Welcome to active meditation.
In this meditation we learn to understand and how to transform our inner critic.
Take a few moments to relax the body.
Take a few deep breaths,
Letting the body relax completely,
Especially allowing the muscles of the face and jaws to relax as we remove all expressions from our face.
We let go of the tension in our shoulders.
Relax all the way down to the toes.
With each breath we exhale,
A wave of relaxation spreads throughout the whole body.
We relax our mind and emotions with another deep breath.
We allow our inner peace and quiet awareness to arise.
Let go of all worries and concerns.
Do this now.
As we enter this more peaceful state,
Our awareness continues on a more subtle level.
We are mindful that there is a deep presence within us of wisdom and goodwill,
A quieter awareness that is able to observe all,
But is not emotional.
We are the silent witness,
Aware of our assorted memories,
Ideas,
And beliefs.
Aware of our ability to stand apart from them.
Aware that we are not just our thoughts and memories.
We are the thinker,
The creator of thoughts and ideas.
We are the observer,
Aware that we are more than our emotions.
We are the creator of emotions,
The organizer,
The one who uses emotions to express our kindness and friendliness.
Resting in this detached state of being,
We are also conscious of a great benevolent power quietly surrounding us,
Always present to support the best in us,
Always present to nourish our needs for energy,
Guidance,
And emotional support.
To help this process of detachment,
Let's recall the image of the slowly spinning wheel.
We stand in the very center of this wheel.
Watching the outer events,
Slowly turning about us at a distance at the edge of our wheel.
Watching our emotions and our thoughts slowly swirling around us while we remain unmoving,
Quietly observing outer changes,
Outer disturbances at a distance at the outer edge of our wheel.
As we place ourself in this focal point,
We appreciate that this position in the center also connects us with the power understanding,
The life and love of our higher self.
We strengthen our bond with these powers by relaxing more and being grateful for the opportunity to improve this connection.
Take a few moments to be reacquainted with this connection.
It is already present and building.
We allow these energies to quietly add themselves to our thoughts,
Feelings,
Desires,
And memories at the outer edge of the wheel.
We sense the enriching and renewing power of our higher self.
We recognize that with this detached awareness in the center of our wheel,
We have access to the power and insights that can free us from outer distress,
Discouragement,
And resentment.
In this expanded mindfulness,
Recognizing who we really are,
We can also locate at the edge of the wheel our inner critic,
A part of our self that finds fault,
That works to promote our inner criticism,
That encourages our tendency to believe that sometimes we are weak,
Incompetent,
Or unworthy.
Occasionally,
Our inner critic speaks to us directly.
Other times,
We only feel it.
With a mood of anxiety or remorse or anger directed at our self,
We may feel less confident in our knowledge,
Skills,
And other aptitudes and abilities.
The inner critic is a wayward part of our self.
It is part of our humanity that must be corrected and reformed,
But not suppressed,
Not angrily resented.
As we identify the disapproving part of us that is critical or pessimistic,
We know that we also have an optimistic and confident part of us that is eager to praise,
Ready to express gratitude,
Prepared to be cheerful and enthusiastic.
Our inner critic acts as a gatekeeper,
Restraining these noble qualities and knowledge that we need to alleviate our fears,
Ease our resentment.
As the gatekeeper,
It will resist improving our relationships and try to prevent us from developing more patience,
From expressing more kindness,
And from exhibiting more enthusiasm.
The inner critic gatekeeper blocks our access to our higher self,
The actual part of our being that we can work with to reform our inner critic.
At the center of our wheel,
We have access to the power,
Knowledge,
And love of our higher self that is prepared to help us as we discipline and transform our inner critic.
Let's take a few moments to identify a time when the inner critic spoke to us or created a dark mood,
When the inner critic reminded us of our mistakes,
Our shortcomings,
A flaw in our personality,
Perhaps how poorly we spoke or behaved,
How clumsy and ignorant we acted,
How we embarrassed ourselves.
Or maybe the inner critic pointed out the opportunities we missed,
The people we upset,
Our errors and judgment.
I'll be silent while you do this.
Now that we have the moment in mind,
We know it is the inner critic because it is the voice of discouragement,
The voice of helplessness,
The voice of anxiety,
The voice of fear.
We notice that the inner critic and its dialogue originates from the outer edge of the wheel.
We are now connected with the wisdom,
Power,
And love of our higher self at the center of the wheel.
We can draw from our higher self the healing energies of love and understanding.
Let this build now.
And when ready,
Send this love and understanding out to the inner critic at the edge of the wheel.
I'll wait while we do this.
When we catch our inner critic operating this way,
We can immediately stop this dialogue.
We can speak to our inner critic who resides at the perimeter of our wheel as a wise parent talks to an agitated child.
We can tell it that we are fully aware of what happened.
This issue,
This mood,
Is just a part of being human.
We know we are not perfect,
But we always try to do the best we can.
Do this now.
Talk to your inner critic.
Be the kind parent talking to your agitated child,
The inner critic.
I'll be quiet.
We know that every worthwhile activity involves knowledge and skills that we need to learn.
We know that part of every learning curve is littered with mistakes of our early trials,
But we learn from these mistakes,
Which are only the early trials we use to develop the full skill.
In fact,
Because of some of these embarrassing moments,
We no longer act this way.
We need to relax,
Give ourselves praise and support for doing what we are able to do and where we are less than we want to be and do.
We can learn how to improve our skills and performance from these mistakes.
Kindness and praise are necessary in every step of reforming our beliefs and habits.
Our criticisms and attacks on ourself do not help.
Life responds best to encouragement and support for the best in us.
Our relationship with our higher self is diminished by harsh criticism.
Our humanity thrives on reassurance and praise.
Let's give this to ourself now.
Find the good and praise it.
You you let's approach this part of our personality our inner critic with patience understanding and encouragement to strengthen what is good in ourself there are always aspects of ourself where we want to make improvements reform our beliefs and habits take a few moments now to reflect on these ideas you it is time to return to our regular state of thoughts feelings and actions to time and space take a few deep breaths to help establish the waking state and as we do this we know that we have made significant progress in developing a working relationship with our higher self the real I I am aware I am I you
