Mindfulness training helps people change health behaviors partly by improving how they listen to and trust internal bodily signals, a process called interoceptive appreciation. In a randomized trial with 274 primary care patients who had depression, anxiety, or stress disorders related to chronic illness, those who received Mindfulness Training for Primary Care showed greater initiation of a chosen health behavior action plan compared to a low-dose mindfulness group. The effect was mediated by interoceptive appreciation: among patients without depression, listening to bodily signals played a key role; among those with moderate-to-severe depression, trusting bodily signals was more important. Regaining body trust may be a crucial step for behavior change in depression.
Mindfulness-based interventions produce small-to-medium improvements in self-reported interoceptive awareness, according to a meta-analysis of 29 randomized controlled trials involving 2,191 participants (77.8% female, mean age 32.8 years). The overall effect size was g = 0.31, with mindfulness-based programs showing the largest effects (g = 0.41). Improvements in interoception were similar in size to improvements in self-reported mindfulness and were linked to reductions in psychological distress. No evidence of publication bias was found, and no other moderators—such as practice dosage or clinical sample—were significant. The findings suggest that mindfulness training leads to adaptive changes in how people subjectively experience bodily signals, which may contribute to better mental wellbeing.