Free somatic tool

The Sensations Wheel

By Albert Wong, PhD, Clinical Psychologist · from The Healing Trauma Workbook

Most of us have far more words for our opinions than for our bodies. When a therapist asks "what do you notice in your body?", the honest answer is often "…tension?" This wheel builds your interoceptive vocabulary — the language of inner sensation. Start at the center with a body system, move outward until a word matches what you actually feel, and click the words that fit. Notice how different "hollow" is from "knotted," how "buzzing" differs from "trembly."

Private by design: everything happens on this page. Nothing you click is sent or stored anywhere.

Why name sensations?

Naming a sensation precisely — "prickly," not just "pain"; "fluttery," not just "anxious" — changes your relationship to it. Attention sharpens, the nervous system settles, and something formless becomes workable. This is a cornerstone skill of somatic psychology: research on affect labeling shows that putting inner experience into words calms the brain's alarm response. Try tuning into your body for a few minutes a day and matching what you find against this wheel; therapists, consider assigning it as somatic journaling homework.

This wheel appears as the Sensations Wheel in The Healing Trauma Workbook (Wong, 2023), where it accompanies Practice 17, "Naming Sensations." It is the body-side companion to the Feelings Wheel: one names emotions, this one names the raw sensations underneath them. Feel free to use and share with credit.

More free tools

The Feelings Wheel Seven core emotions unfolding into 100+ specific feelings — click the wheel to build your "I feel…" statement. Body Map of Emotions Where do you feel it in your body? Mark sensations on an interactive figure and download your somatic map. Discover Your Negative Cycle The classic couples exercise from Hold Me Tight — map your conflict pattern and get your infinity-loop cycle map.