In his journals from the 60s (we’ve got a copy in our mini-library), Thich Nhat Hanh imagines enlightenment in simple terms: "I eat when I'm hungry; I sleep when I'm tired." Even within the monastic Buddhist community, Thich was known for his mindful nature. Here, he asks: What is being present, if not being aware of how you feel?
Interoception describes your ability to notice signals coming from your body. What are the first physical sensations you notice right now? The pressure of your body pressed up against a seat or your feet on the floor? Warmth or coolness? A sense of hunger or thirst? Naturally, we can't attend to all of these sensations all of the time. They fall into the background when you focus on a more salient task.
On that note, I would like to present you with an image of an oxygen cylinder made for coal mine canaries. Why does this exist? because those big, tough coal miners didn’t want their bird friends to die. So, the second, they saw the canary start to wobble from the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, they would slam the door shut and crank on the oxygen.
Image from https://blog.scienceandindustrymuseum.org.uk/canary-resuscitator/
Like any parent, I have had to argue with my kid on whether he needs to go to the bathroom or if he’s hungry or tired. He may not notice these signals because his little brain is still developing and his interoceptive acuity remains a work in progress. Yet adults are not exempt from this. If you have ever stood up from a long period of being seated only to notice a stiff back, you have experienced this too. The signals to change your position were there but were lost in the shuffle. Then again, you might have even noticed and then suppressed it. Some kind of puritanical cultural legacy has taught us to suppress movement in places like meeting rooms and waiting area.
Diminished interoceptive awareness brings some baggage. For example, a feeling of fatigue is often blunted, particularly when you're engaged in an interesting task. As a double-hit, fatigue also makes you less likely to notice fatigue in the first place. For my ADHD homies, it's a triple-hit because folks we are often more sensitive to disruptions in sleeping. This can, in turn, bleed into blunted awareness of fatigue, hunger, and satiety – among other things.
Fortunately, the practice of attending to your body's signals is not only accessible, but it's also engaging for a highly active mind. The process does not require you to mess with the natural functioning of your mind. Instead, you build the habit of checking in with your body frequently, perhaps beginning with noticing your breath. For example, are you holding your breath, inhaling or exhaling right now, friend? If you’re not sure, it’s worth your time to observe a few breaths. You’ll gain far more in focus than you lose in time.
You can practice this type of check-in whenever you notice your mind wandering. Or perhaps when you notice it wandering into places that do not serve your mental wellbeing. I have learned not to try suppress any of those thoughts but to instead welcome those little canaries to join me as I return my focus to my breath. In and out. Repeated as many times as needed. Once you have reached a brief moment of stillness and presence, you can check in with your body. And if you notice that you're hungry or tired, you can eat, sleep… or maybe get some more oxygen.
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