A lot of people resonate with the idea of interoception… and then quietly think:
“Okay, but I still don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling.”
If that’s you, I need you to know that nothing is wrong. Most of us were never taught how to notice the body from the inside. We were taught how to think about ourselves… not how to sense ourselves.
So when awareness moves inward, it often gets stuck in the head.Not because you’re doing it wrong, but because your system learned that thinking was safer than feeling.
Why “I don’t feel anything” is still information
One of the most common responses to interoceptive work is:
“I feel blank.”
“I feel numb.”
“I don’t notice much.”
That is noticing. Numbness, fog, distance, or neutrality are not failures of awareness. They are states — often protective ones.
Your body isn’t withholding information. It’s pacing how much it shares. Interoception isn’t about forcing sensation to appear.
It’s about listening without demand.
The body speaks quietly before it speaks loudly
We tend to look for:
big emotions
strong sensations
obvious signals
But the body usually starts much smaller than that.
A subtle shift in breath.
A slight tightening.
A sense of leaning forward or pulling back.
If you’re waiting for something dramatic, you’ll miss what’s already there.
This is why interoception takes practice — not effort.
Why this matters in relationships
When interoception is underdeveloped, we often enter relationships already behind the moment.
The body registers:
activation
contraction
urgency
And the mind jumps straight to meaning:
“Something’s wrong.”
“I need to say something now.”
“This means I’m unsafe.”
Without noticing the body first, we react to the story instead of the signal.
Interoception gives you a few extra seconds.
And those seconds change everything.
