Wellbeing: What is Reflective Practice?

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it - Henry Ford

Another year over and it's time to reflect on what lies ahead.  Taking the time to reflect on what has been.  If you have recently been through a tough time, this can seem like the last thing you want to do.  Although, launching straight into goal setting without a time of reflection can mean we continue to repeat the mistakes that have hindered our journey.  Reflection provides an opportunity to drill deeper into our lives and find the reasons behind our missteps.

The success paradigm we live in leaves little room for our humanity.  We are all flawed, we are all finding our way in this complex world; however, there are those among us that seem to be at ease with themselves, get what they want and choose the right path.  We find ourselves asking, "Why them and not me?"  At this point it's time to take our power back.  We are uniquely made for a purpose.  You are the one who is in charge of how you respond to life, your thoughts and behaviours are in your domain.  Responding to life with a reflective practice is a powerful way to create a life you enjoy.

I have found that the reflective process works best when I am sitting in an environment that puts me at ease and has minimal interruptions.  I also love to write down my thoughts in a specific book.  This helps to create a reference to come back to in the future and solidify my current thinking.

 The following reflective cycle is one on many frameworks that can help you explore your thoughts [1.]

Reflective Cycle:

Six steps you can think and write about:

• Description:  What happened?

• Feelings:  What do you think and feel about this?

• Evaluation:  What were the positives, what were the negatives?

• Analysis:  What sense can you make of it?

• Conclusion:  What else could you have done?

• Action Plan:  What will you do next time?

• Meditative Practice:  Here I often begin a short time of meditation

Reflection serves our need to understand why we embrace the life we do.  It also is an important tool for modifying the aspects of our lives the we feel need to change.

[1.] Gibbs, G (1998) Learning by Doing:  A guide to teaching and learning methods.  Further Education Unit, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.

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