Mirror, Mirror, of the Mind- Metacognition!

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At some point in time, we must pause and start reflecting on our behaviours, ask ourselves 'Why am I behaving this way?' if we want to bring any meaningful changes in our lives. This ability of self-reflection is one of the core process in bringing any sort of behavioural changes. 


I believe that most of us know where we are going wrong or whatever we are doing is not helpful, however due to certain cognitive processes, we are unwilling or unable to reflect on our behaviours and hence we remain stuck in unhelpful patterns, be in the domain of relationships, work or struggling with unhealthy habits. 

This ability to self-reflect, also called as Metacognition is like a mind mirror, but for our own behaviours. 

Mindfulness skills help us to increase our awareness of our behaviours in an open, non-judgmental way, thus gradually improvising on our self-reflection ability so that we begin to recognise our unhelpful behaviours and bring about necessary changes. 

Dr. Suhasini Das, MD

Consultant Psychiatrist 


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