A signal can be detected without being interpreted accurately.
Interoception concerns how bodily signals are sensed, attended to, interpreted, and evaluated. Research distinguishes task performance, self-reported beliefs, attention, and awareness of one's own accuracy.
Cold contact produces a salient cutaneous signal.
Many interoceptive signals are subtle — a slight change in heart rate, a marginal shift in breathing. Cold contact is different. When a below-normal temperature contacts the skin, the resulting sensation is strong, localized, and difficult to ignore.
Cold contact can create a salient cutaneous signal. BHVD proposes using that signal as an object of attention during the session. No direct evidence currently shows that this practice improves general interoceptive ability.
Noticing is not suppressing.
Noticing does not mean suppressing discomfort or controlling the nervous system. It means observing sensation and response while remaining free to stop.