studio, have a look at upcoming workshops or send me a message - I’d love to help support you on your journey. 

© Sarah Pritchard 2021, All Rights Reserved.

DISCLAIMER: as I do not know your individual circumstances, none of my blogs, my videos, my guidance in the Facebook group or any other materials available to you where I have not taken you on as a one to one client shall be construed as advice and I shall have no liability to you in any circumstances should you choose to rely on any of the materials I publish.