What is Your Inner Universe Trying to Tell You? 

Anyone who has spent any time struggling to fall asleep in a space that is too bright or too loud can tell you that the human brain needs to shut out input from the outer environment in order to achieve restful sleep. But what if I told you that the brain is actually under a constant barrage of noisy input from a vast array of machinery throughout the night? Specifically, I am talking about the input that our brains receive from our very own inner organ systems and metabolic processes. 

Recent research has shown that the brain receives independent, highly detailed, and precise signals from every organ and every tissue in the body, including blood vessels. This input is transmitted via the long vagus nerve directly into the brain where it is processed. There is a constant conveyor belt of information from the body that is crucial for the maintenance of  homeostasis, metabolism, emotional regulation and indeed our very survival. 

Collectively, this inner sensory information is known as the sense of “interoception”. Interoception is the process by which the brain senses, interprets, and integrates signals arising from inside the body. It is our capacity to perceive internal physiological states such as heartbeat, breath, hunger, fullness, thirst, temperature, muscle tension, and visceral sensations.

In basic terms, interoception is the body’s inner sensing system. During waking hours, this inner sensing system is drowned out by powerful visual and auditory stimuli from the outside world. But at night, the five external senses are shut down and the brain awakens to the body. 

During sleep, interoceptive input from visceral organs and systems forges our world. Information streaming into the brain shapes the content of our dreams, possibly generating the narrative content and emotional tone. Even during deep REM sleep, the brain processes visceral signals including heart rate, endocrine or digestive signals, often interpreting them as metaphors or sensations within the dream narrative. Some research indicates that increased visceral processing is linked to nightmares. It is during sleep that our body has the chance to confer with the brain about what it has experienced and how it feels. 

Because so many emotions are accompanied by body sensations, the skill of recognizing cues from the body during waking hours is an integral part of recognizing emotional states. This includes discerning when the stress response of the body has been activated. Interoception is the ability to sense the increased heart rate and breath rate and feeling of increased muscle tension that occurs when the body is under threat. Honing the sense of interoception is part of the process of building self-monitoring skills, emotional resilience and the ability to self soothe. 

Yoga practice is one of the most powerful modalities that we can use to understand and access this inner world. And while your social media feed may be full of images of people striking the poses of asana practice, there is so much more that yoga can impart to us. Asana is, after all, only one of the Eight Limbs of Yoga. 

Yoga asks us to turn our attention away from that which is outside of us. It fosters the Niyama of self-study through breath-focused, mindful movement. By holding poses, we are asked to identify physical tension and stored emotions. The even more difficult practice of stillness cultivates awareness of thought patterns and those old cognitive distortions that can be the refuge of a restless mind. By asking us to maintain equanimity in movement and stillness alike, yoga encourages a transition from reactive behaviors to conscious presence. 

The next time you find yourself on your mat, or even just sitting quietly, take the opportunity to close your eyes and look inward. Pay attention to the feeling of your hands clasped on your lap, to the way your head sits on your shoulders. How quickly do your breaths come and how fully can you inhale? Is there something your gut or your heart is trying to tell you? You don’t have to wait for your dreams to hear your body tell a story. 

Our own inner universe is just as valid, if not more so, than anything in the world outside of us. You have a miraculous inner universe waiting to be explored.