Butterflies in your stomach – the importance of our eighth sense

When someone tells you they have butterflies in their stomach, you probably immediately understand how they are feeling. This feeling when nervous or excited is produced by receptors inside our organs and skin that are interpreted by our brain. The sense which provides us with information from inside our body is interoception – sometimes referred to as our ‘eighth sense’. 

Interoception is a sense that you might not have heard very much about before, but it helps your child understand what is going on inside their body 

For example, interoception helps them to recognise when they're full and stop eating, to identify when they're tired and need to take a break, or recognise and regulate their feelings of nervousness or excitement.  

When your child can understand and interpret their internal feelings, it helps them understand how to respond to them 

When your child begins to understand the signals from within their body, they can make decisions and act upon their feelings. This might mean they help themselves to a drink because they understand the feeling of being thirsty or take themselves to the toilet because they recognise when their bladder is full. 

Interoception is also important for emotional wellbeing  

Scientists have found that recognising our interoceptive signals helps us to regulate our emotions.^[1] 

Your child might feel some the same internal bodily sensations when they experience the same emotional changes.^[1]  

When they understand the feelings inside themselves and know what they mean, they’ll be better able to process and adjust their emotional responses in lots of different situations. 

It takes time for children to fully understand their internal feelings, and they may not always like the feelings they get 

Children process internal feelings differently and some of these feelings might not be comfortable. You might find your child can’t explain what they’re feeling and don’t yet know how to interpret their internal clues.  

Some things which can help your child to recognise interoceptive signals are:  

• Moving and activities that require strength, such as lifting heavy objects, pushing, pulling and climbing  
• Mindfulness activities 
• Yoga 
• Your comments, for example, when they finish eating and you say, “I think you are full now.”  

Reference: 

[1] Z. Giorgia., N. Frost., A. Van Oost., O. Corneille., O. Luminet. (2019) Relationship between interoception and emotion regulation: New evidence from mixed methods. Journal of Affective Disorders. Volume 246. 2019. Pages 480-485.