Peter Levine, The founder of Somatic Experiencing and the way we connect with interoception — our internal felt sense — is at the very heart of trauma healing and nervous system regulation.
“Interoception is how we listen to the body’s quiet language.”
Interoception is the capacity to perceive the sensations arising within our body — heartbeat, breath, fullness, thirst, warmth, tightness, ease.
It’s the body’s whisper before it becomes a shout.
When we learn to listen, we reclaim the bridge between body and mind.
🌀 Why Interoception Matters in Healing
When we experience trauma or chronic stress, our attention often lives outside of ourselves — scanning for danger, bracing for impact, staying alert to the external world.
This outward fixation dulls our inner sense.
We stop feeling the subtle cues of hunger, fatigue, pleasure, or safety.
Healing begins by returning home to the body — by gently reawakening awareness of these sensations, we give the nervous system a chance to complete stress responses and restore balance.
🌿 How to Reconnect with Interoception
The key is slowness and safety — moving in small steps so that sensation becomes a friend, not a threat.
1. Pause and Notice
•Sit or lie down.
•Bring attention to one point — perhaps your hands resting in your lap.
•What do you feel? Warmth? Tingling? Nothing? All are welcome.
2. Track Sensations
•Follow a sensation without judgment.
•“There’s warmth in my palms.”
•“It spreads into my fingers.”
•“Now I feel a subtle pulse.”
•This tracking keeps you anchored in the present.
3. Pendulation
•If an uncomfortable sensation arises (tightness, ache, heaviness), shift your focus to a neutral or pleasant sensation elsewhere in the body.
•Moving back and forth between comfort and discomfort teaches the nervous system flexibility.
4. Micro-Movements
•Allow tiny impulses to move the body: a sigh, a stretch, a subtle shift in posture.
•This discharges stored activation and re-establishes flow.
5. Name and Own the Sensation
•Language integrates experience.
•“I feel a gentle expansion in my chest.”
•“There’s a flutter in my belly.”
•Speaking it out loud reinforces the mind-body connection.
💡 The Essence
“By connecting to our interoception, we reclaim our body as a place of safety and aliveness. Sensations become guideposts — leading us out of survival mode and into embodied presence.”
