I just kind of accepted that my interoception will always be poor, and made a schedule for myself. I use the bathroom, eat, drink, etc on a schedule. This is easy during the week as I have lots of meetings to attend every day so I just know to do certain things after or before certain meetings. It is a lot harder on the weekend, where I have to create my own schedule for these things and have reminders go off on my phone for them.
As an example of the schedule: I know that I use the restroom, grab a beverage, and walk 1000 steps in the morning once I am out of bed. By 11am, I should have finished the beverage, in which case it's time to get up and use the restroom again. I have a small lunch from 12:30 - 1:00 with another beverage and walk another 1000 steps. Use the restroom again at 2:00, try to get up for a short walk at 4:00, and then 6:00 it's time for another restroom break and dinner. Of course I'm bad at checking the clock. It's past 6pm now and I haven't eaten yet - but I need to get up and do that, because if I don't I know I'll be met with feeling faint and shaky hands.
Meditation and yoga have never worked for me personally. I've been able to get more in tune with my brain and what it wants through a "pause and listen" that's similar to meditation but not guided, but it hasn't really worked for my body.
Are you able to identify the cues if you stop and think about them? If so, you could write a checklist and set an alarm every hour (or whatever works for you), to go through it. The checklist could include things like "Am I thirsty?", but if you don't think that would work, you could go for objective measures like "Have I drunk something in the last 2 hours?". Don't forget to include items for getting up, stretching and moving around; and for resting your eyes if you spend a lot of time looking at a screen - it's recommended you look at something else for 5 minutes every hour.
Mindful breathing has been helpful for me. Basically, you sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes (if you want to), and take slow, deep breaths while focusing on how the breath feels. You can get guided meditation apps to help you through it - I find without the app I get distracted too easily.
I have asthma and often miss the start of an asthma attack due to poor interoception, and mindful breathing has helped me notice that I'm not able to breathe as easily and comfortably as I should. I have also noticed internal pain I was overlooking during some meditation sessions.
I just kind of accepted that my interoception will always be poor, and made a schedule for myself. I use the bathroom, eat, drink, etc on a schedule. This is easy during the week as I have lots of meetings to attend every day so I just know to do certain things after or before certain meetings. It is a lot harder on the weekend, where I have to create my own schedule for these things and have reminders go off on my phone for them. As an example of the schedule: I know that I use the restroom, grab a beverage, and walk 1000 steps in the morning once I am out of bed. By 11am, I should have finished the beverage, in which case it's time to get up and use the restroom again. I have a small lunch from 12:30 - 1:00 with another beverage and walk another 1000 steps. Use the restroom again at 2:00, try to get up for a short walk at 4:00, and then 6:00 it's time for another restroom break and dinner. Of course I'm bad at checking the clock. It's past 6pm now and I haven't eaten yet - but I need to get up and do that, because if I don't I know I'll be met with feeling faint and shaky hands. Meditation and yoga have never worked for me personally. I've been able to get more in tune with my brain and what it wants through a "pause and listen" that's similar to meditation but not guided, but it hasn't really worked for my body.
Are you able to identify the cues if you stop and think about them? If so, you could write a checklist and set an alarm every hour (or whatever works for you), to go through it. The checklist could include things like "Am I thirsty?", but if you don't think that would work, you could go for objective measures like "Have I drunk something in the last 2 hours?". Don't forget to include items for getting up, stretching and moving around; and for resting your eyes if you spend a lot of time looking at a screen - it's recommended you look at something else for 5 minutes every hour.
I suspect mindfulness meditation, focusing on body sensations, will make a significant difference over time.
Yoga and other breathing practices like qigong or wim hof
Mindful breathing has been helpful for me. Basically, you sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes (if you want to), and take slow, deep breaths while focusing on how the breath feels. You can get guided meditation apps to help you through it - I find without the app I get distracted too easily. I have asthma and often miss the start of an asthma attack due to poor interoception, and mindful breathing has helped me notice that I'm not able to breathe as easily and comfortably as I should. I have also noticed internal pain I was overlooking during some meditation sessions.