- I would say that I am more exteroceptive as when I did the test recommend by the video of closing my eyes and lying in a place with little distractions, I found it difficult to focus inward on what’s happening at the level of my skin and internal organs as my mind tended to focus on external noise such as music in another room or cars outside. I would say I am more exteroceptive as it is easier for me to get distracted instead of truly focusing on something I find challenging such as meditating interoceptively.
2. I would say the best meditation practices for my personal growth would be interceptive ones as they would create for change in the way my brain is wired. As I am more of an exteroceptive person doing interoceptive meditations, which I find more challenging, would allow me to improve my level of focus not just in meditation but in other scenarios as my mind will be challenged to adapt to this discomfort for the better.
3. For interceptive meditation a non-cyclic or more complex breathing pattern involving deliberate voluntary commands such as doing two inhales and one exhale would be best to combine with it, as by focusing on the breathing practice it will require more attention to be diverted on the breathing associated with the meditation and less on other things. This non default level of breathing allows for you to focus on the way you breathe internally and the organs that are used really complimenting interoceptive meditation.
4. The best type of breathing for calming down would be patterns of longer and more vigorous exhale to let the air out with more emphasis relative to the passive inhales. This will shift the nervous system to a level of more calm.