Interoception is the bodily sense that allows us to be in touch with what our body is communicating to us. We’re all born with an awareness of what our body is saying to us, but if there’s physical, mental, or emotional trauma or if this awareness isn’t properly nurtured, then this ability can diminish.

When someone has poor interoception, there is a disconnect from the body. This increases the risk of developing different physical and mental health conditions. Signs of poor interoception may include:¹

• Difficulty recognizing when you’re hungry or full

• Constipation

• Exaggerated and abnormal responses to pain, stress, or other emotions

• Difficulty recognizing or explaining signs of illness like fatigue, fever, headache, nausea

If you have signs of poor interoception, fortunately, there are many ways to improve interoceptive awareness within your body.

Many people know about the five senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. The importance of these five senses has been ingrained in us since childhood. But the human body isn’t that simple. 

The human body is complex, and it’s this complexity that allows our bodies to protect us and carry us through life. 

Our bodies have additional senses that allow us to connect with the outside world as well as to what’s happening within our bodies. Two of these additional senses are called interoception and exteroception.

Interoception is what allows us to be in touch with our bodies, both emotionally and physically. It’s the sense that gives us the ability to connect with our internal felt sense of self. Our bodies communicate with the outside world with a sense called exteroception. 

The balance between interoception and exteroception is what allows our bodies to receive signals from the outside world, process them internally, and then understand them. Although our understanding of interoception and exteroception isn’t as much as that of the five senses, researchers uncover more and more everyday.

When the fascial tissues allow for the flow of electricity, our body can function at a beautiful, optimal level. On the other hand, when fascia isn’t healthy, likely due to patterns of tightness or deformation, the human body will likely experience chronic symptoms or disease.

So, how can we enable and support healthy fascia and electrical flow? One huge aspect of this comes down to water. Our bodies are primarily made of water, and the holistic electrical communication within the body is largely dependent upon the structure of water molecules. To understand this, it’s important to dive deeper and explore the fourth phase of water and the piezoelectric phenomenon.

The average person takes about 20,000 breaths per day, yet not many people pay attention to how they’re breathing. The quality of your breathing can have a profound impact on your health, causing a wide range of physiological changes beyond the simple exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Many ancient cultures knew about the healing potential of breathing and developed entire traditions around this – such as yoga and qigong. You may have also heard of Wim Hof, the famous extreme athlete who uses breathing techniques to tolerate extreme temperatures. 

Harnessing the power of the breath has some seemingly-miraculous benefits, even beyond tolerating a polar plunge. Optimizing your breath can be transformative to your immunity and overall health in ways that we’re just now beginning to understand. The best part is that your breath is free and accessible to you at all times, with no harmful side effects!

“I haven’t been sick since 2019,” said a patient of mine recently.

No one likes getting sick, and you may think that this is something to celebrate. However, this is actually something I worry about hearing. I don’t believe that our immune system is healthy if we don’t get sick every once in a while. Getting sick is an innate part of being human, and our immune system has evolved to account for this. My patient’s statement has me thinking about the downstream consequences of avoiding illness.

An Epidemic of Absence by Moises Vasquez-Manoff provides an insightful exploration of the hygiene hypothesis: that the modern-day sanitization practices may be causing immune dysfunction underlying the current rise in allergies, asthma, and autoimmune conditions.¹ Considering that the immune system has tight links with the endocrine and nervous systems, this discussion also begs an even bigger question...

What exactly does illness do to us as humans – physically, mentally, and developmentally?

While there’s still so much we don’t yet understand about immunity, it’s worth exploring how extreme attempts to protect ourselves from pathogens may have big-picture consequences.