Join the Internal Selfie Revolution

Join the Internal Selfie Revolution

Have you joined the selfie revolution? Since Robert Cornelius took the first selfie in 1839, humans have been fascinated, if not obsessed, with snapping images of themselves. People now take selfies for many reasons, such as telling a story and capturing memories.

Did you know that people have been taking internal selfies since time immemorial, well at least several thousand BCE? It’s called meditation! It’s nothing mysterious or fancy. All you have to do is turn your camera inward and snap a picture of your current state of mind: What do you see?

Some early forms of meditative introspection included ritual dance, reciting mantra, and sitting crossed-legged under a Bodhi tree. Today, the meditation movement has captured the world’s attention. We are learning to turn our minds inward everywhere from the gym, yoga and tai chi class, the office and at our desks, in the classroom, and the boardroom.

Ready to begin your own mindfulness journey? It’s easy. Get your camera and join the Internal Selfie Revolution! Here’s how to start your practice today.

The Psychology of the Selfie

Why do we retake our image multiple times in order to get it just right before hitting send? On a superficial level, a selfie is casual, easy way to communicate a snapshot of yourself in-the-moment. It may be used as verification or to document change. However, a selfie also give us valuable information. From a selfie we can assess our:

  • Appearance
  • Thoughts
  • Emotions
  • Feelings

How to Take an Internal Selfie: The Basics

Now try turning your camera inside. Take a peek into your own brain. Let your Internal Selfie develop into an image or sensation – it might have a distinct shape, specific texture, or even a splash of color. Examine your internal snapshot as it manifests: try not to judge, reject, embrace or explain it. Just look at it directly and be curious!

Reprogramming Mind and Soul

Six Questions to Ask Yourself When Taking an Internal Selfie

  1. What’s going on inside of me?
  2. What thoughts and emotions are driving my current behavior?
  3. How do I feel about myself?
  4. Am I distracted or focused on what I’m doing?
  5. Am I nervous or calm?
  6. Do I feel tired or full of energy?

Internal Selfies Lead to Mindfulness

Sometimes, we are reluctant to turn our awareness inward because we are afraid of what we might find. Turning inward is challenging: criticism, judgment, and disappointment may arise. However, turning inward is a significant step towards mindfulness through awareness and self-acceptance. Taking that moment or pause before reacting or responding is the essence of the Internal Selfie and a reminder to live in the present.

Pause: Snap an Internal Selfie

  • Assess what you see, free from any judgment or concept
  • Do your thoughts, emotions, nervous system or feelings need any attention?
  • Take appropriate action to effect the change you want (more on this later)
  • Follow-up with a second Internal Selfie
  • Is the retake any different from the first Selfie? How have you changed?


10 Fun Facts About Breathing & the Respiratory System

10 Fun Facts About Breathing & the Respiratory System

Our ability to breathe is fascinating, as it’s one of the only systems in our body that can be controlled both voluntarily, through the central nervous system, and more often involuntarily, through the autonomic nervous system. This overlap between the two systems is the reason why focused, intentional breathing methods through yoga and meditation are able to affect other involuntary muscles like the heart.

Our breath is what gives us life and without it, the human body cannot exist. But is it possible to better your life by paying more attention to how you breathe?

While breathing is so commonplace to our existence, proper breathing techniques and awareness of breath can have dramatic implications on our health. Having knowledge of specific breathing techniques can lower stress, help you sleep, help your mind function more acutely, and even curb food cravings.

When we breathe, the average adult draws in about 13 pints of air into the lungs every minute. From the lungs, that oxygen is then transferred from the air sacs in our lungs throughout the body via red blood cells to the blood vessels that distribute it to nearly every system. Meanwhile, waste gases, like CO2, are exchanged and filtered out. 

For the average person with good lung health, the amount of oxygen in the blood, or the arterial blood gas (ABG) oxygen level, should be somewhere between 95-100 percent oxygen.

Read Article

More In Meditation

Our unique blend of yoga, meditation, personal transformation, and alternative healing content is designed for those seeking to not just enhance their physical, spiritual, and intellectual capabilities, but to fuse them in the knowledge that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts.


Use the same account and membership for TV, desktop, and all mobile devices. Plus you can download videos to your device to watch offline later.

Desktop, laptop, tablet, phone devices with Gaia content on screens

Discover what Gaia has to offer.

The video streaming platform exploring Meditation, and Meditation - General

Testing message will be here

Discover what Gaia has to offer.

Testing message will be here