Hello and welcome to this short talk about learning to let go of judgments.
My name is Wendy and I'm so grateful that today you have chosen to try a new tool to let those judgments go.
So I'll tell you the tool I came up with to slowly release the judgments within.
One day whilst living in Germany I decided to go to the local village shopping area.
I got an ice cream and found a bench in the heart of the hustle and bustle.
As I settled in I made a conscious decision to stop seeing through the eyes of judgment and just notice what is.
So for each person that passed me I said,
In my head of course,
Those are red shoes.
Not ugly,
Pretty,
Comfy or not.
Just facts.
They are shoes.
That is a green coat.
Not saying if I thought it was warm,
Stylish or not right for them.
It was harder than I expected it to be.
The first time it was difficult to stay on task.
I decided to set my watch alarm for 10 minutes and try to get through those first.
If radio me started to judge or tell stories I would gently come back to noticing something factual again.
Hat,
Car,
Ice cream.
It wasn't easy but I did complete that first 10 minutes.
I went home and to be perfectly honest I didn't think too much about it.
But a few days later I decided to try again.
10 more minutes of judgment free noticing.
I did this several times.
Then I felt comfortable moving the time clock further and doing 15 then 20 minutes.
Then something started to shift that I wasn't expecting.
When I was getting ready to go do these time blocks of noticing I would get ready,
Check myself in the mirror.
But now I notice that I'm seeing myself with different eyes.
Less and less judgmentally.
This tool I was using was actually working on my self-image as well as my judgments with and about others.
So I continued this for about a month.
Not daily but when I felt I was willing to be open to it.
My whole vision changed.
With each time I found it easier and easier to see and notice without judgments.
I didn't notice my broken tooth,
My turned up nose,
Or even my stretch mark scars when I looked into the mirror as I had for a half a century.
Now all I could see were teeth,
A nose,
And skin.
I even stopped weighing myself as I finally got comfortable in my body for the first time in my whole life.
I stopped being critically judgmental of myself and others.
I could see the ease of judgments was encroaching on all aspects of my life.
It is incredibly freeing to let those judgments go.
If you're ready to start letting go of judgments too,
Then feel free to use my tool in your own way.
Maybe that's sitting at your workspace for five minutes looking around at people and things without any judgments,
Just facts.
Could be at a family function for three minutes noticing things with different eyes,
Not ones that see judgments or stories.
Or possibly it's two minutes on public transport where you know no one and that's an easier place to start.
Whatever sounds like a reachable goal for you,
That's the one you should try.
If I can do it,
You can too.
I believe in you.
Good luck and remember be gentle with yourself.
It's a practice,
Not a perfect.
Thanks so much for listening to my first recorded track on Insight Timer.
Don't forget to leave a quick review.
Bye!
