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Inner Sense: How the New Science of Interoception Can Revolutionize Your Health
“A fascinating look at the power of the body to influence our mind—and even affect how we see the world.”—Janice Kaplan, New York Times bestselling author of The Gratitude Diaries and What Your Body Knows About Happiness
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.
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 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.
269 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 7, 2025
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June 5, 2025
Book Review: Inner Sense: How the New Science of Interoception Can Revolutionize Your Health by Caroline Williams - A Public Health Practitioner’s Perspective
Caroline Williams’ Inner Sense is a revelatory exploration of interoception—the body’s ability to sense and interpret internal signals—that challenges conventional paradigms of health and wellness. As a public health practitioner, I found myself both exhilarated and unsettled by Williams’ thesis: that reconnecting with our bodily wisdom could be a radical act of resistance in a world that systematically dismisses women’s embodied experiences, particularly in healthcare settings.
Emotional Resonance: Validation and Frustration
Reading this book stirred a profound mix of emotions. There were moments of vindication—like when Williams dismantles the “hysterical woman” trope by showing how women’s heightened interoceptive awareness (often pathologized as “oversensitivity”) might actually be a biological advantage. I felt a surge of recognition reading about chronic pain patients (disproportionately female) whose symptoms are routinely medicalized rather than understood as interoceptive disruptions. Yet this validation was tempered by frustration: Why must science “prove” what marginalized communities have known for generations—that the body holds truth?
Key Insights for Public Health
-Embodied Oppression Made Visible: Williams’ research illuminates how systems from psychiatry to public health gaslight women by divorcing symptoms from context (e.g., labeling trauma responses as “disorders”). Her framework helps reframe conditions like endometriosis not as individual pathologies, but as interoceptive ecosystems disrupted by structural neglect.
-The Privilege of Body Literacy: The book exposes how socioeconomic and racial disparities shape access to interoceptive education—a stark reminder that “listening to your body” is a privilege when survival demands self-neglect.
-Beyond Cognitive Band-Aids: By centering somatic intelligence over talk-therapy dominance, Williams offers alternatives for communities whose trauma lives in the bones, not just the brain.
Constructive Criticism
-Intersectional Gaps: While Williams acknowledges gender disparities, deeper engagement with how racism, ableism, and colonialism fracture interoceptive trust would strengthen the analysis. For example, how does racialized chronic stress alter interoceptive pathways?
-From Theory to Praxis: The science is compelling, but the book could bridge individual practices with structural interventions (e.g., trauma-informed policy, anti-oppressive clinician training).
Final Thoughts
Inner Sense is a catalytic work that reframes health justice as a matter of bodily sovereignty. It left me equal parts inspired and impatient—ready to dismantle systems that profit from our disconnection.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5) – A groundbreaking start to a necessary conversation.
Gratitude: Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the review copy. In a field that too often reduces health to metrics, this book is a compass back to humanity.
Caroline Williams’ Inner Sense is a revelatory exploration of interoception—the body’s ability to sense and interpret internal signals—that challenges conventional paradigms of health and wellness. As a public health practitioner, I found myself both exhilarated and unsettled by Williams’ thesis: that reconnecting with our bodily wisdom could be a radical act of resistance in a world that systematically dismisses women’s embodied experiences, particularly in healthcare settings.
Emotional Resonance: Validation and Frustration
Reading this book stirred a profound mix of emotions. There were moments of vindication—like when Williams dismantles the “hysterical woman” trope by showing how women’s heightened interoceptive awareness (often pathologized as “oversensitivity”) might actually be a biological advantage. I felt a surge of recognition reading about chronic pain patients (disproportionately female) whose symptoms are routinely medicalized rather than understood as interoceptive disruptions. Yet this validation was tempered by frustration: Why must science “prove” what marginalized communities have known for generations—that the body holds truth?
Key Insights for Public Health
-Embodied Oppression Made Visible: Williams’ research illuminates how systems from psychiatry to public health gaslight women by divorcing symptoms from context (e.g., labeling trauma responses as “disorders”). Her framework helps reframe conditions like endometriosis not as individual pathologies, but as interoceptive ecosystems disrupted by structural neglect.
-The Privilege of Body Literacy: The book exposes how socioeconomic and racial disparities shape access to interoceptive education—a stark reminder that “listening to your body” is a privilege when survival demands self-neglect.
-Beyond Cognitive Band-Aids: By centering somatic intelligence over talk-therapy dominance, Williams offers alternatives for communities whose trauma lives in the bones, not just the brain.
Constructive Criticism
-Intersectional Gaps: While Williams acknowledges gender disparities, deeper engagement with how racism, ableism, and colonialism fracture interoceptive trust would strengthen the analysis. For example, how does racialized chronic stress alter interoceptive pathways?
-From Theory to Praxis: The science is compelling, but the book could bridge individual practices with structural interventions (e.g., trauma-informed policy, anti-oppressive clinician training).
Final Thoughts
Inner Sense is a catalytic work that reframes health justice as a matter of bodily sovereignty. It left me equal parts inspired and impatient—ready to dismantle systems that profit from our disconnection.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5) – A groundbreaking start to a necessary conversation.
Gratitude: Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the review copy. In a field that too often reduces health to metrics, this book is a compass back to humanity.
Displaying 1 of 1 review