Introspection is the process of self reflection through which we become more aware of the inner workings of our minds. We try and understand the what, why and how of our issues and identify patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that are disturbing our mental health. The act of introspection is an act of taking responsibility for our own state of mind rather than waiting for external solutions to our problems. In our daily lives, we are so caught up with daily activities, work, hobbies, social life, family life, that we have no time left for ourselves. We don’t leave time for reflecting on our mental health, our patterns, our coping or our defense mechanisms, our self image, our attitudes or our emotions that bother us. Just like we need to take care of our physical health through exercise and diet; we also need to take care of our mental health. This entails breaking patterns and doing activities that promote our mental health- one of the most important being introspection or reflection of our self.
There are many ways in which one can begin introspection. Contemplating on ones thoughts, feelings and actions, journaling or keeping a diary, meditation, counselling, educating ourselves about mental health or psychology and trying to relate it to our patterns and so on. In this article, we are going to list out five questions to ask yourself that can lead to introspection and may give insights to us about our minds. Here are the five questions:
- Am I giving any time for my mental health (educating myself, identifying or working on my mental health, going for counselling, etc)?
Mental health is often put on the back burner as we busy ourselves in our lives. Whatever progress happens in that area, for many people, happens by itself, due to indulging in hobbies or having coping mechanisms. We don’t set time aside for mental health, the way we do for physical health. For our body, we exercise, we diet, we go for regular check ups, get proper sleep. For our minds, we work on autopilot. So asking this question is important as it will instill in us the need to put conscious effort towards our mental health. We can then think of and pick activities that can benefit us such as meditation, counselling, psychoeducation, keeping a mood diary, journaling, practicing mindfulness or gratitude and so on.
2. Am I frequently getting overwhelmed by negative thoughts or emotions? If yes, what can I do about them?
Am I often having negative feelings, or am I complaining often? Am I able to deal with these emotions or do they get the better of me? Am I able to let go of negative thoughts and feelings? These questions bring our attention to the difficult areas of our own minds, in which we may be struggling to handle some thought or emotion patterns that are no longer working for us. If we are suffering, it is mostly because our own beliefs are such that they are stopping us from accepting or aligning with reality. A situation may be challenging but we can always adapt. Ask yourself which thoughts or emotions cause the most disruption and find a healthy way to overcome them.
3. Do I spare time for rest (mental and physical rest)?
All of us feel low on energy or burnt-out from time to time. Our high achieving hustle culture has turned us into productivity pumps. Just looking for the next thing to do, making to do lists, getting temporary satisfaction by completing tasks, achieving goals and hustling for everything- money, work, happiness, relationships, experiences. This means that we do not spare adequate time to recover from this high drive. We don’t value rest as a culture and that is deeply problematic. We condition our kids to live like this too. We need to be okay with taking time for doing nothing, for rest-physical and psychological.
4. Am I consciously being kind to myself when I need it?
Am I always behind myself with a whip? Do I push myself a lot in the name of motivation? Do I give myself space and freedom to make mistakes and not be perfect? We are our worst critics and we drive our own stress levels through the roof by being so hard on ourselves. The question is do we extend kindness to ourselves when we need it? Do we extend kindness to ourselves the way we do to loved ones when they need it? Are we supportive of ourselves and talk to our selves kindly and with compassion? If not then we need to introspect on why that is and what can be done about it, how we can bring more self kindness on our thoughts, speech and action.
5. Am I living more in the past or future than in the present moment?
Most of the times we are not in the present moment, we are lost in our minds. And our minds are usually swinging in the past or the future. This creates a lot of unconscious psychological stress in us. We habitually ignore the present and hence always feel like we are missing out. Being present and practicing mindfulness is associated with decreased stress, elevated mood, emotional regulation, higher energy levels and lower rates of depression and anxiety. Hence it is important to ask ourselves where our mind dwells most of the times.
At ZorbaWellness Rehabilitation Center, we focus, not just of drug rehabilitation or alcohol rehabilitation, but also on overall psychological well-being. Our rehabilitation center in Pune has a team of mental health professionals that focus on various areas of therapy, customizing treatment for the client. Self reflection and introspection are a major area of personal development that is absolutely vital in treatment. In our treatment program, we provide the individual with various tools to facilitate introspection and recovery such as meditation, writing work, sharing sessions, therapy sessions, reading work and so on. They help a person understand themselves better and apply various therapeutic techniques in their day to day lives. Afterall, the beginning of self love and self acceptance is through selfexamination.