Mastery of one’s self
Introspection... according to Oxford definitions it is “the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes.” That sounds about right.
How many of you are introspective on a regular basis? I know I try to keep an introspective view on my life, but somehow it slowly slips into the background, through no one’s fault but my own. When that happens I try not to be too hard on myself, because that is just how life happens. The key point is that it is noticed and things can then be changed, if that is what you want.
How can someone become more introspective in their daily lives, if they choose to? With so many how to video’s out there, it’s hard to weed out the ones that would work for you. Luckily (I use that term loosely), your cell phone, tv, computer or any other tech in your life are most likely compiling an algorithm to suit your very needs. You know they are always listening, waiting to pounce with the next great, big advertisement in your search for mental well-being, or any other searches to be honest.
YouTube did just that for me, in collecting data to help my search be more of something that I would like and click on. Their findings included guided meditations, Qi Gong practices, Shaolin Master Shi Heng Yi videos, different yoga videos, solfreiggo frequencies and the like. With that help, I clicked on an interview with Shaolin Master, Shi Heng Yi. He spoke of introspection and how one can achieve a full inner knowing by making a practice and sticking to it... of how being committed to yourself... to the well being of not only your mind, but your physical being and soul. Also, of how to move your body in conjunction while also being still within your mind. The balance between, say, martial arts and meditative practice. He speaks of listening to just the “now,” not of the past or of the future.
I have a bad habit of worrying about the future and of the past; did I say something wrong or maybe in a wrong way and maybe that person didn’t truly understand what I meant because I maybe didn’t explain it correctly. Or what if I say something and that person hears it in a wrong tone? What are the things that I can do to rectify the issue? The craziness sometimes just doesn’t stop until I can’t take it any longer and I stop abruptly and use my breathe. Usually at that point lion’s breath is very helpful. (Those of you who don’t know what that is, it is a technique of breathing out of your mouth in a forceful way while the tongue is extended outwards, like as if you where to expel every miniscule amount of air there is in your body. Like a roar.)
Breathe, I know I spoke of this many, many columns ago, but it is one of the most important and simple things in life that we take for granted. It can give you so much more than just oxygen for your body. If you let it, it can open your world up to peace; the sound of your own inner ocean; to yourself. It can give you a place to be introspective. Creating a space for yourself in your own inner world is like creating a space in your outer world. Like a pendulum swinging back and forth, always in motion. Let the breath move you into a place of peace and then out and create peace around you.
Will you join me in the attempt of mastering your own being by becoming a little more introspective? You can thank yourself later for it. You never know, you might inspire others to follow their path inwards to create a better outer world.
“There are two mistakes along the way to Mastery: Not starting it and not going all the way.” - Shi Heng Yi, Shaolin Master
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