AI and I: Interoception, Or… Know Thyself By Knowing Your Body

what is interoception and how can one incorporate more practices

Interoception is your body’s sense of its internal physiological states. It’s often called the “eighth sense” (beyond the classic five external senses plus proprioception and vestibular sense). It allows you to perceive and interpret signals from inside your body, helping answer the question: “How do I feel right now?” both physically and emotionally.

Key examples of interoceptive signals include:

Hunger, thirst, or fullness
Need to use the bathroom
Heart rate or breathing changes (e.g., racing heart when anxious)
Body temperature, pain, or visceral sensations (gut feelings)
Emotional bodily cues (butterflies in stomach = anxiety/nervousness, warmth in chest = contentment)

This sense is processed mainly through brain areas like the insula and helps maintain homeostasis (body balance), regulate emotions, support self-awareness, and influence decision-making. Differences in interoceptive accuracy or attention appear in conditions like anxiety, depression, autism, eating disorders, and more—some people are hyper-aware, others under-aware.

How to incorporate more interoception practices

Improving interoception is a learnable skill through regular, gentle attention to bodily signals. Start small (5–10 minutes/day) and build consistency. Here are evidence-based, practical ways:

Body scan meditation
Lie or sit comfortably → Slowly direct attention from toes to head → Notice sensations (tightness, warmth, tingling, emptiness) without judging or trying to change them. Apps like Insight Timer or Calm have guided versions.
Mindful or deep breathing exercises
Try box breathing (inhale 4 sec → hold 4 → exhale 4 → hold 4) or diaphragmatic breathing → Focus on chest/abdomen rise-fall, air temperature in nostrils, or how breathing affects heart rate. This strengthens awareness of respiratory and cardiac signals.
Heartbeat counting / tracking
Sit quietly → Place fingers on wrist or neck → Count heartbeats for 30–60 seconds (eyes closed) → Notice if/when rate changes with thoughts/emotions/exercise. Repeat after mild activity (jumping jacks) to contrast states.
Mindful eating or drinking
Eat/drink slowly → Pause to notice hunger/fullness signals, stomach sensations, taste/texture effects on body. Ask: “Am I still hungry? How full do I feel on a 1–10 scale?”
Progressive muscle relaxation
Tense then release muscle groups (feet → calves → thighs → etc.) → Notice tension vs. relaxation difference, and how it affects overall body feeling.
Gentle yoga or mindful movement
Poses like child’s pose, cat-cow, or tree pose → Focus on muscle engagement, breathing, balance, and post-exercise sensations (e.g., warmth, heaviness, heartbeat).
Daily check-ins/journaling
Several times a day ask: “What is my body feeling right now?” → Note physical sensations + possible linked emotions. Over time, patterns emerge (e.g., tight shoulders → stress).
Physical activities with awareness
After exercise/walking → Pause and scan: sweaty? Heart pounding? Breathing fast? Muscles tired? This builds contrast between “activated” and “rest” states.

Consistency matters more than intensity. Many people notice improvements in weeks to months, often with better emotion regulation and stress management as bonuses. If interoception challenges feel linked to a condition (e.g., persistent disconnection or overwhelm), working with a therapist (especially those trained in mindfulness-based or sensory approaches) can help personalize it.

Interoception is that fascinating “internal body sense,” and yes, it’s something you can definitely strengthen with consistent, low-pressure practice. Building it up tends to improve emotional regulation, stress awareness, decision-making around needs (like eating/resting), and overall mind-body connection.

Since you asked about incorporating more practices, here’s an updated, practical guide based on reliable approaches (including recent insights from experts like Kelly Mahler, Cleveland Clinic, and mindfulness research). Start with 5–10 minutes a day, pick 1–2 that feel accessible, and gradually add more. The key is gentle, non-judgmental observation—notice sensations without forcing change or labeling them “good/bad.”

