Articles About the My Experiments Program
How to Introspect for Greater Self-awareness
Years ago I used an introspection method that consisted of a series of questions about my spiritual life: Did I meditate morning and evening? For how long? Was I calm or restless during my meditations? Did I do a good deed? …and so on. These types of questions put your mind on how you did during the day, which is good. However, it’s easy to answer them superficially so that no real depth is reached. If the person introspecting isn’t attentive to the process, it becomes little more than a checklist.
At its best, introspection uncovers the subtle workings of our consciousness and reveals beliefs and attitudes that are often left unconscious and hold us back. The few questions in the My Experiments program enable me to go deeper and gain greater self-awareness.
What happened today (just the facts)? If you feel any emotional charge about any of the events or actions of the day, including anything you didn’t do that you had intended to, you will want to go further into those with the next two questions: What judgments do I have about myself, others, or the world in general regarding what happened? What emotions arise from the facts and/or judgments?
These questions serve to separate the facts, judgments, and emotions, and help me to see more clearly what’s going on in my consciousness. If I look carefully, I see that what I usually state as fact can have judgment and emotions thrown in. For example, “I had a great day” is not a fact; it’s a judgment. The fact might be: “I got a raise today.” Facts are neutral, and judgments arise from the facts filtered through my conscious and unconscious beliefs about myself and the world. This mixture of facts, judgments, and beliefs can cause an emotional reaction, though the process is so rapid as to seem instantaneous.
Pay special attention to the judgments you have about others. My experience has been that we project ourselves onto others all the time. They are mirrors of ourselves. I have witnessed time and again, in myself and my friends, that the judgments we have about others are judgments we have about ourselves. If we see the good in others, we’re in effect acknowledging the good in ourselves. If we see the negative, we’re really only seeing a reflection of our flaws.
Be aware of the feelings that arise from the facts and the judgments. It’s more helpful to ask yourself “What am I feeling?” than “Why am I feeling this way?” The first question helps you to acknowledge what you’re feeling and express it, if necessary. The second takes you away from the feeling and into your head.
Instead of thinking of emotions as positive or negative, view them as useful information about yourself. If we think in terms of positive and negative, then we’re much more likely to suppress what we consider to be a negative. If we’re aware of the emotion, then we can express it in appropriate ways, and thus release it. Or we can look at the thoughts that preceded the feeling to see whether inaccurate thinking or untrue beliefs prompted it. Sometimes a change in the way we view a circumstance or event can defuse an emotion.
You can also ask yourself how old you feel. This is a way to go back to one of the first times you had that emotion, and learn more about the beliefs you formed as a child that not only no longer serve you but are detrimental to your physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. (For more thoughts about beliefs, read the blog entry, “The Power of Our Beliefs,” 5/31/2009.)
The questions in My Experiments form a foundation for introspection. For simplicity’s sake, I left it at these few questions. If I take a look deeper into the judgments and feelings, I get closer to uncovering my underlying beliefs about myself and the world. They could be true and empowering, or they could be false and damaging. If I’m truly interested in spiritual growth, I’m willing to take a look at these beliefs and then take steps to change them if necessary.
At the end of introspection, acknowledge yourself for something you did or accomplished in your outer world or inner consciousness, no matter how small. It’s all too easy to look at what’s going wrong and forget to acknowledge what’s going right. If we focus on what’s going right, we’ll get more of that.
Be grateful for whatever you do to deepen your spirituality. No effort is ever lost, even effort that ends in temporary failure. If you’re mentally flogging yourself for not “succeeding,” keep in mind that spiritual progress is difficult if not impossible to judge with any accuracy. Give your efforts to God as an offering and leave the results in God’s hands.
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