We live in such a hectic world with work, to-do lists, social media, but does it make us happy? Looking within yourself to figure out who you are and what you really want out of life can start the process of making things better and more peaceful for ourselves.
Looking within involves focusing on your thoughts, practicing positive thinking, meditation, and self-reflection. They are all methods to help change, re-center, simplify your life, and find your true self. This is an incredible practice with potentially significant benefits.
When you look in the mirror, who or what do you see? Do you think positively or negatively about what you see? How can you improve your thought processes and self-perception?
What does Looking Within Involve?
When learning about this practice, it’s helpful to understand the “big picture”. Overall, looking within involves taking time to listen to the body, our thoughts, our feelings, and what our senses are telling us. Looking within our body and mind.
When our attention is focused there, we can listen from within, and gain insights from the incredible senses and experiences our body has had. Just like a cold breeze on our face will let us know the temparature is cool outside, the senses from wihin us can provide string and insightful messages about what we need, want, and desire as people.
Why Look Within Yourself?
It’s a great way to get to know yourself. What do you like and dislike? What makes you happy? Who or what is most important to you? Are your actions aligned with your true self? Looking within allows one to gain perspective on what works, what feels good, what needs change, and where one wants to grow.
What Does It Mean to Look Within?
To look within is to examine your inner self. This will help you determine if what you say matches what you think, what you do matches with your beliefs, and if who you spend time with fits with your moral compass. It is an opportunity to reflect and listen to what they body tells us; what it needs, and what it wants.
Why Should You Look Within?
Looking within helps with aligning your beliefs and actions with what you do with your life. Once you get to know yourself from within, you can make changes to your life and work in the pursuit of happiness and self-worth. Having insights into what motivates and drives us can help beter guide the decisions and actions we experience day to day.
Why Do I Keep Looking for Answers?
There’s possibly something amiss, or something not working in your life or your mind. If you’re still looking for answers, it’s probably because there’s something missing or some type of conflict. And we don’t always find all of the answers we’re looking for. Looking more closely at this might help reveal more, a journey that let’s us discover things over time.
Dicsovering and walking that journey, and discovering more, allows us to take the path of life. Listening to what’s around us, making choices, and continuing that process as on moves along.
How Do I Find Answers to My Life?
There are many options to finding answers. Looking within will help you in getting to know yourself, your thoughts and beliefs, your wants and dreams. Looking around you can help in identifying what you might be missing or what doesn’t fit. Even talking with the important people in your life can help you find the answers. You may spend years trying to find all of the answers-but that’s life!
How Do I Connect to My Inner Self?
Connecting to your inner self means looking within and thinking about your morals, values, and your true self. This can be done through active processes like yoga or exercise, or through thought processes like meditation.
Looking within will help you in getting to know yourself, your thoughts and beliefs, your wants and dreams.
How Do You Connect With Your Body?
Activities including movement, spending time outside, playing with children and animals, and finding pleasure are all ways to connect with your own body. Try different things to see what feels good and what doesn’t. Slow down your daily processes, be more present, and be aware of your body and how you feel. Focus on the things that cause pain or pleasure.
What Does as Within So Without Mean?
This is an ancient saying that basically means when we think and feel things internally, it contributes to how and what we experience outside of ourselves. Our circumstances are reflected by our thoughts and beliefs.
What Does as Above So Below Mean?
There are several interpretations to this saying-most common is that what occurs on Earth is reflected in an astral plane. Basically there is duality in existence and a connection between the two realms. Based on Hermeticism, this saying tells us there are multiple levels of reality and an action in one world (reality) is reflected in another world (universe).
What is Self-Perception?
Self-perception is the ability to sense, process, and reflect on the energy, actions, and communications we express around us. It allows us a way to see how we come across to others, how our actions and expressions might align with our own internal values, and as a way to be one’s own best friend; listening, understanding, and perceiving our existence and our relationships, and our actions day-to-day.
What Is How You View Yourself Called?
Your view of yourself has many terms-introspection, self-image, self-perception, self-analysis, self-concept. It’s what you see when you look in the mirror, examine your thoughts and actions, and think about how what you say or feel affects yourself as well as others.
What Is It Called When You Think Less of Yourself?
This is referred to as low or negative self-esteem, meaning you don’t think very positively about yourself, your image, your intelligence, as well as many other characteristics. It’s a difficult state of mind, but it can be improved with work and time. Thinking less of yourself can also mean you focus more on caring for others than you do for yourself, or being selfless. You give to others but don’t look to gain anything from it for yourself.
How Do I See Myself in a Positive Light?
You have SO many good qualities! There are several ways to switch your self-thought and attitude to a more positive one:
- Focus on the good – There’s a positive light to everything you see and do.
- Hang out with positive folks – Pay attention to how they communicate and talk about themselves and others.
- Stop talking negatively about yourself – Find things you like about yourself and focus on those.
- Practice gratefulness – There are many things to be thankful for-look around you!
