There are times when it is hard to know what you are feeling.  There are times when it is hard to know what something means to you.  There are times when it is hard to know what you could do about a situation.  These are times when it is difficult to look inward and to understand yourself.  Below is a process that uses a recorder and a sequence of steps to help you to reflectively look inward and to experience yourself in a way that helps you to better connect with what you are feeling.

INTROSPECTIVE RECORDING PROCESS

This is a description of how to record something that is a concern to you and then to listen back to it. This is done in three stages. This description is intended for use with a digital recorder that has been programmed to play back each recorded section in sequence. It is important to use headphones while you are listening back to the recording.

1. The first step is to talk in to the recorder about something that concerns you. Make it simple; be direct; try to keep it simple. Three to five sentences is usually enough to start with.

2. Play the first recording and listen to your statement of concern. Listen to this statement as though you are a second person who is trying to understand that person who is on the recording.

3. Now, record a statement as the observer of the first recording saying what you heard the first person feeling as he or she spoke. Then if you would like, describe how you felt while you were listening to that other person.

4. Now play the recordings and listen to both the first person talking about a concern and then to the second person describing the feelings that were involved.

5. Next, make a recording in which you give the first person on the recorder some advice, or some support, or some encouragement. Be kind and caring. Help the first person to make a plan of how to act in the future to better handle a similar situation. Give them some supportive advice.

6. Now listen as an outside observer to the first person, to the second person, and to the third person.

7. After listening to all three sections, take a minute and let it sink in, let yourself think about what you feel like now and how you see the original concern. Is there a difference now compared to when you started?

8. If you would like to, you can replay all three recordings again and do the eye movement while you listen to the playback. Doing the eye movement while you are listening to the recordings usually increases the calmness that you are able to achieve with this process.