Understanding Interoceptive Exposure for Anxiety and Panic Attacks

When anxiety takes hold, it often brings uncomfortable physical sensations—racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, or sweating. These symptoms can feel overwhelming and even dangerous, leading many to fear their own bodily sensations. This fear often contributes to panic disorders and anxiety.

Interoceptive exposure is a powerful form of exposure therapy that helps people confront and reduce the fear of these sensations. In this blog, we’ll explain what interoceptive exposure is, how it works, and practical exercises you can try under the guidance of a therapist.

What Is Interoceptive Exposure?

Interoceptive exposure is a therapeutic technique that deliberately recreates feared bodily sensations in a controlled and safe environment. By repeatedly experiencing these sensations, individuals learn that the sensations are uncomfortable but not dangerous—and that they can tolerate them.

This approach is commonly used as part of exposure therapy for agoraphobia, panic attacks, illness anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and other conditions where physical sensations are misinterpreted as threats.

How Does Interoceptive Exposure Work?

The goal of interoceptive exposure is to retrain the brain’s response to internal sensations. Instead of reacting with fear or avoidance, you learn to interpret them as temporary and manageable.

Key objectives include:

• Desensitization: Reducing the emotional intensity of physical sensations through repetition

• Reinterpretation: Teaching the brain that symptoms like dizziness or shortness of breath are not life-threatening.

• Empowerment: Building confidence in your ability to cope with uncomfortable sensations.

Examples of Interoceptive Exposure Exercises for Anxiety

Here are common exercises that target feared bodily sensations. Always practice under the guidance of a qualified therapist:

1. Hyperventilation (Breathing Quickly)

• Target Sensation: Lightheadedness, dizziness, shortness of breath.

• How to Do It:

• Sit in a safe, comfortable place.

• Breathe rapidly through your mouth for 60 seconds.

• Pause and notice the sensations.

• Rate your anxiety level before and after the exercise.

• Goal: Learn that feeling lightheaded or out of breath is not dangerous.

2. Head Shaking

• Target Sensation: Dizziness or lightheadedness.

• How to Do It:

• Stand or sit in a safe spot.

• Shake your head side to side for 30 seconds.

• Stop and pay attention to how your body feels.

• Goal: Recognize that dizziness is a normal sensation that fades quickly.

3. Chair Spinning

• Target Sensation: Dizziness, loss of balance.

• How to Do It:

• Sit in a swiveling chair.

• Spin yourself around for 30 seconds, then stop.

• Observe the sensations and allow them to subside naturally.

• Goal: Reduce fear of disorientation and loss of control.

4. Straw Breathing

• Target Sensation: Shortness of breath, chest tightness.

• How to Do It:

• Breathe through a narrow straw for 60 seconds.

• Observe how your body responds.

• Goal: Understand that mild breathlessness is tolerable and not harmful.

5. Running in Place

• Target Sensation: Increased heart rate, sweating, breathlessness.

• How to Do It:

• Run in place for one minute.

• Stop and notice your heartbeat, breathing, and any warmth in your body.

• Goal: Learn that a racing heart and sweating are natural responses to activity.

6. Body Temperature Manipulation

• Target Sensation: Flushing, sweating.

• How to Do It:

• Hold a warm drink or wrap yourself in a blanket for several minutes.

• Notice the heat and any physical reactions like sweating.

• Goal: Reduce fear of feeling overheated or flushed.

How to Practice Interoceptive Exposure Safely

1. Work with a Professional:
   A therapist can provide guidance, ensure safety, and help process the experience.

2. Start Gradually:
   Begin with sensations that feel mildly uncomfortable before progressing

3. Practice Regularly:
   Repetition reduces fear and builds tolerance.

4. Observe Without Judgment:
   View sensations as neutral—not “bad” or “dangerous.”

5. Debrief After Each Exercise:
   Note how your anxiety changed and how quickly sensations faded.

Benefits of Interoceptive Exposure for Anxiety Disorders

• Improved Emotional Resilience: Teaches you to handle uncomfortable sensations without avoidance or panic.

• Reduced Avoidance Behaviors: Frees you from the cycle of fearing and avoiding situations or sensations.

• Greater Body Awareness: Helps you reinterpret physical sensations as normal, not dangerous.

• Proven Results: Research shows that facing your body’s anxiety sensations head-on through interoceptive exposure helps up to 9 out of 10 people break free from panic and agoraphobia.

Overcoming Panic and Physical Anxiety

Interoceptive exposure offers a pathway to reclaiming your life from anxiety and panic. While the process can be challenging, the rewards—greater confidence, reduced fear, and improved well-being—are worth it!

Ready to learn how interoceptive exposure therapy can help with panic attacks and anxiety? Book a 15-minute consult today.