Why is it so hard to “just listen to your body”?

Intuitive eating, intuitive movement... all depend on this idea of "listening to your body". The reality is for some people hearing what their body says is really challenging. Why is that?

There are 5 senses, right? Actually, there are more.. thermoception (knowing your body's temperature), proprioception (knowing where your body is in space, etc. Interoception is the sense of knowing how your body feels (e.g. hunger, fullness, thirst, sick, needing to urinate, emotions (emotions are physiological sensations!). Some people have a better sense of smell than others. Some people have better vision than others. And.... some people have a better sense of interoception than others.

A lot of the language around "just listening to your body" can make it seem like it's a simple thing to start to feel your body. But there are many, many reasons that you may feel disconnected from your body... and one may be that your sense of interoception was never particularly strong to begin with. For instance, were you a young child who ate until you got sick? Or never knew that you needed to pee until it was almost too late?

Interoception has always been a challenge for me. My body awareness has improved greatly thanks to yoga, pilates, and other mindfulness practices. But it's taken a lot of work, and it may always be a challenge. I still find discerning cues, like hunger, are challenging... especially when I'm under stress.

If you start to recognize yourself, I hope you can find some freedom from the guilt. It's not that easy to listen to your body.. and it's not your fault. After all, I hope, we wouldn't tell someone with poor vision to "just look at it". Listening to your body is a complicated journey.. and everyone has a slightly different path.