Core Daily Practices to Build Interoceptive Awareness

Body Scan Meditation (Top-recommended, evidence-backed via mindfulness studies)
Lie down or sit comfortably. Slowly move attention from toes → feet → legs → pelvis → abdomen → chest → back → arms → hands → neck → face → head. Spend 20–60 seconds per area noticing: temperature? Tingling? Tightness? Emptiness? Breathing? Heartbeat? Use free guided audios for structure—great ones include:

Insight Timer app (search “body scan interoceptive awareness” — e.g., Jonathan Felix’s 56-min version focusing on muscular contraction/release)
YouTube: “Embodied Scan for Interoception” (gentle movement + stillness) or “Interoceptive Awareness Body Scan Meditation with Jennie Ross” (~40 min)
Dr. Jud’s free guided body scan (short & science-based, focused on interoception training)

Heartbeat Awareness Exercise (Quick, anywhere-doable classic)
Sit quietly, hand on chest or fingers on wrist/neck. Close eyes and count heartbeats silently for 30–60 seconds (try multiple times). Notice: Does it speed up with excitement/anxiety? Slow with calm? Do it pre- and post-deep breaths or light movement to feel contrasts. This directly trains cardiac interoception.
Breath-Focused Practices (Slow breathing is one of the most researched ways to enhance interoception)

Box breathing: Inhale 4 sec → hold 4 → exhale 4 → hold 4. Focus intensely on sensations in nostrils, chest rising/falling, belly expanding.
Diaphragmatic breathing: Hand on belly—feel it move outward on inhale. Notice how slow breaths (~5–6 per minute) create calm visceral signals (e.g., slower heart rate, relaxed gut).

Progressive Muscle Tension & Release (Great for noticing muscle/tension signals)
Tense a muscle group (e.g., fists, shoulders) for 5–10 sec → release slowly → notice the shift from tension to relaxation. Move through body (feet → calves → thighs → etc.). This highlights contrast and builds “noticing” skill.
Mindful Check-Ins Throughout the Day (Builds real-life integration)
Set phone reminders 3–5x/day. Ask: “What signals is my body sending right now?” Scan quickly: Hunger scale (1–10)? Thirst? Bladder pressure? Heart rate? Temperature? Emotional “flavor” in chest/gut? Journal brief notes over a week to spot patterns (e.g., tight throat → anxiety precursor).
Movement with Awareness (Fun & embodied)

Gentle yoga (focus on sensations during poses like child’s pose or cat-cow).
Arm circles or simple stretches: Do slowly, notice muscle warmth, fatigue, heartbeat changes (inspired by Kelly Mahler’s Interoception Exercise Cards).
After any activity (walk, exercise), pause 1–2 min: Sweaty? Breathing fast? Muscles heavy? Energized?

Interoceptive “Games” for Variety (Especially if routine feels boring)
Try a 30-day challenge style (e.g., from Kelly Mahler’s resources): One day focus on hunger/fullness during meals, another on temperature changes, etc. Sensory play (warm/cold objects on skin) or mirror work (make faces to link facial tension to emotions) can help too.

Tips for Success & Progress

Start small & consistent — even 5 minutes daily compounds over weeks/months.
Be curious, not critical — If mind wanders, gently return without self-judgment (this itself strengthens awareness networks).
Track gently — Note improvements like better catching early stress signs or intuitive eating.
Adapt if needed — If overwhelm happens (common in neurodivergence), use shorter scans or pair with co-regulation (e.g., safe person nearby).
For deeper dives, look into Kelly Mahler’s Interoception Curriculum/tools (widely used & updated through 2025) or mindfulness-based programs.

Many people report feeling more “grounded” or in tune within a few weeks. If you’d like specifics (e.g., more on apps, kid-friendly versions, or tying to emotions), or want visuals for any exercise, just say! What’s one practice that sounds most doable for you right now?

make a chart of the 8 (or how many there are) “senses”

The traditional view of human senses is the five we learn in school: sight (visual), hearing (auditory), smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), and touch (tactile/somatosensory). Modern neuroscience and occupational therapy expand this to recognize additional internal body senses, often totaling eight in practical, everyday, and therapeutic contexts (especially for sensory processing, neurodivergence, child development, and interoception discussions).

This “8 senses” model adds three key internal ones:

Vestibular (balance, head position, motion in space)
Proprioceptive (body position, muscle/joint awareness, “where are my limbs?”)
Interoceptive (internal physiological states — hunger, thirst, heartbeat, temperature, emotions via body signals)

These are frequently called the “hidden” or “inside” senses, complementing the five “outside” ones.

