What is Interoception?

Have you ever heard of the Interoception? If not, don’t worry! It is one of our 8 Senses that often does not get as much attention as the 5 we know best. Let us do a bit of a recap!

 

We are all familiar with the 5 Senses:

  1. Visual System: Seeing.

  2. Auditory System: Hearing

  3. Gustatory System: Taste

  4. Olfactory System: Smell

  5. Tactile System: Touch.

 

As we mentioned, we actually have 8 Senses! !The other 3 are somewhat less talked about, but play an important role in childhood development. These additional 3 are:

  1. Proprioceptive System - The awareness of our body in space which you can read more about HERE

  2. Vestibular System - Our awareness of movement, which we have explored previously HERE

  3. Interception…

So what is interoception?

The 8th, often neglected system, refers to the physiological sensations in the body. These are the senses that we have about our internal body (e.g hunger, thirst, breathing, heart rate, elimination etc.).

In Yoga, this plays an important role as it brings awareness to our internal state. Let’s look at a few ways in which we can incorporate this system in our Yoga Class!

Incorporating Interoception into our Yoga Classes!

 
 
 

Want to learn more? Join our Online, Self-Paced Kids Yoga Teacher Training!

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Anatomy + PerceptionTarryn Thomson