When I started teaching yoga through Yogafit, we were taught "The essence of Yogafit"  So with these words, I began: breathing, feeling, listening to the body, staying in the present moment, letting go of judgement, competition and expectations.  I'm sure they told me at one point in time this was helping our students with interoception, but it really didn't click.  I'm currently taking a 6 week book club course with author Trina Altman of "yoga deconstructed" where we dive pretty deep into interoception, and it clicked!

Hmm another rabbit hole for Mary:)

Interoception: "the ability to perceive physical sensations from inside the body that relate to internal organ function, such as hunger, thirst, heart rate, and breath." 

I noticed in the past 4 years, I went heavy into anatomy, thinking that if I know where the muscles are, I can help others feel better.  I have realized that "pain" from a body part on 1 person is not the same "pain" to another person.  Each student's pain is completely different, because each person's "pain" came to them with different experiences.  This is where interoception comes in.

According to this article on interoception

 “The core task of a brain working in service to the body is allostasis: regulating the body’s internal systems by anticipating needs and preparing to satisfy them before they arise. Interoception — your brain’s representation of sensations from your own body — is the sensory consequence of this activity, Barrett says, and is central to everything from thought, to emotion, to decision making, and our sense of self.”

So now imagine, you, back in grade school and your teacher told you to sit still, stop fidgeting, no you can't go to the bathroom, no you are not hungry.  We were then being told, not to listen to your body "but it's screaming at you to listen!" 

Why do you think we loved summer vacation!! 

We take that into adulthood and ignore these internal cues, because we were taught this way. We sit for long periods, we don't listen to our hunger cues (hello intermittent fasting), we ignore our body telling us we need to go to the bathroom, until our bladder is the size of a basketball, we misunderstand our elevated heart rate for excitement and danger. 

So what do we do? 

Here are a few ways to help us become more interoceptive:

Mindfulness- includes moment-to-moment awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a specific way, in the present moment, as non-reactivity, non-judgmentally, and open-heartedly as possible (Kabat-Zinn, 2011)

Breathing (pranayama)-can help facilitate interoception by bringing your attention to your breath.

Movement- how are you feeling in a yoga or pilates pose, or walking, swimming or lifting weights etc. Being aware of the sensations in your body can help.

Hunger cues- are you eating because you are hungry, or are you bored? are you pushing away these cues? Try Tuning into these cues and sensations.     

What I love most about teaching yoga and pilates is that I get a chance to change my teaching as I evolve and watch my students evolve.  I now ask more than ever; how does it feel?  What are you sensing? And remind you there is no right or wrong way - just the way that feels good in you.

My hope is that I can help you find more ways to help yourself gain a greater sense of self by breathing, feeling, listening to your body, and staying in the present moment.