Listening to the Whisper of the Body: Healing Yourself Through Interoception
A cartoon I remembered from my childhood and a series of strange illnesses…
Who would have thought they’d one day lead me to something called interoception?
Back then, I didn’t know it had a name. I was simply living through my sensations.
Since the age of five, my body never followed the “normal” course of things.
What was simple for others, became complex for me.
A routine tonsil surgery turned into a near-death experience.
I was six and a half when doctors told my parents, “Say goodbye to your child.”
My answer was simple:
“Nothing will happen.”
And it didn’t.
But that day, I realized something profound:
my body spoke a language of its own.
Sometimes, I could sense what doctors couldn’t see.
I could describe exactly where the pain was, what it felt like, which organ was “stuck.”
And most of the time, I was right.
Over the years, I learned that the body’s language is quiet but deeply honest.
The body keeps notes; it never forgets.
Every emotion, every joy, every heartbreak is recorded somewhere; for some, in the heart; for others, in the stomach, the back, or the knees.
My body became my diary.
I may appear strong on the outside,
but inside, there are storms.
And wherever those storms touch, I learn something new.
Years later, I discovered that this awareness — this ability to listen inward — actually had a name: Interoception.
What Is Interoception?
In simple terms, it’s the ability to listen to the inside.
To notice your heartbeat, the rhythm of your breath, the tightness in your stomach,
the lump in your throat…
But it’s not only about feeling, it’s about understanding what these signals mean,
and how they’re connected to your emotions.
Interoception is how we perceive the inner landscape of our body.
It’s the foundation of emotional awareness, stress regulation, and even intuition.
A kind of inner compass.
We usually sense the world through sight, sound, and touch but the truest map lies within.
My Küdamlar…
When I was little, I gave a name to the tiny healers I imagined inside me: Küdamlar.
Little men fixing what was broken.
Whenever I felt unwell, I would close my eyes and call them.
“There’s something here,” I’d say. “Please repair it.”
Years later, I realized that those Küdamlar were not imaginary.
They were the way I communicated with my body.
They were my body’s own intelligence, its self-healing system.
Today, in my interoception sessions,
I help others meet their own Küdamlar.
To hear the inner voice of their body.
To stop silencing it.
How Do You Learn It?
Interoception is something we’re all born with, but most of us forget it.
What we do is remember it again.
Every morning, without thinking, I scan myself.
What feels different today? What’s missing? What’s new?
Now I know; that’s part of interoceptive awareness.
When I hear a sentence — whether I say it or someone says it to me — I notice where it lands in my body.
If a word tightens my stomach, there’s a feeling there.
If a sentence softens my heart, healing has begun.
In my sessions, we explore the body through gentle practices:
Mapping the inner landscape
Having a dialogue with sensations
Recognizing the body’s emotional imprints
And above all, learning to trust the body again.
Experience It With Me
Interoception is not a theory; it’s an experience.
Once you truly sense it, there’s no going back,
because you’ve learned to hear your body.
Every feeling carries a message.
Every pain is a word.
Every silence is an answer.
What has kept me on this path all these years
is knowing that healing is not a matter of logic,
but of awareness.
Now it’s time to share that awareness.
Through my one-on-one interoception sessions and immersive retreats,
you can learn to reconnect with your body,
read your sensations and awaken your inner compass.
Because sometimes, the truest direction can only be heard from within.