Your Gut Knows First: The Sixth Sense Your Body Already Knows (And How Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Helps You Reclaim It)

Kendra Boone
Jul 31
3 min read

Updated: Aug 4

people using interoception to connect to internal body sensations during TCTSY trauma sensititve yoga therapy

Your Gut Knows First: Why Interoception Is the Sixth Sense We’ve Been Ignoring

You know that moment your chest tightens before your mind registers something is wrong?

That’s not just intuition. It’s interoception — your body’s built-in sixth sense. And it may be the most overlooked key to physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.

What Is Interoception?

Interoception is the ability to sense what’s happening inside your body, your somatics

— your heart rate, breathing, hunger, fatigue, even your emotional state. It’s how your body sends messages to your brain about your internal condition.

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee describes it like an internal data tracker — your body’s own wellness dashboard, constantly updating you on your stress level, energy, and readiness. While devices like Apple Watches track this externally, interoception lets you feel it from within.

“It’s a way to train the mind and body to work better together... almost hacking the nervous system to induce calm.” — Dr. Rangan Chatterjee

Why Interoception Matters

Interoception influences:

- How you feel

- What you’re motivated to do

- How you regulate emotions

- Whether you feel capable, calm, confident—or the opposite

When it’s working well, interoception helps you respond to life’s demands in a grounded, embodied way. When disrupted—by trauma, sensory overload, or chronic stress—it can make everyday life feel dysregulated, disconnected, or overwhelming.

Trauma, Neurodivergence & Interoceptive Disruption

Many people—especially those who are neurodivergent or trauma survivors—experience a shutdown or distortion of interoceptive signals. This isn’t a flaw. It’s a brilliant protective adaptation.

You may notice:

- Numbness or 'floating'

- Sensory overwhelm or anxious buzziness

- Disconnection from needs like hunger, thirst, or emotion

- Difficulty naming or locating feelings in the body

This is especially common for individuals living with:

- Complex or relational trauma

- Sensory processing differences

- Autism, ADHD, PTSD

- Eating disorders, sleep disturbances, or body image concerns

Interoception is often turned down when there’s pain, shame, or grief. This doesn’t mean something’s wrong — only that safety was needed. And with care, it can slowly return.

Rebuilding Interoception with the Body

Interoception can be gently restored through body-based, choice-oriented practices.

Yoga offers one such path — particularly when practiced in a trauma-sensitive, invitational way.

In yogic philosophy, this internal sensing is called pratyahara — the turning inward of the senses. Modern neuroscience now links this process to areas like the insula and somatosensory cortex.

In TCTSY (Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga), interoceptive awareness is central. There are no corrections, no postural ideals — just choice and gentle invitation.

Participants are offered:

- Opportunities to explore movement or stillness

- Invitations to notice internal sensation without interpretation

- Practices that support safety, agency, and presence

- Consistency that helps rewire the nervous system over time

Listening to the Body Can Be a Beginning

Interoception isn’t something we force or fix. It’s something we meet, in our own time.

“The body is not a battlefield. It's a resource.” — David Emerson

In TCTSY, we don’t ask you to follow or perform. We offer choices—like moving or pausing, noticing or not—that support your agency.

You’re not told what to feel or what to do. You are invited to explore what it’s like to be in relationship with your body, on your terms. You are the expert of your experience.

For many trauma survivors, the body has been a place of threat or confusion. TCTSY creates an opportunity to shift that relationship—slowly, gently, and without pressure.

If you’ve ever felt like your body wasn’t a safe place to be, or that your feelings were “too much” or “not enough,” this practice offers a different possibility. Not to change who you are, but to reconnect with what’s always been there—your body’s wisdom.

Ready to begin gently noticing, feeling, and choosing from within?

I'd love to have you join our trauma sensitive healing community.

Explore the 8-week TCTSY series here.