fall into oneself

present singular third person falls into oneself · participle present falling into oneself · past fell into oneself · participle past fallen into oneself

1. To enter an introspective or meditative state.

   He fell into himself, his half-closed eyes looking into an edgeless nowhere.

   1964, The Illustrated Weekly of India - Volume 85, page 67

   4 more examples

   He lost all sensation of time and space, fell into himself more completely than he had ever known possible, touched his life force with his consciousness for the first time.

   2002, R.A. Salvatore, Transcendence

   Jot down a few sentences about your outer world, then fall into yourself; observe your inner thoughts and musings and then write from the part of you that is always watching.

   2010, Sandy Grason, Journalution, page 142

   The more you hold on to the everyday, the farther away you are from surrendering. Fall. Fall into yourself, into the deep spaces that lie within.

   2012, Genevieve Wood, Kindling Our Stars: Nurturing Bright and Dark Flames, page 136

   The celebrated Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, for example, in the 20th century will describe, almost hauntingly, his mid-life experience of falling into himself.

   2015, James C. Harrington, Sidney G. Hall III, Three Mystics Walk into a Tavern

2. To become shy or withdrawn.

   But you fall into yourself around these, these jokers. You become a mouse.

   2002, Dana Johnson, Break Any Woman Down: And Other Stories, page 185

   2 more examples

   When trials come and you fall into yourself and close your heart, suffering is increased and intensified.

   2012, Tau Malachi, The Gnostic Gospel of St. Thomas

   Mama, who had been looking so strong this morning, seemed to fall into herself. Her blankets would swallow her alive if she sank further into the bed.

   2017, Hannah Polanco, Words of Venom