Developing Interoception with Students

An Introduction to Interoception

Interoception—our ability to notice what is happening inside our bodies—lays the groundwork for self-regulation. By explicitly teaching and modeling interoception, you can help students start developing the awareness and language needed to recognize and describe their physical sensations.

When students can make sense of what they’re experiencing, it gives them a foundation for communicating about their needs and accessing support that they need before stress becomes overwhelming.

Interoception Activities: Instructions

We have several activities for your students to help them notice what they feel in their body as physical sensations are occurring and develop the vocabulary for describing those sensations.

We recommend that you try one activity at a time and then take note of what happens.  

Before beginning the activities, remember that: 

  • Students should never be forced to participate in an activity that makes them uncomfortable.
  • If a student responds with a feeling word rather than a physical sensation, gently guide their attention back to their body by asking: How do you know you feel that way? What do you notice happening in your body?
  • The descriptive words included with each activity are examples. Students may experience and describe the same sensation differently.

Four Interoception Activities to Try

Reach and Notice

Instructions for your students:

  • Stand with your feet firmly on the floor. 
  • Reach one arm up high. 
  • Make your arm as long as you can while keeping both feet firmly on the floor. 
  • Reach even higher and hold your arm in the air while I count to 10. 
  • Now lower your arm.

After students complete the activity:

  • You ask two questions: 
    • Does that arm feel different from your other arm?
    • What words would you use to describe how it feels? (Possible words: heavy, tingling, floating)

Raise and Lower Your Shoulders

Instructions for your students:

  • Pull your shoulders up toward your ears. 
  • Bring them as close to your ears as you can. 
  • Hold them there and notice how your shoulders, neck, and face feel.

What to ask your student next: 

  • Ask: What words would you use to describe what you notice? (Possible words: tight, tense, painful)

One last instruction for your student: 

  • Lower your shoulders as far as you can.

One last question to ask your student: 

  • Ask: How would you describe them now? (Possible words: relaxed, loose, droopy)

Balance on One Leg

Instructions for your students:

  • Stand on one leg without holding on to anything. 
    • If it feels comfortable, try closing your eyes.
  • What do you notice in your body?

What to ask your student next: 

  • What words would you use to describe the sensation? (Possible words: wobbly, shaky, dizzy)

Cover and Uncover Your Ears

Instructions for your students:

  • Place the palms of your hands over your ears and press gently. 
    • Note: Let them know that they may hear a low rumbling sound. 
  • Hold your hands there for a few seconds and then remove them.
  • Try it again with your hands over your ears. 

What you do next: 

  • Speak in a soft, low voice when your student has their hands over their ears.
  • Tell the student that when you raise your hand, they should remove their hands from their ears.
  • Ask the student these two questions: What did you notice while your ears were covered? How did the sensations change when you removed your hands? (Possible words: floating, airy, spacey, disconnected, fuzzy)

Other Activities to Try

Practicing these activities can help students become more aware of their physical sensations and begin building the interoceptive awareness that supports self-regulation. Over time, this helps students navigate their feelings more independently, reducing the need for constant educator intervention.

Activity Possible Words
 Jump up and down  energized, bubbly
 Spin in a circle  dizzy, wobbly
 Hold your breath briefly  constricted, blocked, tight
 Rest your head and upper body on your desk  heavy, numb, weak, dull, dense
 Imagine ants crawling on your skin  itchy, tickly, shivery, chills, goose   bumps
 Clench your hands into fists  clenched, constricted
 Tap your cheekbones with your fingertips while I count to 10  tingly, airy, light
 Place one hand palm-down on a table and press on it with your other palm while I count to 10  pulsing, flowing, throbbing
 Rub one earlobe between your thumb and first finger while I count to 10, and then compare how each earlobe feels  numb, heavy, tingling, warm
 Rub your hands together vigorously for 10 seconds and then pull them apart  tingling, electric, hot, warm
 Think about how your foot feels when it falls asleep  tingling, prickly, pins and needles
 Reach one arm across your body, wrap your other arm around it, and pull it toward your body. Hold it while I count to 10,   and then   drop both arms  light, heavy, loose, tense, stiff, cold,   sore

Additional Nervous System Resources for Educators

Accessing Regulation With One Foot In, One Foot Out in the Classroom

Experience how both dysregulation and regulation can exist simultaneously and how you can move through stress and anxiety using the “one foot in and one foot out” phrase coined by our co-founder, Lisa Dion.

Breathing and Intentional Movement in the Classroom 

Get to understand the connection between breathing and the nervous system and what movements may help provide the most support to your students during moments of dysregulation.

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