Signals From Within: How Listening to Your Body Can Support Wellbeing

Have you ever considered that understanding your emotions might begin with noticing your heartbeat or your breath? This sense, known as interoception…

THE BODY & MIND

Imagine trying to tune an old radio. You turn the dial slowly, listening carefully past the static for a clear signal. Sometimes the music is faint, other times it’s loud and clear, but you have to be paying attention to find it. Our bodies are a little like that radio, constantly broadcasting quiet signals from within — the rhythm of our breathing, the beat of our heart, the gentle rumble of hunger.

For most of us, these internal broadcasts play quietly in the background of our busy lives. But what happens when we learn to tune in?

For one woman living with anorexia, traditional support had offered only limited help. She decided to try something different: floating in a dark, soundproof tank of warm saltwater, where all outside distractions faded away. With sight, sound, and even gravity muted, she began to notice sensations she rarely paid attention to.

It was her first introduction to a sense most of us never think about, but one that researchers are discovering may be essential for our mental wellbeing: the ability to genuinely feel what is happening inside our own bodies.

Interoception is your body's internal awareness system. It’s the sense that allows you to notice your heartbeat, breath, hunger, fullness, pain, temperature, muscle tension, and fatigue.

Think of it like a dashboard of gauges in a car, quietly tracking everything from fuel levels to engine temperature. You might not check it constantly, but it’s always there, ready to signal when something needs your attention.

For example, the feeling of a full bladder is an interoceptive signal that nudges you to find a bathroom. The feeling of hunger is a signal that nudges you to eat. It’s the brain’s way of reading the body’s needs.

How an inner sense shapes our feelings

For a long time, mental health was often seen as something that happens only in the mind. Yet as neuroscientist Camilla Nord highlights, many people living with mental health conditions also experience very real physical symptoms — changes in heart rate, breathing, appetite, energy, and sleep. Researchers now believe that difficulties with interoception may play a part in how we experience conditions like anxiety, depression, PTSD, eating disorders, autism, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

This doesn't mean poor interoception causes these conditions. Instead, it may shape how a person experiences emotions, interprets their body’s signals, and responds to stress. The idea that physical sensations can create a feeling has a long history. In the 1800s, psychologists William James and Carl Lange suggested that we don't tremble because we are afraid; we feel afraid, in part, because we notice ourselves trembling.

Modern research lends support to this. In one study exploring panic disorder, participants who inhaled air with a higher concentration of carbon dioxide found their breathing quickened and their heart raced. For some, these purely physical changes were enough to trigger feelings of panic and distress, suggesting that bodily sensations can spark emotions, not just accompany them.

A single sensation can have many different meanings. A racing heart might signal excitement before seeing a friend, nervousness before a presentation, or simply the effort of climbing stairs. Our emotional experience is shaped not just by the signal itself, but by the meaning our brain gives it based on context and past experience.

When the signals get crossed

The brain is constantly trying to predict and interpret the body's internal signals, but unlike information from the outside world, these signals can be ambiguous. Sometimes, these predictions can go astray.

Psychologist Anke Ehlers found that people with panic disorder were often more accurate at detecting their own heartbeat than others. Those who noticed their heartbeat most strongly were also more likely to experience recurring panic attacks. This suggests that a harmless increase in heart rate might be misinterpreted as a sign of danger, creating a cycle of fear.

This process of prediction and interpretation happens all over the body.

Eating disorders can involve misreading signals of hunger and fullness.
Trauma can cause physical sensations of threat to become wrongly linked to everyday situations.
Even the digestive system has a voice. Scientists are exploring how gut activity connects to our emotions, influencing feelings of disgust, comfort, and satisfaction.

This growing field of research reminds us that emotions don't live purely in the brain. They emerge from a constant, ongoing conversation between our mind and body. One brain region that appears central to this conversation is the insula, which helps process internal sensations and connect them to our emotional experiences. Researchers have noted differences in insula activity across a range of psychiatric conditions, marking it as a key bridge between the physical and the emotional self.

Can we learn to listen more closely?

If our ability to sense our inner world is so important, can it be improved? The answer appears to be a hopeful yes. ==Interoception appears to be flexible, not fixed — something that can be strengthened, much like any other skill worth practising.==

In one study, a group of autistic adults with anxiety took part in exercises designed to improve their awareness of their heartbeat and other bodily sensations. After several sessions, many reported feeling less anxious and better able to regulate their emotions.

Other gentle approaches are also being explored:

Floatation Therapy: By reducing external sensory input, floatation tanks help people focus on internal sensations. Research suggests this may have benefits for anxiety, depression, and eating disorders, with many people describing a feeling of reconnecting with their own bodies.
Reconnecting After Trauma: For those living with PTSD, the body can sometimes feel like an unsafe place. One study combined mindfulness with a device that created gentle vibrations synchronised to a person's own heartbeat. The aim was to help them safely reconnect with their bodies. Many reported feeling more grounded, stable, and safer in their own skin.

Scientists believe our interoceptive skills begin developing in infancy. When a caregiver responds consistently to a baby’s cries of hunger, discomfort, or distress, the child gradually learns to connect their inner feeling with an outcome, building a foundation for understanding and trusting their own body. These abilities remain adaptable throughout childhood and adolescence, offering hope that with gentle support, we can learn to tune into our bodies at any age.

To understand mental health, we must understand the body.

— Manos Tsakiris, researcher

What to remember

Interoception is your body's internal awareness, letting you sense things like your heartbeat, breathing, and hunger. It’s a key part of how we experience emotions.
Mind and body are connected. Physical sensations can spark emotions, and our interpretation of these sensations shapes how we feel.
Difficulties with interoception may play a role in how people experience conditions like anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and PTSD.
This is a flexible skill. With gentle practice, it’s possible to improve your ability to notice and understand your body's signals, which may help with emotional regulation.

For centuries, we have often treated the mind and body as if they were separate. We are now rediscovering just how deeply they are woven together. By learning to listen to the quiet signals from within, we may gain powerful insight into our own emotional worlds and find new paths toward wellbeing.

Learning to listen to your own body—or helping your child learn to listen to theirs—is a genuine skill, and one that can be built gently over time. It’s a quiet practice of paying attention, without judgement. Amolyria is here to help you explore what that might look like for you or your family, whenever you're ready.

1. Garfinkel, S., et al. (2016). Discrepancies Between Dimensions of Interoception in Autism. Biological Psychology.

2. Khalsa, S., et al. (2023). The Impact of Floatation Therapy on Body Image and Anxiety in Anorexia Nervosa. Clinical Medicine.

3. Khalsa, S., et al. (2021). Interoceptive Training to Target Anxiety in Autistic Adults. Clinical Medicine.

4. Nord, C., et al. (2021). Disrupted Dorsal Mid-Insula Activation During Interoception in Psychiatric Disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry.

5. Craig, A. D. (2009). How Do You Feel? Interoception: The Sense of the Physiological Condition of the Body. Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

6. Porges, S. W. (2011). The Polyvagal Theory.

7. Tsakiris, M. (2017). The Multisensory Basis of the Self. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

8. This article draws on insights from: Kwon, D. (2025). Signalen van binnenuit. EOS Psyche & Brein, Body & Mind dossier, pp. 24–29.