“Listen to your heart.”
That might sound overly romantic, but it could also be one way to improve your mental health. . .
. . . at least, according to a study by researchers at the University of London.
Led by Manos Tsakiris, PhD, researchers set out to see how paying attention to the rhythms of your own body affects mental health.
They gathered 50 healthy female volunteers between the ages of 19 and 26 for the study.
First, they measured each woman’s interoceptive awareness – in other words, how in tune they were with the information from within their bodies. A researcher recorded each subject’s pulse while she was asked to silently count her own heartbeats.
After the interoceptive awareness test, the women completed three questionnaires designed to measure how much they objectified their own bodies, how self-conscious they were, and how conscious they were of their bodies.
The results were fascinating.
The women who were best at counting their own heartbeats were also the least likely to view their own bodies as mere objects, scoring lowest on the self-objectification test.
On the other hand, the women who scored low on the body consciousness test tended to score high on the self-objectification test.
Together, these findings suggest that high levels of interoception lead to a lower tendency to objectify one’s own body. If this result is borne out by more research, it could have useful implications for clients whose interoceptive awareness is very low, like in cases of anorexia.
It’s important to note, though, that these findings are limited by the research design. It’s a correlational study and thus, we can’t assume causation. We can’t be quite sure that improved interoception leads to lower self-objectification. Because this study doesn’t look at women’s interoception over time, the reverse might be true: women who don’t self-objectify naturally have better interoception.
Still, these findings appear to support the idea that being in touch with your own body is an important component of mental health.
If you want to hear more about interoception and how brain and body combine for healing, check out our Brain Science Series.
And if you’re interested in the full study, it was published in Issue 8, Volume 2 of PLOS One.
Have you ever worked with a patient who had trouble staying in touch with their own body? What interventions did you use? Please share your experience in the comments below.
i ask my clients to pay attention to what they perceive while taking a shower with the shower
head positioned toward their hands, arms, shoulders, neck, legs, back, tummy, chest etc.
have them hold the shower head upclose with medium strength of water flow (warm)
and just ‘listen’ to what they perceive.
later, i ask them to say : “this is my hand, (my arm, my shoulder… ), welcome to my body” (out loud first)
and continue to perceive and notice what they feel while the water is running on the individual parts
of their body.
I use a variety of techniques to teach mindfulness such as breath awareness meditation, body scan and symptom awareness, and walking meditation. Observational mindfulness is also helpful for someone who becomes anxious while following their breath. -Andrew : Andrew E. Henry, MA, LPC P.L.L.C. EMDR level II Therapist, DBT, and Mindful CBT. Chi Energy Worker / Instructor.
I “warm up” everyone I see for what ever they are working on. I lead and join them in moving their spine, gentle reaching, feeling their feet and using their leg muscles. It is not vigorous (or rarely) and respects their limitations. Checking in on physical sensations before and after the warm up gives people practice in noticing their interoception and how movement can change their state.
Early on, in counseling newly recovering alcoholics/addicts I emphasize the Body, Mind & Spirit aspect of Recovery. I encourage physical check-ups, including gyn appts for females, dental appts, & where appropriate – visits to an allergist, etc. Medical appts can range from Internists to Gastroenterologists to Physiatrists (that’s Fizz Eye a Trists.) And it’s never too late to floss! Even my male clients follow my thinking & begin to honor their bodies. This is particularly important for eating discordered women as well as men.
The ravages of addiction take their toll & it is up to a recovering client to begin taking responsibility for their health – Body, Mind (therapy) & Spirit (recovery meetings & connection with a HP, Universal Spirit, etc.) Often the client is like a kid with a new toy & they begin to value the Body aspect of Recovery – which goes beyond AA’s “an allergy of the body & obsession of the mind.” Bonnie Bianchi, LISAC, Prescott, Az.
Could you give the full reference for this study please?
Thank you
I believe this may be the study…
Just a heartbeat away from one’s body: interoceptive sensitivity predicts malleability of body-representations
Tsakiris, M. , Jiménez, A. T. & Costantini, M. Aug-2011 In : Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological sciences. 278, 1717, p. 2470-2476.
Just 10 minutes ago, my datehugr complained that she was so bored. I told her that boredom was something every human being needs once in a while. It feeds the mind and creativity. “Go and sit on the sofa and get more bored” I told her. She went……..and 5 minutes later she was upstairs again. I, on the other hand??? Well, let’s don’t talk about that.And there you have it, again another person that thinks you are an outstanding writer.Shall I say it again??? Don’t need to!!! I think.
I get clients to walk with me in Nature, we go through a mindfulness protocol, and I use suggestions along the way. Once a person gets re-connected to the Earth and Nature, they begin to feel more in touch with thier own body. Yoga is also very good as it makes you focus on the body in a meditative way, you have to be conscious of what your body is doing and how it feels in order to do the asanas correctly and without self-injury.