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How to Change Your Body: The Science of Interoception and Healing Through Connection to Yourself and Others
How to Change Your Body provides an enlightening discourse on the missing piece of the mind-body relationship — our need for social connection.
What if symptoms from some of our most common afflictions—everything from depression and anxiety to addiction and PTSD—could be traced back to a disconnection from our bodies?
How to Change Your Body explores this provocative question through a rigorous yet playful collection of interviews with scientists, somatic workers, and artists from around the world to uncover the social-emotional aspects of so-called mental illnesses. Saga Briggs is our compassionate guide, pairing peer-reviewed research with moving personal vignettes about her journey away from alcohol dependence to draw a profound link between bodily awareness, social connection, and mental well-being. Interoception, regarded by some as our eighth sense, is fundamental to human health and, Briggs argues, lies at the heart of many techniques shown to improve our relationships to ourselves and others, including psychedelic-assisted therapy, synchronous movement, and energy work.
Whether you are facing a mental health diagnosis or simply yearn for a deeper connection to yourself and your community, How to Change Your Body offers a potent antidote to alienation. Through remembering our bodies in all of their intricacy, we can increase our capacity for presence, reconnect with others, and begin to heal.
What if symptoms from some of our most common afflictions—everything from depression and anxiety to addiction and PTSD—could be traced back to a disconnection from our bodies?
How to Change Your Body explores this provocative question through a rigorous yet playful collection of interviews with scientists, somatic workers, and artists from around the world to uncover the social-emotional aspects of so-called mental illnesses. Saga Briggs is our compassionate guide, pairing peer-reviewed research with moving personal vignettes about her journey away from alcohol dependence to draw a profound link between bodily awareness, social connection, and mental well-being. Interoception, regarded by some as our eighth sense, is fundamental to human health and, Briggs argues, lies at the heart of many techniques shown to improve our relationships to ourselves and others, including psychedelic-assisted therapy, synchronous movement, and energy work.
Whether you are facing a mental health diagnosis or simply yearn for a deeper connection to yourself and your community, How to Change Your Body offers a potent antidote to alienation. Through remembering our bodies in all of their intricacy, we can increase our capacity for presence, reconnect with others, and begin to heal.
227 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 19, 2023
13 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 3, 2024
A must read for those stuck in their head who want to get more in their body and consquently in the world.
Briggs brilliantly ties together rooted issues of disconnection, explores areas of connection with experts in the field, and gives the reader a toolkit to use on their own journey of deeper listening to the self. There are so many useful perspectives here that you can really take what you need and leave what doesn't resonate at the moment.
Really a great reminder that feeling is healing.
Briggs brilliantly ties together rooted issues of disconnection, explores areas of connection with experts in the field, and gives the reader a toolkit to use on their own journey of deeper listening to the self. There are so many useful perspectives here that you can really take what you need and leave what doesn't resonate at the moment.
Really a great reminder that feeling is healing.
August 28, 2025
This book introduced me to the concept of interoception. Briggs weaves personal stories with professional interviews focused on connecting the mind, body, and spirit through different methods, such as movement, music, psychedelics, and different forms of individual and group therapy. I came to this book at the right time. Not all of the research hit home with me, but the parts that did really stuck out, and I felt I learned a few things. I think anybody looking for inner healing could find something to connect to in this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews