Be Mindful & Introspect

Every religion lays great emphasis on self-reflection, with certain basics of behaviour as a benchmark. This traditional wisdom has gained widespread acceptance among contemporary mind-related therapies. How does one practice self-reflection? There are several ways.

Psychologist Lisa Firestone makes an important distinction between rumination and introspection; the ‘anti-self’, ‘inner critical voice’, can take over one’s thinking and this may lead to a cycle of negative thoughts as an outcome of rumination.

The technique of mindfulness that has its origin in Buddhism, was popularised in 1979 by the Kabat-Zinn, professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts, when he had developed a stress management course that shed insights into managing several other mind-related problems. The important implication of mindfulness is its focus on the present moment, and allowing thoughts and emotions and experiences to cross the mind, without attributing any judgement, in order to gradually focus on one’s breathing.


Mindfulness meditation can be methodically learnt. Making mindfulness a prerequisite for self-reflection may be one of the ways to herald a new inner world, while pursuing a surfeit of opportunities to make a mark in the outer world.