Introspective Meditation Techniques

INTRODUCTION

Mindfulness meditation for me, is aiming towards complete focus and presence on something outside of the mind, whilst having high awareness of the mind’s state and thoughts without passing judgement. This can be achieved through focussing introspectively on your internal state, typically through the body or breath, or extrospectively by focussing on the surrounding environment.

This article is for anyone looking to begin or expand their self-guided mindfulness meditation practices and personal health. I will discuss the wide array of benefits of internal reflection through introspection, introduce two popular introspective meditation techniques, introducing an interesting twist on both, that will supercharge your practice.

INTROSPECTION

Better awareness of one’s internal state not only improves emotional intelligence and mood, but even eating habits and physical health, let me explain. Our brain can sense the mechanical and chemical condition of every organ in the body, through a communication network called the Vagus nerve. The pressure inside of and acidity of your gut is reported to understand how full or optimally it’s operating, changes in our heart size due to diaphragm movement from breathing is reporting back to the brain to change heart rate as required. All our bodily processes are continuously monitored and adapted without our conscious thought, that is until we observe them.

The emotions we feel have real physical impacts on our body and organs. When we are fearful or nervous, our pupils dilate, our heart rate increases, our breathing shortens. When we are relaxed, the muscles in our face and shoulders soften and relax and our heart rate slows down. Often this happens without our conscious knowledge. Further, between meals or when fasting, the pressure or chemistry in our gut might be telling us to eat, when in fact we have the nutrition we need. Training awareness of internal state through meditation can aid internal awareness and more considered action.

Enter introspective meditation techniques…

THE FULL BODY SCAN

A personal favourite I practice daily are body scans. As Eckhart Tolle teaches, emotions are stored in the body. By feeling each muscle, joint, organ as you scan your body you can notice and release those stored emotions. Shining consciousness on your heart movement, your gut, or any other internal sensation will strengthen your awareness of how you feel.

To begin, turn your attention towards your head, try to notice the natural sensation and tension in the muscles and nerves. Make a conscious effort to focus on one area, feel your forehead, your nose, your ears, and without forcing try to relax the muscles to neutralise any stored emotional energy. Be mindful of any emotions that arise as you shine attention on each area, without judging. Understand that there will be some discomfort sometimes, and take comfort in knowing that conscious recognition will reduce the association with that emotion or discomfort.

Really focus on feeling rather than thinking about the sensation, and begin to scan further down the body. Think about how your neck and shoulder muscles feel, where we store so much tension. Again, try to release this where possible. Think about each muscle and sensation in the arms, all the way down to your palms and individual fingers. When considering the torso, feel how your heart is beating, how your lungs move, how your stomach moves with each breath. Think about the fullness or the feeling in your gut. Make your way down slowly to your feet, at your own pace, feeling your focus and attention move more deeply down into your body, continuing to feel your body more, moving away from the focus and association with the mind.

BONUS VARIATION: MINDFUL SMILING

As a continuation from above, I created a more focussed practice on the face I call “mindful smiling”. Once you have relaxed your face and can feel the calm in muscles and nerves using the method above, begin to consider how various areas might move or feel when feeling genuine joy. Consider how the area between your eyes relaxes, how the corners of your mouth slowly rise, how your ears move upwards, your cheeks squeeze, your nose twitches. Make this your own by feeling and acting out your mental image of you smiling.

MINDFUL BREATHING

As well as being a powerful introspective focal point, breathing is the only internal function we have conscious control over. Additionally, you can indirectly affect your heart rate, by how long you take to inhale or exhale. Through a process known as Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA), the movement of the diaphragm changes the internal pressure of the chest cavity and the size of heart, and hence the frequency it needs to pump. In normal, healthy bodies, higher heart rate variability (HRV) is linked with many health markers, reduction in a number of diseases, and better adaptability to stress.

In this practice, you will count and focus on breathing, by taking shorter inhales and longer exhales, by breaking breathing into 4 stages — inhale, pause, exhale, pause, and repeating. Whilst breathing in count to 4, whilst holding count to 4, whilst breathing out count to 8, whilst breathing out count to 8. Focus your attention entirely on the breath and your counting, whilst being mindful of thoughts and feelings. If your mind drifts, return attention to the breath and your count, starting again if required. The longer exhales will promote a reduction in heart rate as explained above. You can practice different variations of this, with smaller or larger differences between inhale and exhale length as feels comfortable.

BONUS VARIATION: HEART BEAT COUNTING

In order to combine the benefits of introspective focus and heart rate variability, you can count your heart beats. This involves carrying out the technique explained above, except instead of just counting, you direct your attention towards your heart and count your heart beats. If you’re sure you can feel your heart beating, initially try holding the vein in your wrist to check. Count 4 heart beats during inhale, 4 during the inhale pause, 8 during the exhale, 8 during the exhale pause. I find this generates an even deeper sense of connection with my internal environment, and greater level of focus away from the mind. See if you can notice how your heart rate varies too, at each stage.

SUMMARY

This article has covered the importance in awareness of our internal state, and how it can improve our mood and physical awareness and health. Through the meditation techniques explained, you can develop internal awareness of your breath, heart and gut. As always please provide any feedback and suggestions on the techniques outlined in the comments section.

Thank you for your time reading and Namaste 🙏