Interoception and self-regulation

Supporting social-emotional skills

At Thornhill Park Primary School, we teach the students about their emotions, and talk a lot about self-regulation.

Our bodies send us signals all the time through physical changes like our heartbeat slowing down or speeding up, our muscles tensing and our breath changing. These changing signals help us to recognise how we are a feeling, such as happy, anxious, hungry or hot. Tuning into and understanding these internal signals is called interoception. Good interoceptive awareness can help children notice big emotions building up before they become overwhelming.

Building interoception skills can support children and young people to:

• self-regulate their emotions and feelings,
• be calm and engage with learning,
• have positive wellbeing and
• improve their academic performance.