Dear Beautiful Soul,
Before you had language…
Before you had roles…
Before you had expectations placed on you…
You had a body.
And your body was always speaking.
Interoception is the word we use for this inner awareness — your ability to sense what is happening inside you.
Not your thoughts.
Not your stories.
Not what you think you should feel.
But the raw, physical data of being alive.
Your heartbeat quickening.
Your breath shortening.
A flutter in your stomach.
Warmth spreading across your chest.
A lump in your throat.
The subtle drop in your belly when something doesn’t feel right.
The steady grounded calm when something does.
Interoception is your internal sensory system.
Just like you have:
Sight (what you see)
Hearing (what you hear)
Touch (what you feel externally)
You also have the sense of what’s happening inside your skin.
It includes:
Heart rate
Breathing rhythm
Muscle tension
Gut sensations
Temperature shifts
Nausea
Tightness
Lightness
Fullness
Hunger
Thirst
Fatigue
A sense of expansion or contraction
It is the nervous system’s live feedback loop.
And here’s why it matters:
Your brain makes decisions based on bodily signals before your conscious mind catches up.
Your body registers safety or threat milliseconds before you can explain why.
You don’t think your way into anxiety — your body shifts first.
You don’t think your way into calm — your body settles first.
Interoception is how you know:
“I’m overwhelmed.”
“I’m excited.”
“I don’t trust this.”
“I feel safe here.”
“I need rest.”
“I want this.”
“I do not want this.”
But many of us were trained — subtly or directly — to disconnect from this system.
Maybe you were told:
“You’re too sensitive.”
“You’re overreacting.”
“Don’t be dramatic.”
“You’re fine.”
“Stop crying.”
“Calm down.”
“That didn’t hurt.”
When a child’s internal signals are dismissed repeatedly, she learns something dangerous:
My body is not accurate.
My sensations are inconvenient.
My feelings are wrong.
So she adapts.
She stops scanning inward.
She starts scanning outward.
Who’s upset?
Who needs something?
What will keep the peace?
What answer is acceptable?
This is how external voices begin to override interoception.
And over time, you might notice:
Difficulty knowing what you want
Confusion around attraction vs. anxiety
Staying in situations that feel subtly “off”
Needing constant reassurance
Second-guessing your decisions
Feeling disconnected from hunger, fullness, or fatigue
Saying yes automatically
Not because you’re indecisive.
But because the inner signal got quieter than the outer noise.
Here’s something profound:
Interoception is directly linked to emotional clarity.
If you can’t feel your body clearly, emotions become blurry.
If your chest tightens and you override it, anxiety becomes chronic.
If your jaw clenches and you ignore it, resentment builds.
If your stomach drops and you dismiss it, you stay in misalignment.
Your body doesn’t scream first.
It whispers.
A 5% contraction.
A subtle bracing.
A tiny exhale you didn’t realize you were holding.
The more you override those whispers, the louder your nervous system eventually gets.
Burnout.
Panic.
Shutdown.
Irritability.
Numbness.
Not because your body is dramatic.
But because it’s trying to get your attention.
Rebuilding interoception is not about becoming hyper-vigilant.
It’s about becoming intimate with yourself again.
It’s learning the difference between:
Anxiety and intuition
Chemistry and dysregulation
Excitement and urgency
Peace and numbness
And that discernment only comes from slowing down enough to feel.
So this week, instead of asking:
“What should I do?”
Try asking:
“What is my body experiencing right now?”
Not the story.
Not the analysis.
The sensation.
Tight?
Open?
Heavy?
Light?
Warm?
Cold?
Still?
Buzzing?
Start there.
You don’t have to obey every sensation immediately.
But you do need to hear it.
đź’– This is a love letter to your internal world.
To the nervous system that has been protecting you.
To the gut that knew before your mind did.
To the fatigue that begged you to rest.
To the expansion that signaled truth.
To the contraction that signaled caution.
Your body has never been against you.
It has been gathering data your whole life.
🪩 Reflection Questions:
When I make decisions, do I check my body first — or other people’s opinions?
What sensations do I tend to override most often?
Where in my life do I feel chronic tightness or bracing?
What might change if I treated my body as a source of intelligence?
🌸 This Week’s Practice: Rebuilding the Signal
Three times this week, pause before responding to a request.
Take one breath.
Scan your body from chest to stomach.
Ask:
“Is this a yes, a no, or a not sure?”
Notice the first sensation — before your mind edits it.
Interoception grows through repetition.
And trust grows through honoring small signals consistently.
With love and deep respect,
Em
P.S. You were never meant to outsource your inner compass. The world will always have opinions. But your body carries information no one else has access to. Coming home to it is not selfish — it is powerful. 💌
Photo by Camden & Hailey George on Unsplash
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