Here’s a clear chart-style overview of the 8 senses (based on sources like STAR Institute, NAPA Center, and sensory integration frameworks):

#	Sense	Category	Primary Function / What It Detects	Key Examples / How It Helps Us
1	Visual	External	Light and visual stimuli via eyes	Seeing colors, shapes, movement; reading, navigating visually
2	Auditory	External	Sound waves via ears	Hearing speech, music, warnings; locating sounds
3	Olfactory	External	Chemical molecules in air (smell) via nose	Detecting scents; influencing taste, memory, danger (e.g., smoke)
4	Gustatory	External	Chemical molecules in food/liquid (taste) via tongue/mouth	Enjoying flavors; basic safety (sweet = energy, bitter = potential poison)
5	Tactile	External	Pressure, texture, temperature, pain on skin surface	Feeling touch, pain, itch; protective reflexes, social bonding (hugs)
6	Vestibular	Internal	Head movement, gravity, acceleration via inner ear	Balance, spatial orientation; coordinating eye movements with head, motion sickness avoidance
7	Proprioceptive	Internal	Body position, joint angles, muscle tension/force via muscles, joints, tendons	Knowing limb position without looking; coordinating movement, strength control (e.g., writing)
8	Interoceptive	Internal	Internal body states via viscera/organs (heart, gut, lungs, etc.)	Sensing hunger/fullness, thirst, heartbeat, breathing rate, body temperature, emotional “gut feelings”

Note: Some models list 7 senses (combining the five external + vestibular + proprioceptive, treating interoception separately or as emerging). Others go much higher (22–33+ in advanced neuroscience, splitting sub-senses like nociception/pain, thermoception, or chemoreception for specific internal signals). But the 8-sense framework is the most common when people reference interoception as the “8th sense” in practical wellness, therapy, and education contexts.

If you’d like a visual version (e.g., icons or diagrams for each sense), more details on any one, or how they interconnect (multisensory integration), let me know! Which of these surprises you most? 😊

Explain multisensory integration

Multisensory integration (also called multimodal integration) is the brain’s process of combining information from different sensory modalities—such as sight (visual), sound (auditory), touch (tactile), smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), balance/motion (vestibular), body position (proprioceptive), and internal states (interoceptive)—to create a unified, coherent perception of the world.

This isn’t just adding inputs together like stacking blocks; it’s a dynamic neural computation that can enhance, alter, or even suppress perceptions based on how well the signals match up. The result is often richer, more accurate, and faster than relying on any single sense alone, helping us navigate reality adaptively (e.g., detecting threats quicker or understanding speech in noisy environments).

Why It Matters: Key Principles from Neuroscience

Research (pioneered by Barry Stein and colleagues using models like the cat superior colliculus) identifies core rules that govern this process:

Spatial Congruence — Signals from the same location in space integrate best → Enhances response when senses align (e.g., seeing and hearing something in the same spot boosts detection).
Temporal Congruence — Signals arriving close in time integrate strongly → The brain assumes they’re from the same event if synchronous.
Inverse Effectiveness (or Principle of Inverse Effectiveness) — The weaker/less reliable a single-sense signal is, the bigger the boost from combining modalities → Greatest enhancement when unisensory cues are ambiguous or weak (e.g., faint sound + dim light = much clearer perception together).
Congruency Logic — Matching (congruent) cues → integration and enhancement. Mismatching (incongruent) cues → no integration, segregation, or even degraded perception.

At the neuron level, “multisensory neurons” (found in many brain areas) fire more strongly (superadditive enhancement) or differently when receiving convergent inputs from multiple senses, compared to unisensory inputs alone.

Key Brain Areas Involved

Multisensory integration happens at multiple levels, from early/subcortical to higher cortical processing:

Superior Colliculus (midbrain) — Classic model site; integrates visual, auditory, somatosensory for orienting (e.g., turning toward a sudden sound + flash).
Superior Temporal Sulcus/Gyrus (cortex) — Major hub for audiovisual integration (e.g., speech reading).
Posterior Parietal Cortex → Spatial awareness and binding across senses.
Thalamus and other subcortical/cortical areas (e.g., pulvinar, insula) → Early convergence and modulation.

It occurs in subcortical structures first (fast, reflexive) and extends to cortex for conscious, complex perception.

