Interoception and Bharatanatyam

Interoception and Bharatanatyam 

Loosely defined as the perception of the internal state of the body, interoception is gaining considerable attention from the scientific community [1]. This inner sense shapes our perception, actions, behavior, habits, and generally, the way we feel in our bodies [2]. By linking brain and body, interoception has also been suggested to be linked to motivation and response to stress [3]. Some of the features of interoception are paying attention to one's internal state, localizing its manifestation in the body, and monitoring it over time [4]. 

All dance has the capacity to shape our interoception by linking physical movements with internal states. Bharatanatyam is perhaps uniquely suited to inform interoception, and even study it scientifically. We use hand gestures or hastas to tell stories - do the placement of the hands, repetition of gestures, and the emotions that accompany the gestures change how we feel in our body over time? Do the nuanced movements of the gaze have the power to frame our internal state? 

​Overall, can regular practice of ​Bharatanatyam shape and regulate the interplay between mind, brain, and body? 

PC: Libby Lussenhop at Aaron Davis Hall (Sept 2025) 

Citations:

1. "Making sense of interoception" Spring 2024, Harvard Medicine, The Magazine of Harvard Medical School. Link here. 
2. "Mapping the Sense of What’s Going On Inside" November 2025, The New York Times. Link here. 
3. Chen WG, Schloesser D, Arensdorf AM, Simmons JM, Cui C, Valentino R, Gnadt JW, Nielsen L, Hillaire-Clarke CS, Spruance V, Horowitz TS, Vallejo YF, Langevin HM. The Emerging Science of Interoception: Sensing, Integrating, Interpreting, and Regulating Signals within the Self. Trends Neurosci. 2021 Jan;44(1):3-16. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2020.10.007. PMID: 33378655; PMCID: PMC7780231. Link here. 
4. Khalsa, S. S., Adolphs, R., Cameron, O. G., Critchley, H. D., Davenport, P. W., Feinstein, J. S., Feusner, J. D., Garfinkel, S. N., Lane, R. D., Mehling, W. E., Meuret, A. E., Nemeroff, C. B., Oppenheimer, S., Petzschner, F. H., Pollatos, O., Rhudy, J. L., Schramm, L. P., Simmons, W. K., Stein, M. B., Stephan, K. E., … Interoception Summit 2016 participants (2018). Interoception and Mental Health: A Roadmap. Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, 3(6), 501–513. Link here.