Hello my friend.
If your inner critic is loud right now,
Telling you you're not enough,
Or you got it wrong,
Or you should have known better,
Or any other thoughts that are beating you up and making you feel bad and ashamed,
Take a pause.
Let's take a pause.
And remember that that voice may be very familiar,
But that does not make it true.
This is a pattern.
It's a learned protection strategy.
And what the inner critic thinks it's doing is keeping you safe from some kind of further attack or judgment or rejection.
So you're not here to fight it,
But you're also not going to give it the microphone.
We're going to meet the inner critic with something else that it really wants to know,
Which is that it's safe.
You're safe,
And you're safe to feel what you feel,
And that you're doing the best you can,
And that really you're a human being just like every other human having a human experience.
And no protection from that is needed,
Because you're okay.
You're doing really well.
In a way you're saying to yourself,
I can feel that I'm beating myself up,
And I don't like the feeling it gives me.
And I want to be here and let myself know I'm here to support myself and change that.
So let's do that.
I invite you to place a hand on your heart.
And if you'd like another hand on your belly,
This can feel really grounding.
And you can feel your breath underneath your hands coming and going and coming back to you in whatever rhythm.
This can be felt as this steady presence at your core,
Your body being breathed and supported and given all the life that's in you that you're entitled to have.
And you might imagine you're actually looking into the eyes of this critic,
The one that's bringing this voice and saying,
Oh I hear you,
But I'm choosing not to join you.
I'm choosing not to speak to myself that way right now.
Because I value my peace.
Because I want to respect myself and I can.
Right now I am on my own side.
And you're remembering what you always knew,
You wise thing,
That mistake.
Mistakes are human.
They're not a problem.
They're often the answer and the way we learn.
That being imperfect is human.
That no one's perfect.
I'm not perfect.
You're not perfect.
And we're doing great.
We don't need to be perfect.
I don't want to be.
That you're growing.
That you're learning.
That you're allowed to live life from the innocence of not having to pass a test or perform or climb a ladder because you have nothing to prove and everything to experience.
See how that lands in you.
And whether as you breathe here,
It's opened up a little space.
More space to breathe.
More freedom to move.
More room for you to be fully present.
In all your dimensions.
Feeling how your breath is filling that space and maybe opening your chest a little.
Lifting your chin a tiny bit.
Softening your face.
Smiling.
Letting your muscles and bones relax a little or a lot.
Recognizing that you just chose a different voice.
You made a choice.
You chose a different voice.
One that helps you heal.
It supports you in growing and learning and thriving and being you.
And that over time,
Each time you practice this,
That voice will be the main voice you hear from.
The one that's really valuable.
And the one that's real and true.
And that inner critic,
Which is only an echo from things from the past,
Won't need to feel it needs to stand guard and protect you.
It'll relax and retire.
Stay with the voice that keeps you whole.
Keep coming back to it.
You can just take a few more breaths here for yourself now.
Acknowledging.
Knowing this is here for you.
Every time you want to meet that inner critic with different words.
And how positive that is for you.
So thank yourself.
And thank and be thankful for your capacity to choose.
And just check into your body now and see and feel if anything's changed inside you.
And how you might know that is there might be some emotional release.
There might be a feeling of being more here.
Some light might have come into your body.
Some window might have opened that before felt shut.
And it's very natural if there's still some resistance.
It takes a while to let these places that are on guard know they don't have to guard us anymore,
Especially if they've been there for a long time.
And we can understand that.
So be kind to your whole experience.
Because this itself,
Being kind to your whole experience,
Is an incredible act of power over that old voice.
Thank you for practicing,
My friend.
And until next time,
Bye for now.