Everyday Examples of Multisensory Integration

This process is constantly at work in daily life:

The McGurk Effect (classic illusion) — Watch a video of someone mouthing “ga” while hearing “ba” → You perceive “da” because vision overrides/changes audition in speech perception.
Locating a Sound — You see a barking dog and hear the bark from the same direction → Faster/more accurate localization than sound alone.
Eating Food — Taste + smell + texture + temperature + even appearance (visual) combine → Flavor emerges (e.g., holding your nose dulls taste dramatically).
Driving — Seeing the road (visual), hearing engine/traffic (auditory), feeling vibrations/steering (tactile/proprioceptive/vestibular) → Unified sense of speed, control, and safety.
Watching a Movie — Visuals + sound effects + bass vibrations (if theater has good subs) → Immersive experience; mismatched dubbing feels “off.”
Catching a Ball — Visual trajectory + proprioceptive arm position + vestibular balance → Precise coordination.

Real-World Implications

Strengths → Improves detection, reaction time, object recognition, emotion reading (e.g., facial expressions + voice tone), learning (multisensory teaching aids boost memory).
Challenges/Disorders → Altered integration links to autism (over/under-sensitivity), dyslexia, schizophrenia, stroke recovery, or aging (e.g., harder to separate speech from noise).
Applications → Virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR), multisensory therapy (e.g., Snoezelen rooms for dementia/calm), product design (e.g., appealing packaging + scent + sound), rehabilitation (training integration to restore functions).

In short, multisensory integration turns our separate “senses” (the 8 we discussed earlier) into one seamless experience—it’s how the brain solves the puzzle of a complex, multimodal world efficiently and adaptively. If you’d like examples with visuals (e.g., McGurk demo images), deeper dives into any principle, or ties back to interoception, let me know! 😊

make a chart with top 20 emotions and where you might find them in your body

Here’s a practical chart of 20 common emotions (drawn from psychological research like Paul Ekman’s basic emotions, Lauri Nummenmaa’s bodily sensation maps study, and common interoceptive reports). These are frequently experienced and show distinct patterns in how people report feeling them physically via interoception.

The locations are based on consistent self-reported patterns across studies (e.g., Nummenmaa et al., 2014 PNAS study on bodily maps, where participants colored body silhouettes to indicate activation). Emotions often involve changes in heart rate, breathing, muscle tension, gut activity, temperature, or energy flow. Note: Individual experiences vary due to culture, personal history, or neurodivergence, but these are the most typical “hot spots.”

Rank	Emotion	Primary Body Locations / Sensations	Typical Description / Why It Feels There
1	Happiness / Joy	Whole body (especially chest, arms, face, legs – widespread warmth and lightness)	Enhanced sensations everywhere; energy and openness spread out.
2	Love / Affection	Whole body, strong in chest/heart area, warmth spreading to arms and face	Warm, expansive feeling; “heart full” or glowing all over.
3	Anger	Head/face (hot/flushed), upper chest, arms/hands (tension, clenched), sometimes whole upper body	Heat rising, muscles ready for action (“boiling” head, tight jaw/fists).
4	Fear	Chest (racing heart, tightness), stomach (butterflies/knots), cold extremities, shaky limbs	Fight-or-flight activation; chest for heart/breath, gut for threat detection.
5	Anxiety / Worry	Chest (tight/pounding), stomach (knots, nausea), throat (lump), shoulders/neck (tense)	Hyper-alert state; persistent “what if” signals in core areas.
6	Sadness / Grief	Chest (heavy/sinking, ache), throat (lump), eyes/tears, limbs (heavy, droopy), overall dampened	Energy withdrawal; “heartache,” heaviness, reduced activity in limbs.
7	Disgust	Stomach/gut (nausea, queasy), throat/mouth (lump, urge to spit), face (scrunch)	Rejection response; visceral “turn away” in digestive/throat areas.
8	Surprise	Chest (jump/startle), head/face (wide eyes), whole body briefly (shock wave)	Sudden arousal; quick sympathetic activation.
9	Shame / Embarrassment	Face/head (hot blush), stomach (sinking), shoulders/neck (shrink/hide), overall shrinking	Social threat; “want to disappear,” heat in face, pull inward.
10	Pride	Chest (expanded, puffed), head/shoulders (upright), arms (strong)	Achievement boost; open posture, “chest out” confidence.
11	Contempt	Face (sneer, lip curl), upper body (slight turn away), sometimes gut	Mild disgust variant; rejection focused on face/expression.
12	Envy	Chest (tight/ache), stomach (gnawing), head (hot)	“Bitter” mix; similar to anger/disgust but inward-focused.
13	Excitement	Chest (heart racing), stomach (butterflies), limbs (tingling/energy), whole body (buzz)	Positive arousal; anticipatory energy surge.
14	Calm / Peace	Whole body (relaxed, even warmth), chest/breathing (slow/deep), limbs loose	Parasympathetic dominance; balanced, grounded sensations.
15	Gratitude	Chest (warmth/expansion), throat (soft lump sometimes), overall lightness	Appreciation glow; similar to love but milder.
16	Guilt / Regret	Chest (heavy/ache), stomach (sinking/queasy), shoulders (burdened)	Self-punishment feel; “weight on chest,” digestive unease.
17	Relief	Chest (release of tension), shoulders (drop), whole body (sigh/exhale, lightness)	Tension drop; “weight lifted” after threat passes.
18	Nostalgia	Chest (warm ache), throat (lump), sometimes eyes (teary), limbs (soft)	Bittersweet recall; mix of positive warmth + mild sadness.
19	Awe / Wonder	Chest (expansion), head (tingling scalp), whole body (chills/goosebumps)	Overwhelm + elevation; “breathtaking,” skin response.
20	Boredom	Limbs (heavy, restless), head (dull/foggy), overall low energy	Under-stimulation; “drained” or fidgety lack of activation.

