Reconnecting to the Wisdom Within: How Interoception Can Support Healing and Chronic Pain Recovery

This blog comes from Elizabeth Atwood, MPH, who is based in Colorado and brings over seven years of experience spanning mind–body interventions, research, public health systems, and implementation across complex systems. She is an expert in systems thinking and translating innovative ideas into practical, scalable solutions. Most recently, she developed, published, and is now piloting a mind–body program within school-based health centers designed as an early intervention. A key focus of her work is making neuroplastic approaches more accessible and better integrated into mainstream healthcare and public health.

There is a quiet revolution happening in health and healing.

For decades, we have been taught to look outside ourselves for answers. We seek experts, diagnoses, treatments, and solutions. While these resources can be invaluable, many people are rediscovering something equally important: the body itself holds wisdom.

Every moment of every day, our bodies are communicating with us. Through sensations, emotions, shifts in energy, tension, hunger, fatigue, and even pain, the body is constantly providing information about what we need. The challenge is that most of us were never taught how to listen.

This is where interoception comes in.

What Is Interoception?

Interoception is the ability to recognise, interpret, and respond to signals originating from within the body (Craig, 2002). It allows us to notice sensations such as hunger, thirst, pain, tension, a racing heart, or a sense of calm and ease. Interoception serves as our internal sensory system, helping us understand what is happening beneath the surface and respond accordingly.

At its core, interoception helps maintain homeostasis and overall well-being. It informs us when we need food, rest, movement, connection, or safety. It also plays a critical role in emotional regulation, stress management, and resilience. Conversely, interoceptive deficits, or difficulty accurately identifying and interpreting bodily sensations, may impair self-care and contribute to both physical and mental health concerns (Khalsa et al., 2017; Paulus & Stein, 2010; Qi et al., 2025; Schulz, 2015).

A growing body of research highlights the importance of interoception in physical health, emotional well-being, and psychological resilience, suggesting that strengthening interoceptive awareness may improve health outcomes across the lifespan (Khalsa et al., 2017; Paulus & Stein, 2010; Qi et al., 2025; Schulz, 2015).

While we often think of the mind and body as separate, interoception reminds us that they are deeply interconnected. Every emotion has a bodily component. Every physical sensation can influence our thoughts and emotions. Learning to recognise these signals is one of the most powerful ways we can reconnect with ourselves and access the wisdom already present within us.

Chronic Symptoms as Signals of Threat and Protection

Pain is one of the body's most powerful communication tools.

When we touch a hot stove, pain immediately alerts us to danger and motivates us to act. In this way, pain is protective. It captures our attention and helps keep us safe.

However, the body can also communicate perceived danger through symptoms, even when there is no immediate physical threat. Emotional stress, unresolved experiences, chronic life pressures, poor sleep, and nervous system dysregulation can all influence how the brain and body interpret safety and danger. When the nervous system remains in a prolonged state of vigilance, symptoms such as chronic pain, headaches, fatigue, digestive issues, and muscle tension may persist long after the original trigger has passed.

This does not mean the symptoms are imagined. The pain is real. Rather, symptoms can sometimes reflect an overprotective nervous system that continues to signal danger when danger is no longer present.

Unfortunately, chronic pain is remarkably common. In the United Kingdom, it is  estimated that just under 28 million adults, between one-third to one-half of the population, experience some form of chronic pain (Fayez et al., 2016). For many individuals, symptoms become more than a distressing physical experience. They become a constant source of worry, frustration, and exhaustion.

How Chronic Pain Can Disconnect Us From Our Bodies

Living with chronic pain often creates a paradox.

The body is trying to communicate, yet pain can become so loud that it drowns out every other signal.

When symptoms persist day after day, it is natural to focus intensely on them. We monitor them, anticipate them, analyse them, and search for ways to make them stop. This response is understandable. Pain is designed to command our attention.

Over time, however, hypervigilance toward pain can narrow our awareness of everything else happening within the body. Instead of noticing the full spectrum of bodily sensations, we become focused almost exclusively on discomfort.

Research supports this phenomenon. A systematic review examining interoception among individuals with chronic pain found that lower interoceptive abilities were associated with chronic pain conditions, suggesting that many chronic pain patients may become less connected to their broader internal experience (DeLernia et al., 2016).

As a result, subtle cues such as relaxation, satisfaction, comfort, safety, emotional needs, and moments of well-being can become harder to recognise.

This is why rebuilding interoception can be such a powerful part of healing.

Importantly, improving interoception is not merely about paying more attention to pain. It is about expanding awareness beyond pain. This means intentionally noticing neutral sensations and pleasant sensations that often go overlooked:

The warmth of sunlight on your skin.

The sensation of your feet making contact with the ground.

The feeling of your shoulders softening after a deep breath.

Moments of ease may seem insignificant, but they provide important evidence to the nervous system that safety is also present.

Over time, strengthening this awareness can support nervous system regulation, reduce stress reactivity, and lessen the hyperfixation that may amplify symptoms. Interoception helps shift the relationship from fearing the body to partnering with it.

The narrative begins to change from:

"My body is the enemy causing my pain."

to

"My body is communicating important information and helping me respond to my needs."

