Introspection Methods

Jonathan Weissberg · December 21, 2020

Till now my method of introspection has mostly been to fit words to the feeling and if it seems to sit right I view that as one possible hypothesis for the underlying premise. E.g., I distract myself with my phone when working after feeling some kind of negative emotion. I could come up with about 20 explanations and then it's just a matter of over time, through many different instances of feeling that emotion and taking a certain action, finding out which explanation (premise) fits. But is this the most effective way? Surely, there has to be something better.

So I was hoping someone might add a few different schools of thought and methods for achieving introspective accuracy.

Here's a current list of things I'm aware of:

CBT: similar to the above - the rational mind talking and trying to fit words and explanations to the emotions;
Focusing (Gendler): much more emphasis on physical sensations and not trying to fit propositions to the emotion, but single words which 'shift' it;
Psychadelics, e.g., ayahuasca: claimed to bring up subconscious material to the surface, not about identifying premises;
Vipassana: 10 day silent meditation retreat, also less about identifying premises, more about bringing subconscious material to the surface;