Interoception. It must be nice to have!
(The words and opinions of this blog are that of the author and her experiences. This is not professional advice, and should not be used in lieu of that. )I wouldn’t know though…
Wait! Don’t get me wrong, I know what it is - by definition and I definitely have interoception - we all do. It’s more on the fact whether my brain acknowledges and shares these insights that I am lacking. I also have been doing a huge deep dive on it, learning a lot about it as well as realising that I personally do NOT have great interoceptive awareness & it’s not something that I can just magically obtain (in my case anyway, I’ll expand further down). In the same breath, I’m not saying it’s hopeless and it’s once again about bringing some supports into place (and potentially training yourself) that lets you do a conscious check in on yourself.
I might be getting ahead of myself here, as interoception is not a commonly used word for a commonly experienced sensation, in fact on my socials I notice #InteroceptiveAwareness has low use. Some of you who read this probably do know all about interoception (as when we deep dive a topic such as Neurodiversity, we REALLY deep dive), and the rest of you know it too - but maybe not the word for it.
Interoceptive awareness, whats that?
Interoception is a continually working sense that has a huge influence on many areas of our lives like self-regulation, mental health and social connection, picking up on our body’s internal signals or cues - such as hunger, fullness, thirst, temperature, emotions, pain, needing the toilet (before you’re pushing cloth)... All this monitoring is then sent to the brain where it deciphers your current regulated (or dysregulated) state and prioritises needs.
For some people, this experience seems almost automatic and theres no consciousness to do the check ins (so I’ve heard), which blows my mind as you’re telling me people just ‘recognise’ what they need as they need it? Wow, like I said, that must be nice! This interoceptive sense is always there, but sometimes and for some people the brain can’t or wont register these cues (because other things have it’s full attention).
A perfect example is when its playtime. All the fun is happening, the game is exciting and intense and imaginations are running BIG. For some, this game is more than a game, it’s all consuming, it’s EVERYTHING, it’s delivering all the DOPAMINE and therefore it takes complete priority. If at school then snacks are forgotten, toilets are unvisited, and drink bottles stay full because the brain doesn’t care for smaller dopamine. So when the bell rings to go to class - the system is shocked as the easiest and largest dopamine delivery is halted leaving dysregulation in it’s wake. It might be only then the child will then notice they’re busting, hungry, and thirsty (simultaneously) or they could be just so overwhelmed from multiple needs they don’t know what they want - resulting in a meltdown, shutdown, or an ‘accident’.
Interoceptive awareness + me = ?
For me, and I feel for a lot of others too, it’s not that I ignore the signals and end up dysregulated - most of these signals don’t come through in the first place! The example I mentioned before about the dopamine of playtime overriding all other needs applies to adults as well - replace playtime with another hyperfixation - whether it be work, a creative project, a good book, a 1000 piece puzzle (a one time thing, puzzles usually have no interest draw for me but one was laying there and for some reason that day I had to prove that I could complete it within the day - to the point I was FRUSTRATED I was doing it, knowing I needed to be doing other things but I could not move away from it). I cannot put into words how out of control I was particularly for the puzzle experience, I didn’t want to do it - I HAD to do it, and if I didn’t do it then all it would have done was consume my thought space so my only liberation was to complete it.
Another specific daily example from me is I don’t feel thirsty, EVER. I understand that true thirst is something people really don’t experience as fluids are readily available, but I receive no cues at all. I see people drinking water and I’m like ‘Whoa, how do they remember to keep doing that?’ I drink because I see someone else do it and feel I should, or because I set reminders to check in on my water intake.
Does that mean I am not thirsty? Absolutely not. I’m sure my body is absolutely wanting to drink and loves the idea of being hydrated- I just don’t pick up on the easily rectifiable cue of needing a drink, especially when I’m in hyperfocus mode. It’s not until I receive cues of being upset or irritable, that my head is aching, and I feel like I have been hit by a bag of bricks to question why do I feel SO BAD to realise I’m probably dehydrated and I should maybe... have something to drink.
By then I am dysregulated and it is so much more work and time to bring me back to a neutral state, not to mention the continual ‘tummy and health issues’ I have from frequently (and unintentionally) dehydrating myself.
You can ‘train’ your interoceptive awareness?
So they say - and I only say that as I am yet to experience it completely successfully as that good old train of thought takes me to stations away from regulation! It make’s me think it would be like pain conditioning - like when you lay on the spiked meditation mats - in the beginning you may only last a few seconds but over time you will develop tolerance and eventuate into minutes. Training your interoceptive awareness (for yourself or others) can look like:
Noticing the cue sensation.