This shift can be profoundly healing.

The Role of Trauma, Stress, and Emotional Experiences

Our bodies do not only carry physical experiences. They also reflect emotional experiences.

A growing body of research suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including emotional abuse, neglect, family dysfunction, and parental substance use, are associated with increased rates of chronic pain later in life (Bussières et al., 2023).

In fact, the prevalence of chronic pain increases as the number of ACEs an individual experiences increases (Bussières et al., 2023). For example, among patients with irritable bowel syndrome, one form of chronic pain, 63% report exposure to at least one adverse childhood experience (Alsubaie et al., 2022).

This does not mean that every instance of chronic pain is caused by trauma. Chronic pain is complex and influenced by biological, psychological, social, and environmental factors. However, these findings suggest that emotional experiences and chronic stress may play an important role in shaping how the nervous system responds to threat and safety over time.  In fact, when chronic pain is neuroplastic, it is rooted in nervous system dysregulation, making nervous system-based approaches even more potent.

For many people, improving interoception involves becoming more aware of the emotional experiences that accompany physical sensations. Emotions often show up in the body before they are fully recognised by the mind. Anxiety may feel like tightness in the chest. Sadness may feel heavy in the throat. Joy may feel expansive and warm.

Learning to notice these signals with curiosity rather than judgment creates an opportunity to respond to them in healthy ways before they become overwhelming.

Practical Ways to Strengthen Interoception

The good news is that interoception is a skill, and like any skill, it can be strengthened with practice. The following are some practical ways that you can begin to hone this skill:

1. Practise a Daily Body Scan

A body scan helps cultivate awareness of sensations throughout the body.

Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and take a few slow breaths. Beginning at your feet and gradually moving upward, notice what sensations are present. You might observe warmth, pressure, tingling, heaviness, comfort, tension, or even an absence of sensation.

Rather than trying to change anything, simply observe.

If pain arises, approach it with curiosity rather than judgment. Notice its qualities and allow yourself to stay present with the experience without immediately labelling it as good or bad.

Most importantly, spend time noticing neutral and pleasant sensations. These experiences help broaden awareness beyond discomfort and reinforce signals of safety.

2. Map Emotions in the Body

Emotions often have unique physical signatures.

Spend time exploring how different emotions manifest in your body. Perhaps anger appears as heat in your

chest, fear as tension in your stomach, guilt as heaviness, or joy as a feeling of expansion.

As you become familiar with these patterns, it becomes easier to recognise emotions as they arise during daily life.

When you notice an emotion, acknowledge it without overanalysing it. Then create space to process it safely through journalling, movement, creative expression, meditation, therapy, or conversations with trusted friends.

It is important to recognise that reconnecting with emotions can sometimes feel intense, particularly when difficult experiences have been avoided for a long time. Working with a therapist or mental health professional can provide valuable support during this process.

3. Use Breath as an Anchor

Breathwork offers one of the simplest and most accessible ways to strengthen interoception.

Create small moments throughout the day to pause and notice your breath. Feel the movement of air through your nose. Notice your chest and abdomen rise and fall.

Experiment with different techniques to determine what feels supportive for your body. You might try extending the exhale during periods of stress, practising box breathing (breathing in, holding, breathing out, and holding for an equal amount of time), exploring alternate nostril breathing, or engaging in more energizing breathing practices (such as breath of fire, a rapid and rhythmic breathing technique in which the exhale is powerfully forced and the inhale is passive).

Putting It All Together

 

Improving interoception is not about eliminating symptoms overnight. It is about rebuilding a relationship with your body.

Many people with chronic pain do not learn about interoception until they are already struggling and searching for answers. Yet these skills may also serve as powerful preventative tools.

Emerging research has begun exploring how mind-body interventions can be implemented as early intervention strategies among youth within healthcare, educational, and public health settings, with the goal of strengthening emotional awareness, self-regulation, and resilience before more serious health challenges emerge (Atwood & Smith, 2026).

By helping individuals become more attuned to their internal experiences, interoception may offer a pathway not only for chronic pain recovery but also for improving mental health, emotional well-being, and overall quality of life.

The body is communicating all the time.

The question is not whether it is speaking. The question is whether we have learned how to listen.

The next time you find yourself discouraged by chronic pain or persistent symptoms, consider approaching your body with curiosity rather than fear. Beneath the discomfort may be important information, unmet needs, or an invitation to reconnect.

Your body may be wiser than you realise.

And interoception may be the compass that helps you find your way back to the wisdom, resilience, and healing potential already within you.

References:

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Atwood, E., & Smith, A. R. (2026). Leveraging an interoception intervention to improve clinic and patient outcomes: A systems thinking lens. Psychological Services.. https://dx.doi.org/ 10.1037/ser0001023

Bussières, A., Hancock, M. J., Elklit, A., Ferreira, M. L., Ferreira, P. H., Stone, L. S., ... & Hartvigsen, J. (2023). Adverse childhood experience is associated with an increased risk of reporting chronic pain in adulthood: a systematic review and meta-analysis. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 14(2). DOI: 10.1080/20008066. 2023.2284025

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