Minding the Body: How Interoception Improves Well-Being in Your Life and at Work
- Eva Peters
- Aug 31
- 6 min read
When we think about being “mindful,” many of us picture calming our minds or managing our thoughts. But there’s another vital—and sometimes overlooked—dimension of mindfulness: awareness of the body.
In the university course The Science and Practice of Mindfulness at Work, we dedicate an entire session to this topic. We explore interoception—the ability to sense and interpret internal bodily signals—and how tuning into our bodies can deeply improve our mental and physical well-being, both in life and at work.
What Is Interoception?
Interoception refers to the perception of internal bodily signals such as heartbeat, breathing, hunger, pain, or fatigue. In research terms, it's our ability to notice and make sense of the physical sensations that arise from within (Mehling et al., 2012). This internal awareness acts like an inner compass, guiding how we feel, react, and make decisions.
But here’s the key: it’s not just about noticing sensations. It’s about interpreting them accurately. For example, if we feel tightness in the chest, do we immediately assume something is wrong—or can we pause, check in, and discern whether it’s stress, fatigue, or something else?
Being mindful helps us not only perceive internal cues more clearly, but also relate to them with curiosity and care—rather than fear or avoidance.
How We Teach Interoception in Class
In our university course, The Science and Practice of Mindfulness at Work, we introduce students to the science behind interoception and pair it with experiential practices. In our lecture, we first introduce students to the concept of interoception by having them read research on interoception training and its measurement— this gives them an idea of how powerful the ability to feel into our bodily signals can be for restoring and maintaining health and positive functioning. We guide students to understand that bodily awareness is foundational to emotional regulation, decision-making, and stress resilience.
Then we focus on practice. Three main mindfulness practices help develop body awareness:
1. Body Scan Meditation:
The body scan is a foundational practice for interoceptive training. It involves slowly moving attention through different parts of the body—feet, legs, belly, chest, shoulders, face—observing sensations with curiosity and without judgment.
It’s a powerful way to practice presence, groundedness, and non-reactivity—all through the simple act of noticing what’s happening inside.
2. Mindful Walking
Walking meditation brings awareness to the body in motion. We guide students to pay attention to the sensation of the feet touching the ground, the movement of the legs, the shifting of weight, and the rhythm of the breath while walking.This practice is particularly helpful for people who struggle with stillness—it turns everyday movement into an opportunity for embodied mindfulness and nervous system regulation.
Many students report feeling more clear-headed, focused, and calm after just a few minutes of mindful walking.
3. Mindful Movement and Stretching
Gentle movement—such as mindful stretching, yoga-inspired postures, or shoulder and neck rolls helps us notice how the body feels as it moves, where we’re holding tension, and what areas are asking for attention.This type of practice encourages self-regulation through action, allowing the release of stress stored in the body and fostering a more fluid, open posture throughout the workday.
By connecting breath to movement and staying attuned to internal feedback, mindful movement becomes a dynamic tool for body awareness and energy balance.
Students often find these practices surprisingly powerful—revealing just how disconnected they can be from their own body signals, and how grounding it is to return.
Why Interoception Matters for Well-Being
Interoception is deeply linked to how we feel, regulate, and relate. Research shows that developing this body awareness supports well-being in at least three major ways:
1. Emotion Regulation
When we feel emotions, we’re actually feeling bodily signals—a racing heart, shallow breath, muscle tension. Being able to notice and tolerate these sensations without reacting impulsively supports emotional regulation (Pinna & Edwards, 2020). This improves resilience, patience, and how we manage stress.
2. Social Intelligence
Our ability to interpret internal signals is linked to how we read social cues and empathize with others. A study by Adolfi et al., (2017) found that interoceptive ability is associated with stronger social cognition, suggesting that awareness of our own bodily states helps us better understand others' states too.
3. Better Decision-Making
According to Antonio Damasio’s Somatic Marker Hypothesis, bodily signals are essential inputs in how we evaluate options and make choices—especially under uncertainty. These “gut feelings” help us sense what is right or wrong for us (Bechara & Damasio, 2005; Damasio, 1999). When we practice mindfulness, we become more attuned to these subtle cues.
Why Interoception Matters at Work
In the workplace, body awareness can make a profound difference in sustainable performance and well-being. Here’s how:
Managing stress: By noticing signs of tension or fatigue early, we can pause, reset, or take a break—rather than pushing through until burnout.
Energy regulation: Awareness of our energy levels helps us optimize when to focus, when to rest, and how to structure our day.
Navigating interactions: Recognizing how our body responds in meetings, presentations, or difficult conversations can guide us to communicate more effectively.
Preventing burnout: Instead of overriding the body’s signals (which many high performers do), we can create micro-moments of care—stretching, breathing, moving—which support long-term resilience.
Tuning into needs: Body awareness supports more conscious decisions about eating, sleeping, or movement—habits that directly influence our capacity to show up engaged and focused.
Ultimately, our body is always communicating with us—we just need to listen.
Try This: Mini Body Scan Practice
Take 2–3 minutes right now to pause and check in:
Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Bring attention to your feet on the floor. What sensations do you notice—warmth, pressure, tingling?
Slowly move your attention upward: legs, hips, belly, chest, shoulders, neck, face.
As you move through each area, simply notice any sensations—without needing to fix or change anything.
When your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the body.
End by taking a deep breath, and open your eyes.
This simple practice grounds you in your body and builds your interoceptive "muscle."
📋 Self-Reflection: How in Tune Are You with Your Body?
Inspired by Mehling et al., (2018), here are a few self-assessment prompts. Rate each from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree):
When I am tense, I notice where the tension is located in my body.
I push feelings of discomfort away by focusing on something else
I start to worry that something is wrong if I feel any discomfort.
I can refocus my attention from thinking to sensing my body.
I notice how my body changes when I feel happy /joyful.
When I am caught up in thoughts, I can calm my mind by focusing on my body/ breathing.
I listen for information from my body about my emotional state.
I feel my body is a safe place.
✨ What did you learn about your body awareness? Where might you benefit from pausing more often to check in?
Final Thought
Your body is not just a vessel for your brain—it’s a source of wisdom. When you tune in to your body with mindful awareness, you strengthen your ability to self-regulate, connect with others, and make wiser, healthier choices in every area of your life.
Mindfulness begins not in the mind, but in the body.
References
Adolfi, F., Couto, B., Richter, F., Decety, J., Lopez, J., Sigman, M., Manes, F., & Ibáñez, A. (2017). Convergence of interoception, emotion, and social cognition: A twofold fMRI meta-analysis and lesion approach. Cortex, 88, 124–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2016.12.019
Bechara, A., & Damasio, A. R. (2005). The somatic marker hypothesis: A neural theory of economic decision. Games and Economic Behavior, 52(2), 336–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geb.2004.06.010
Damasio, A. (1999). Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt,. https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1370569869258444800
Mehling, W. E., Acree, M., Stewart, A., Silas, J., & Jones, A. (2018). The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 (MAIA-2). PLOS ONE, 13(12), e0208034. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208034
Pinna, T., & Edwards, D. J. (2020). A systematic review of associations between interoception, vagal tone, and emotional regulation: Potential applications for mental health, wellbeing, psychological flexibility, and chronic conditions. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 1792. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01792
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