Cultivate Somatic Awareness

How you can become an intrepid explorer of your inner landscape.

What if I told you that you could turn up the dial of your everyday experience? With sufficient practice, you could enhance your capacity to sense and track your internal state, as if upgrading from a 1960s television to experiencing the movie of your life at an IMAX in 4K. This is the power of somatic awareness, or ‘interoception’ — yet most people have never heard of it.

1. What is an experience that brings me inside my body?

What are the moments in life when you feel most attuned to your internal experience? Perhaps it’s taking a walk, a yoga class, swimming, or even lovemaking. Reflect on the moments during your day/week when you are most in touch with your inner landscape. How might you schedule more of these activities into your calendar?

2. What internal sensations are alive in this moment?

Imagine that you’re a scientist objectively reporting on internal sensations or a weatherman giving an update on the weather systems of your own body.

3. How can I create the external conditions for my desired internal state to emerge?

We can consciously change our environment — and in doing so, our internal state will co-regulate with this new place or person.

Open Guide in Reflection.app