Prompts or cue to regularly check in on self, to stop and do a body scan. Working actively as the cue or sensation rears is the best learning and connective time.
Naming the sensation and connecting to it emotively.
Metaphorically sitting with that sensation and recognising how you’d categorise it. As an adult supporting a child, observational tracking can help with communication development - and all methods of communication are valid!
Understanding the impact relative to the individual.
This one is KEY. Explaining rationale of why we need to do what we do before dysregulated states can be the best learning point in ways that it is RELATABLE. For example, “Drink water or you’ll get dehydrated” will not resonate with kids in the same way as “Drink some water, because when we don’t have enough our head hurts.”
Managing the cue.
With the first 3 steps achieved, you can then support the child (or yourself) to make choices to manage the cue and prepare to support for next time too.
Two important points I really want to press:
Regulated is what we all want to be - but remember It is important to remember that children will need adult support initially before they can self-regulate. Also, their bodies are changing, drastically -every day! No year is the same as the last, it is literally a roller coaster of development! Even as adults we don’t always get it right either, ensure you allow for compassion and understanding on that (for yourself too). Think back to times when you’re feeling run down, you don’t know what you want (because there’s most likely multiple needs desperate for attention) and you just can’t shake the cranky feeling, or just want to cry.
That these steps exist in an ideal state. Hyperfocus, distractions, or too many cues / too far dysregulated can and will override all this. It’s not a one and done, learned and implemented - it is a forever conscious effort. So please remember that, don’t get down on yourself when order slips or the practises aren’t used.
Supporting Interoceptive awareness:
Supports are key for neurodivergent brains, but they only work when they are used (more on this in next week’s blog). This week I am trialling ‘5 Minute Self Check In’ with my girls on two new worksheets where they can do a conscious interoceptive check in, particularly post lunch where its been big play with a lot of potential overwhelm, missed eating because the monkey bars were too alluring…
I have 2 versions of a work sheet that I have laminated with the intent to use a whiteboard marker and physically interact with it.
The intention behind is twofold - to take a literal 5 minutes to sit with yourself, take a breath to come back down from the emotional high / process the transition and actually do a body check in to see if there’s any dysregulating elements present, and they are available in my free mindful resources to share with you HERE!
5 Minute Regulation Station
Remember the old Girlfriend / Dolly magazine quizzes from the late 90s / early 2000s? If not, they used to go something like this (but for completely different topics).
I wanted to make an interactive worksheet in a similar way where you start by picking a car colour to match your feeling then you drive the path - even physically following it with an actual physical toy car or whiteboard marker (if laminated).
Check in on body temp, food, toilet, water, and sensory needs and some ideas / suggestions before having an opportunity to describe your feeling in one word (or more, or not at all if you like).
5 Minute Body Check In
This one I wanted to be like a full body scan check in, stopping and reflecting on a system / need to see how it’s being maintained.
This one is personalised to my daughter but you can find a customisable character in my resources. I made it light enough to be a template and you can amend the character to represent you!
So far my 8 year old is preferential to this one, but she also loves being one of the main characters of my creative pieces!
Notice in these worksheets I don’t ask if the user is hungry or thirsty as with that lower / lack of interospective awareness that the answer can be dismissive. But we know that if we didn’t eat lunch and spent the whole break on the playground instead of eating food then by logic we haven’t had enough to eat - irrespective of whether we are hungry or not.
More Support Ideas:
The thing with supports, is they are as unique as the individual using them, meaning it comes down to the person using them finding the right fit for them. The best thing you can do is see what works for others and whatever grabs your interest, trial in your life. It may work ‘for now’, or forever - the key to a support for Neurodivergent brains is that it needs to deliver dopamine. Some other ideas could be -
Set reminders on phones, watches, visual timers, etc. To get up and move around, have a drink, eat, etc.
Schedule and plan day before - removing cognitive work on ‘what next’ can allow for routine success.
Bright coloured, visually catching supports such as drink bottles, lunchboxes, etc.
An Accountabilibuddy! So great as we always seem to care more for others, so if you can find someone who reciprocates that you can check in on each other!
Work with a support / allied health professional. My girls and I are currently doing a deep focus on interoception with our amazing O.T. - as we’re like 3 little lost lambs in the field on this topic. Just because I am talking about it in depth, please don’t assume I’m an expert on it. I’m actually hoping I highlighted how little my interoceptive skills are!
Do you have ‘hacks’ to help stay regulated? I would love to hear!