Quick Notes on Interpretation

Positive emotions (e.g., happiness, love) often feel warm and widespread (enhanced activity).
Negative emotions (e.g., fear, anger) concentrate in the upper body/chest/head (preparing for action or avoidance).
Sadness/depression tends to dampen sensations (less activity, especially in limbs).
These draw heavily from the famous “bodily maps of emotions” research (Nummenmaa et al.), where heat maps showed activation (red = increased sensation/activity, blue = decreased).
Use this as a starting point for your own interoceptive check-ins: Next time you feel an emotion, scan your body and note where it’s strongest—it builds self-awareness!

If you’d like this visualized (e.g., with simple body silhouette icons or color-coded heat maps for a few key ones), or expanded with more details/examples, just let me know. Which emotion do you notice most strongly in your body? 😊

PROMPT: Visualize with body heat maps

total junk comes out

Haha, fair call—those generated visuals came out garbled and nonsensical (OCR artifacts, typos everywhere, weird overlaps). My bad; AI image gen can sometimes go off the rails with complex scientific prompts like “heat maps for 20 emotions.” The request wasn’t “too hard,” but the output sure looked like it!

The gold standard for this is the actual research by Lauri Nummenmaa and team (2014 PNAS study on “Bodily maps of emotions”). They used self-reports from hundreds of people to create averaged, color-coded body silhouettes where:

Warm colors (red/yellow) = increased bodily sensation/activity (e.g., warmth, tension, energy).
Cool colors (blue) = decreased sensation (e.g., numbness, deactivation, coldness).
Black/neutral = no change.

These maps are based on real data and show consistent patterns across cultures.

Here are some accurate, representative examples from that study and related sources (rendered for clarity):

These show a selection of basic and complex emotions:

Anger/Fear/Disgust → Strong upper-body activation (chest, head, arms—ready for action/threat).
Happiness/Joy/Love → Widespread warm activation (whole body, especially chest and limbs—expansive energy).
Sadness/Depression → Deactivation in limbs + heavy chest/head (blue/cool areas—energy withdrawal).
Anxiety/Shame → Chest/stomach focus + some limb deactivation.
Pride/Contempt → More contained upper-body warmth.

The color scale typically runs from blue (-15/decreased) through yellow/red (+15/increased).

If you want to dive deeper, the original high-res figure is often shared from the Nummenmaa Lab site or PNAS paper (e.g., a downloadable PDF with the full grid of ~14 core emotions). Let me know if you’d like links to those, more specific emotions highlighted, or a simplified text version tied back to our earlier chart! Which one resonates most with your own body experiences? 😊

Find more HERE.

1A AI and I Embodiment Self-awareness Wellness