- Start journaling about positive things – what you’re good at, what you like about yourself, the good things you’ve done.
Do You See Yourself in the Mirror as Others See You?
Most people don’t-and that’s ok. We all have different viewpoints and beauty ideals. What’s in the mirror is only a reflection-you see something different from what others around you see. The mirror only shows us the outside, whereas our friends, neighbors, coworkers, and people we spend time with see our personalities, likes and dislikes, morals, beliefs, the whole package. Not only that-but what we see in the mirror is the reverse of what we actually look like (i.e. raise your left hand and your reflection raises the right hand).
How Can You See How Others See You?
Talk to others about how they see you, and share your self-perceptions. They may be very different and that’s very normal! Communicating what you see with others that are important to you can help you switch your self-thought from negative to positive, or even improve your self-esteem.
What Is Metaperception?
Metaperception is your perception of how others see you. Have you ever thought about how others’ views of you affect you? How would others describe you? This is metaperception. How does that make you feel? Do you worry about what others think about you-or is your perception incorrect? This can have a great effect on your personality and self-esteem.
What Is Meditation?
Meditation is the practice of settling your mind, focusing on your thoughts, and bringing yourself into the moment. It is done by finding a quiet place, getting in a comfortable position, and closing your eyes. Then focus on your thoughts, your body, and mindfulness. There are several different types of meditation, each focused on something different but all have great benefits on physical and mental health.
Types of Meditation
| Spiritual Meditation | The practice of seeking connection with the universe or God. It is used in Christian faith, Hinduism, and Daoism and is similar to prayer. Essential oils are frequently used with spiritual meditation including sage, cedar, and sandalwood to heighten the experience. |
| Mindfulness Meditation | Awareness of thoughts as they enter your mind. It’s not about processing or judging these thoughts, but about observation and mental notes of patterns that arise from those thoughts. |
| Movement Meditation | An active form that works well for those who like to move and think freely. This includes walking through nature, gardening, yoga, and any type of movement that brings you peace and allows you to think. |
| Focused Meditation | Involves the five senses and concentration, for example breathing and listening to a gong. This type of meditation does take practice, as maintaining focus can be difficult when starting out. |
| Visualization Meditation | Involves imagining yourself in a place that makes you happy and involving all of your senses. This can be in your garden, the woods, or even at the beach and can be used to help you relax, find peace, reduce stress, and even boost your mood. |
| Chanting Meditation | Also known as Mantra meditation, is picking a sound or word and repeating it to help clear your mind. It will help increase your focus and get you more in tune with nature and your environment. |
Below is a great video on how to meditate for beginners.
Look Within Quotes
The wizard [of Oz] says look inside yourself and find self. God says look inside yourself and find [the Holy Spirit]. The first will get you to Kansas. The latter will get you to heaven. Take your pick.” – Max Lucado
Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” – Carl Jung
Direct your attention inward. Have a look inside yourself. What kind of thoughts is your mind producing? What do you feel? Direct your attention into the body. Is there any tension? Once you detect that there is a low level of unease, the background static, see in what way you are avoiding, resisting, or denying life-by denying the Now.” – Eckhart Tolle
It would be helpful if the universe would give us one big clue, or a giant compass, if you will, pointing to the direction we should be taking. In fact, the compass is there. To find it, you need only look inside yourself to discover your sol’s purest desire, its dream for your life.” – Deepak Chopra
When there’s no one else look inside yourself- like your oldest friend- just trust the voice within- then you’ll find the strength that will guide your way. You’ll learn to begin to trust the voice within.” – Christina Aguilera
Other Resources:
- Affirmations – Guide to the Practice with a List of Ideas
- Look Within – Learn the Source of You – From My Experience
- How To Forgive Yourself – Being Your Own Best Friend
- Self Validation – Learning the Most Powerful Source of You
- Positive Mental Attitude – My Guide to Life Changing Ideas
- Essentialism – What’s Truly Necessary for Identity
- Intuition – Understanding Gut Feel Without Reason
- Collect Meaning – Living a Life of Depth and Happiness
- Intuitive – Those Who Feel and Perceive Deeply Around Them
- Id, Ego, & Superego – For Understanding and Self-Reflection
Looking within can be done through several different methods and can bring great benefit to your life. The best method for you is found by trying all of them out and seeing what you believe works best. Take the time to practice these and over time you will improve your self-perception and find peace.
Related Topics:
What Does Self-Esteem Mean?
Self-esteem is how high of a regard you hold for yourself. When you look in the mirror, how do you feel about what you see-are you happy or disappointed? When you finish a task assigned to you, do you believe you did a good job or could you have done better? Self-esteem is how you evaluate yourself and your worth.
What Is Peace in Simple Words?
Peace means calm, quiet, or a state of harmony. Everything is aligned and coexists well. There’s a sense of security and lack of fighting. When at peace with yourself, you are content with who you are, what you do, even the mistakes you make or have made.