Interview with Caroline Williams, author of Inner Sense, with Wendy Welpton
- 6D Living
- Aug 7
- 4 min read
We talk about fitness. We talk about mindset. But what if the missing piece to movement, resilience and health is something we barely think about? Interoception, the sense of what’s happening inside our bodies, shapes how we think, feel and move. It’s why gut feelings exist. It’s why chronic pain can persist even when injuries heal. It’s why some people can read a room before a word is spoken.
Wendy Welpton interviews science journalist Caroline Williams to talk about her fascinating new book, ‘Inner Sense: How the new science of interoception can transform your health". We explore the hidden power of interoception and how tuning into your internal signals can change everything from movement to mental health. They talk about vibrating pills (yes, really), flotation tanks, gut-brain science and how elite professionals use body awareness as their secret weapon.
Video Credit: Reclaim Movement
This episode may make you rethink everything you thought you knew about ‘listening to your body.’Caroline Williams explains that a disconnect between the brain’s predictions and the body’s sensations can lead to mental and physical health challenges, from chronic fatigue, to anxiety, to eating disorders; she delves into the fascinating field of interoception.
Our 6D Living Book Club exploring Inner Sense meets once weekly beginning on September 14th
Zoom Meetings:
Tuesdays at 8:00am PST/ 11:00am EST
First Meeting: Monday, 14 September
Final Meeting: Monday, 2 November
Discover your elusive “sixth sense”—your brain’s ability to perceive and interpret bodily sensations like hunger and thirst—and how to rewire your mind-body connection for optimal health. Interoception is one of our most important - and most mysterious - senses. It's how our bodies tell our brains what we're feeling - when we're hungry, when we're cold, how we should respond to stress and panic.
'Science writing at its absolute best' Guy Claxton, author of Intelligence in the Flesh Interoception is one of our most important - and most mysterious - senses. It's how our bodies tell our brains what we're feeling - when we're hungry, when we're cold, how we should respond to stress and panic. In Inner Sense, Caroline Williams uncovers a field that's poised to revolutionise health, and explores groundbreaking new techniques that can improve our mental and physical wellbeing. She meets brain scientists mapping the nervous system, neurodivergent researchers working to hone their interoception skills and health practitioners investigating how this inner sense can aid mindfulness, and even disordered eating. Combining science, medicine, mindfulness and physical therapy, Inner Sense is the first book to bring this exciting new field of medicine to a general readership.
Are you able to recognize your own heartbeat? What about thirst? In Inner Sense, science communicator Caroline Williams explains that some people are so insensitive to internal cues that they struggle to recognize basic needs like hunger or fatigue. While others only notice their body’s signals when they become overwhelming. This disconnect between the brain’s predictions and the body’s sensations can lead to mental and physical health challenges, from chronic fatigue, to anxiety, to eating disorders.
If this sounds like you—don’t worry. It’s not too late to tap into your interoceptive awareness. In this practical, science-backed book, you will learn …
- How to harness one of the most important functions of your body: its sixth sense, known to scientists as interoception.
- How the mind-body connection is a two-way street, with the brain and body in a constant flow of communication.
- How to perceive and interpret physical processes like heartbeat and breath.
- How to pick up on and respond to physical cues like hunger and thirst.
- How to identify emotions that express themselves physically such as panic or rage.
- How pain works in your body and in your brain.
- How internal sensations influence your thoughts and actions—and how to learn and harness interoceptive awareness.
Inner Sense delves into the fascinating field of interoception, speaking with doctors, scientists, and researchers about how our internal sensations influence our thoughts and actions—and how we can harness interoceptive awareness to improve health, relationships, and society as a whole. Williams explores cutting-edge interventions like mindfulness, biofeedback, targeted exercise, and even psychedelic therapy, which hold the potential to help us regulate emotions, reduce stress, and live better lives.
About the Author - Caroline Williams
"I am a UK-based science writer with 20 years’ experience in magazine and radio journalism. I write regularly for New Scientist magazine, where I also spent several happy years in-house as a feature editor, working mostly on neuroscience, health and nature-based stories. My work has also appeared in the Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, BBC Future, BBC Earth and the Boston Globe.
I am the author of two books: Move! (Profile / Hanover Square Press) and Override (published as My Plastic Brain in the US), and the editor of two of New Scientist’s Instant Expert Guides: How Your Brain Works: Inside the most complicated object in the known universe (John Murray, 2017) and Your Conscious Mind: Unravelling the greatest mystery of the human brain (John Murray, 2017).
I like talking almost as much as I like writing, and over the years have produced and presented radio programmes and reports for the BBC, across Science, Natural History and Children’s Radio. I was also the regular co-presenter of the New Scientist podcast, along with Ivan Semeniuk, between 2006 and 2010. My aim – and the reason I love what I do – is to learn new and exciting things and share them in the most entertaining way I can think of.
And, when I’m not doing that, I’m usually walking the dog."
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