Interoception: one of our 8 senses

The ability to track and sense what is going on inside our body is called interoception, it is one of eight, not five as commonly taught, senses that we have.⁣
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When we haven't been co-regulated/attuned to from infancy, which is probably the majority of us, difficult emotions and their physical sensations will be very hard to stay with and process. We need support and help to feel the big stuff and our caregivers need to be able to soothe us when we get upset. If we are not soothed on a consistent basis, we shutdown and do all sorts of stuff to try and manage what we can't really manage because developmentally, we just can't.⁣

⁣This pattern of dissociating and avoiding then continues throughout life. We keep shoving stuff into our bodies, expecting them to be able to take it, until we reach breaking point and there is no other choice but to deal with it, or continue to suffer.⁣
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Bessel van der Kolk says in The Body Keeps the Score: "In order to change, people need to become aware of their sensations and the way that their bodies interact with the world around them. Physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.⁣
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In my practice I begin the process by helping my patients to first notice and then describe the feelings in their bodies—not emotions such as anger or anxiety or fear but the physical sensations beneath the emotions: pressure, heat, muscular tension, tingling, caving in, feeling hollow, and so on. I also work on identifying the sensations associated with relaxation or pleasure. I help them become aware of their breath, their gestures and movements".⁣
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Making friends with our body and its sensations is essential to living a healthy and good life.⁣

Honouring the body

Our bodies are the repository for all of our experiences. When we don't process/experience these experiences, our bodies have to take on the burden of all this undigested stuff. This is fine for a while, but if we keep pushing things down into our bodies, it will eventually give and start to leak symptoms. Often the symptoms will be metaphors for what is going on with us.

The symptoms are the bread crumb trail to the root cause(s) but many of us get mired in figuring out and treating only symptoms.

Very often, the cause is unresolved trauma which places a huge burden on our bodies. They can only hold so much. The four books below talk about this very subject.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk

The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease, Robert Scaer

When the Body Says No: Understanding the Stress-Disease Connection, Gabor Maté

The Body Never Lies: The Lingering Effects of Hurtful Parenting, Alice Miller

Try and really answer the questions posed here, write them down, and start tapping on your answers.

Meeting and feeling pain

You can be 2%, 5%, 10% willing … whatever feels right to you. You don't have to meet your pain all at once. It's important to stay within your window of tolerance (what you can cope with without becoming overwhelmed or shutting down). The more willing we are to meet and feel our pain, the less our triggers and symptoms have to scream for our attention because we're already paying them attention.