When You Lose Your Way in Self-Understanding

When you are working on self-understanding,
there are times when, suddenly,

“Wait... what was it that I wanted to do again?”
you might feel a sense of standing still, lost.

You complete exercises and fill up notebooks.
You face yourself,
and you feel like you have been thinking about yourself constantly.

Before you know it, the word “self”
has become something distant.

Have you ever had an experience like that?

► There are things you stop seeing when you think too much

When you write the word “self” over and over,
at a certain moment, you suddenly lose track of what it means.

It is similar to the phenomenon known as gestalt collapse.

In fact, self-understanding has a structure where the same thing easily happens.

You analyze yourself, put things into words,
organize them, and do more exercises...

In the process,
the “self that analyzes” comes to the forefront too much,
and the “self that feels” disappears somewhere.

Even though your head is full of information,
you become buried and unable to see yourself...

► “Analytical self-understanding” and
　 “intuitive self-understanding” are different things

I believe that self-understanding can be broadly divided
into two directions.

One isanalytical self-understanding.
It is about putting strengths and values into words, finding patterns, and organizing them into “this is the kind of person I am.”

The other is experiential self-understanding.
It is about quietly observing what is inside you at this very moment and how you are feeling.

In my experience, it is easy to get lost when you are doing too much 'analytical self-understanding'
.

The more you try to find an answer,
the further you drift away from your senses.

► Self-understanding is
not something you do to find answers

'If I understand myself, I will find the answer.'

I think many people start self-understanding with that thought.
I am one of them myself.

But the more I engaged in self-understanding, the more I realized that
the answer lies 'outside of self-understanding'.

What you learn through self-understanding is
'what kind of sensations you are feeling right now.'

How you use that is a completely different story.

When you practice self-understanding to find an answer,
you enter an endless loop of
'it's not enough yet' or 'I need to dig deeper'.

I have fallen into that trap many times,
stumbling, getting back up, and stumbling again...
repeating the cycle.

► What to do when you get lost

When I get lost in self-understanding,
there is something I do.

First,
stop analyzing.

Close your journal,
and just observe
'what you are feeling in this very moment'.

Does it feel comfortable, or not?
Does it feel light, or heavy?

That is enough.

You don't need to label it.
You don't need to organize it.
You don't need to find meaning in it.

Just try letting what you are feeling
be exactly as it is.

For example, take a drink and swallow it.
From your mouth to your throat, esophagus, and stomach,
savor the sensation of the warmth,
or the coldness, spreading through you.

I believe that is
the shortest path back to your senses.

► "I don't know" is the starting point

Losing your way in self-understanding
is not a failure.

It is proof that you have been
facing yourself with such sincerity.

"I don't know anymore" might not mean you've lost your goal,
but rather a sign to return from "analysis" to "sensation."

While keeping that perspective in mind,
why not try letting go
of the urge to rush to an answer?

Try being with the "sensation that is here right now"
for a little while.

I think that, too,
is a form of sincere self-understanding.

If, as you read this,
you felt that "maybe I'm a little lost right now..."
then,

I hope you will take some time
to cherish and observe what you are feeling right now.

Thank you for reading
this article
to the end.

See you next time.

▼ Contact us here ▼

I want this to be a place where we can look at your "quiet, true feelings" together.
I hope to be one of those places.
When you need to, please reach out from here.

Other articles are also organized
by theme according to sensations.

There might be something
that matches how you feel right now.
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