Most of us think awareness lives in our head. We try to think our way to calm, to clarity, to connection. But awareness isn’t just mental. It’s biological. It’s a living dialogue between your brain and body, often happening long before your thoughts get the memo.

There are three words that can completely shift how you relate to yourself: neuroception, interoception, and felt sense. They sound like something out of a neuroscience textbook, but they’re actually the language of aliveness, the words that describe how your body tells you the truth before your mind catches up.

Neuroception: The Body’s Threat Detector

Before you even think, your nervous system is scanning the room. Neuroception, a term coined by Dr. Stephen Porges, is your body’s built-in surveillance system. It asks one question, over and over: Am I safe, or am I not?

It’s not logical. It’s primal. That tightness in your chest around someone unpredictable? That’s neuroception whispering, this isn’t safe. The ease you feel laughing with an old friend? Same system, just saying, we can relax now.

Understanding neuroception isn’t about becoming hyper vigilant; it’s about befriending your own wiring. You start realizing, oh, my body isn’t overreacting. It’s protecting me.

Interoception: The Art of Feeling Yourself (No, Not Like That)

Interoception is your internal GPS, your awareness of what’s happening inside your body. Hunger, heartbeat, breath, tight jaw, fluttery stomach. It’s how you sense your own internal weather.

The tricky part is we’ve been trained to override it. We scroll when we’re lonely. We drink coffee when we’re tired. We smile through anxiety. Interoception invites us back into honesty. It says, “You don’t need to fix what you feel, just feel it.”

Start small. Notice your breath when you’re stressed. Feel your pulse when you’re excited. These aren’t soft skills; they’re the foundation of emotional intelligence.

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The more you practice noticing, the more fluent you become in your body’s language.

Felt Sense: The Quiet Knowing Beneath Words

Coined by philosopher Eugene Gendlin, felt sense is that vague, bodily knowing you can’t quite name yet. It’s the gut sense that something’s off in a conversation, or the warmth that tells you something’s right.

I like to say felt sense is what happens when interoception meets interpretation, when the body’s data meets your inner meaning-maker.

It’s the body’s poetry, meaning that arrives before language. You can’t force it; you listen for it. Sometimes it arrives as a lump in your throat, a heaviness in your belly, a sigh that feels like relief.

When you get good at tuning in, decisions get clearer, relationships get softer, and anxiety loses some of its mystery.

Why This Matters

When we ignore these three languages, we end up disconnected from the very system designed to guide us. Reconnecting doesn’t require therapy or meditation retreats. It requires curiosity.

Next time you feel off, ask:

• What’s my neuroception telling me about safety right now?
  
• What sensations am I noticing inside me (interoception)?
  
• What’s the felt sense of this moment, beneath the noise of thought?
  

Your body’s been speaking this language since birth. You just forgot how to listen.

This isn’t just mindfulness. It’s a return to the original intelligence that lives under your skin.