Interoception: A key to managing anxiety 🫨😵‍💫

"Brainy What-Why-How"

Your weekly nibble of brain-based tips to help you move and feel great!

🧠

What:

Interoceptive awareness* can lead to reduced anxiety in some people, but increased anxiety in others.

*being able to notice and feel your inner landscape, such as your heart beat, how badly you need to pee, etc.

Why:

As someone with an interoceptive awareness that is arguably TOO HIGH--

-- a common symptom in people with joint hypermobility!--

it came as a surprise to me to learn that some people are pretty unobservant of their internal environment 🤯

I'm curious -- which are you? 

1️⃣ you are HYPER aware of your body -- i.e. you become uncomfortable the second you need to pee, the awareness of your heart beating keeps you awake at night it's so freakin loud.

2️⃣ your interoception is perhaps TOO LOW -- i.e. you forget to eat on busy days because you don't notice your stomach growling, you are mind-blown that other people can feel their hearts beat even at rest

3️⃣ you have a pretty good balance -- you can tap into how your body is feeling, but it's not a distraction

Obviously, like most things in life, there's a nice middle ground ( 3️⃣) we can all aim for with interoception.

How:

Interoception is thanks to neural circuitry that allow us to focus inwards; 

its counterpart is exteroception -- being aware of the world around you -- also due to circuitries. 

The fact it's neural (duh) means these can be TRAINED and ADAPTED! You're not stuck.

So:

1️⃣ If your interoception is too HIGH: it's likely you'd make the world's worst detective, totally oblivious to details in the world around you: 

  • When you start to get distracted by feelings inside your body, apply mindfulness and instead begin noticing the details of things externally to you. Use all 5 senses 👀👂👅👃🤌

2️⃣ If your interoception is too LOW: you may also be at times hyper-vigilant, which can be exhausting: 

  • Do any movement that raises your breathing and heart rate, and then notice your breathing and heart rate slowing down in the minutes following the movement. This is a type of Aligning Dimensions of Interoceptive Experience (ADIE)**

Wishing you beautiful internal AND external landscapes, 

Adell xoxo

**​here's the full study​, which showed decreased anxiety even months after in participants who completed the ADIE exercises

Want to go way deeper on all of this geeky brain stuff?​
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• Sign up to ​my next NeuroYoga TTC​ where I teach YOU how to blend yoga + neurology
• Get my book ​"Too Flexible to Feel Good: A Practical Roadmap to Managing Hypermobility"​

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