Introspection through Naikan - stay curious - start Autumn 2025

What is Naikan?

Naikan (Japanese: 内観, (introspection) is a structured method of self-reflection developed by Yoshimoto Ishin (1916-1988) in the 1940s. The practice is based on asking yourself three questions about a person in your life.

🧘𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻?
🧘𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗜 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻?
🧘𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲s, 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘂𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻?

There are many forms of Naikan practice, all of which focus on these three questions.

A related fourth question, "What trouble has this person caused me?" is deliberately ignored in Naikan. Naikan assumes that people are naturally able to see answers to this fourth question, and that too much focus on this question is responsible for unhappiness in daily life.