Meditation & Other Self Care

This is something I'm just learning about. I would really encourage people to check it out if they're interested and share any new info they find. :)

The body's ability to sense changes within itself is called interoception, a process that is essential to survival. This body-to-brain connection is made through the vagus nerve, and the signals received by that nerve are coded independently by specialized vagal sensory neurons. Alexithymia is an inability to identify and describe emotions.

The connection to self care is that: "Self-care is dependent upon being able to notice what’s happening within us at any moment, allowing us to respond with kindness to our needs.⁠"

Here's an episode on The Neurodivergent Woman Podcast episode on interoception and alexithymia. "This week we unpack what these concepts mean, and the difference between the two, including understanding our embodied experiences and emotional awareness. We describe some activities to build interoceptive awareness."

And here is an article on the topic: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/interoception-the-hidden-sense-that-shapes-wellbeing?utm_source=emailsynd&utm_medium=social  "There’s growing evidence that signals sent from our internal organs to the brain play a major role in regulating emotions and fending off anxiety and depression."

How To Stimulate The Vagus Nerve To De-Stress And Find Calm  We've talked a bit about this before but for anyone not familiar it's an easy read. It talks about things like extend your exhale, pursue the cold, and find fresh air. 

One of our members wrote a very informative post about the vagus nerve on the burnout thread and I'm hoping she'll repost it here.☺️

Of course, that info barely scratches the surface on this topic. There are specific activities you can do to build interoceptive awareness, if I can find that list I'll add it. And I read recently there's a connection between interoception and monotropism that I'd like to explore further.

Enjoy and I hope you all will add to this thread.