Introspection For A Tired Mind

I’ll be the first to admit that self-observation and self-discovery can be exhausting.

For a long time, I didn’t have boundaries with introspection. I was submerged in my depths and thoughts the majority of the time. Without rest and breaks, I would burn out on asking myself big questions and doing deep inner work.

I still struggle with this sometimes, usually stemming from a belief something about my life, myself, my relationships, or patterns needs to change immediately. But it’s much more balanced now because I have some questions I lean into when I need to take a break from the “deep dives.”

This question helps me do inner work and shadow care with more gentleness towards my hard-working brain: Do I believe that rest is part of my journey of inner development?

This question is important because if I don’t believe this, it will always be hard to take breaks. It will feel unnatural to stop because it goes again the well-formed patterns of behavior that are already established. Luckily, the mind is capable of developing new neuropathways, so I ask myself this to establish and maintain a connection between rest and inner development.

At the end of the day, inner work, healing, personal development, and unraveling the complicated web of experiences that make up our inner worlds take time.

It’s a marathon that doesn’t stop until we close our eyes for the last time and before I knew better, I was rushing to a finish line that didn’t exist. Life is an all-in experience, I believe it’s worthwhile to take our time with working out the kinks.

On the other side, of these slow, methodical questions, we enjoy the benefits of a thorough examination of ourselves, knowing the details and texture with intimacy.

Doing inner work is a profound act of self-care and self-love when done with care and love.