WELLBEING AND INCLUSION

In the last few newsletters, we have had a focus on the eight senses. We discussed body awareness otherwise known as proprioception and body movement known as vestibular. Interoception is another one of the eight senses and is the ability to sense and understand what is happening inside your body, such as your heart rate, breathing and other internal sensations. Our eight senses provide the basic foundation for learning.

Interoception

What is Interoception?

Interoception is a sensory term you may not have heard of before but you have certainly felt or been impacted by the processing of our interoceptive sense. Internal feelings of hunger, fatigue, thirst, body temperature, digestion and other internal systems offer a certain ‘feeling’. This is your interoception sensory system at work! Interoception is the sense of oneself; it is the ability to understand the body’s physical signals that tell you when you are hungry or full, thirsty or quenched, hot or cold, scared or calm etc. 

Interoception comes into play when we:

• make the decision to eat because we are hungry;
• drink when we are thirsty;
• go to the toilet in time; 
• realise we are hot, sweating and need to take off a jumper to cool down; and/or
• choose temperature appropriate clothing when we get dressed.

How does Interoception impact function?

Interoception can be thought of as the mind/body connection. Having a strong interoceptive sense would mean that you have a strong sense of the physical self and what you need to promote comfort at any given time. But what about individuals who are not able to accurately process the bodies internal signals? The ability to understand and respond to our body’s needs is a huge factor in independence. If we don’t quite know what our bodies need, it makes everyday activities much more challenging and focus on school work and tasks may dwindle. 

Interoception has a strong connection to emotional processing because of the physical way that we experience our emotions. Our muscles clench when we are scared and relax when we are calm. Likewise, our stomach may feel upset when we are nervous and one might get a headache from frustration.  Without interoception, labelling and understanding emotions is a bit more challenging. 

Tips for Improving Interoception

• Modelling how you understand your body’s signals – emphasise how you are feeling and what you will do about it.
• How emotions feel – track how your child feels throughout the day and discuss how their bodies are feeling.
• Temperature activities – talk about temperature. When do we know to wear a jumper/coat etc. 
• Alerting activities – discuss heart rate and breathing rate. How do you feel after exercising? Is your heart racing? How do your muscles feel? Are you breathing fast or slow and steady?

For more information click on this link: https://www.occupationaltherapy.com.au/interoception/

Virginnia Gilham and Sarah Jeffreys