Hello and welcome to a meditation for receiving and processing feedback.
This is Dr.
Kelly Waltman and I'm honored that you have joined me in this meditation practice.
It can be difficult to receive and process critical feedback.
Our survival instinct kicks in,
We become afraid of rejection,
And our natural inclination is to become defensive.
We want to explain or justify our actions,
And we may even become hurt and just shut down.
But when we take time to process feedback,
We can often find a valuable lesson,
Even if we don't completely agree with what the person shared with us.
During this session,
I will guide you through a meditation and journaling exercise to help you process through feedback you've received.
So if you don't have a journal or something else to write with on hand,
Go ahead and pause this meditation now and come back when you're ready.
Okay,
Before we begin the journaling exercise,
We're going to begin with a meditation.
So I'd like you to relax into the most comfortable position available to you right now.
And if you're comfortable doing so,
Gently close your eyes.
Let's take a few moments to focus on our breathing.
Breathe in as slowly and deeply as you can.
Now give a slow,
Deep exhale.
Inhale and exhale.
Inhale and exhale.
Inhale and exhale.
One more deep inhale.
Inhale and exhale.
Now relax into your normal,
Easy rhythm of breathing.
I want you to bring to mind the conversation you had when you received the critical feedback,
Or perhaps you received the feedback in writing.
However you received it,
I want you to bring that communication to mind.
Don't worry about your journal right now.
Just focus on meditation and bring that conversation or written feedback to mind.
Visualize it and bring it into your mind's eye.
What was the feedback you received?
And when I asked this,
I mean,
What did you hear or what did you take from the words that you read?
And rather than restating the exact words,
Right now,
I want you to focus on what you heard.
What was your initial reaction?
What was your interpretation of the feedback?
For example,
Maybe they said they'd like you to demonstrate more initiative,
But what you heard was,
You're lazy.
Tap into what your reactive self received or believed was the message in between the lines.
Take a few moments and really visualize this and focus on it.
How did the feedback make you feel?
Put a name to the feeling or feelings.
Perhaps you felt angry or hurt or disappointed.
Whatever you felt,
Put a name to those feelings.
It's important for us to acknowledge our experiences and our feelings when receiving critical feedback,
But it's also important that we be able to examine the experience with a more objective lens.
This is how we can draw out the lesson,
Even if we disagree.
So now we are going to move into processing the feedback more objectively.
When you are ready,
Gently open your eyes and pick up your journal.
Moving beyond the emotions you felt upon receiving the feedback and now focusing on the words used,
What were the exact words,
As best as you can remember,
What were the exact words used by the person giving you feedback?
What specific words did they say or write?
Try not to focus on your interpretation of the feedback now,
But rather focus on and Now,
Thinking about those exact words,
Are there parts of the feedback you agree with?
If so,
Write them down.
If there are parts of the feedback you agree with,
Write down why you agree with it.
Are there parts of the feedback you disagree with?
If so,
Write that down.
If there are parts of the feedback you disagree with,
Write down why you disagree.
And even if you disagree with the feedback,
Can you see the issue from the other person's perspective?
If so,
Write down the ways you can see the issue from their perspective.
As you continue to process this feedback,
Is there something you can improve upon or change moving forward?
If so,
Write down the things you've identified that you can improve upon or change.
Now,
Think about what you'd like to share with that person in a follow-up conversation,
And take a few moments to write down what you would like to share with them.
Once you're done writing,
Gently close your eyes again if you are comfortable doing so.
Now,
Take a few moments to focus on your breathing and sit in stillness.
Focus on the feeling of gratitude.
Feel gratitude for the lesson within the feedback.
Feel gratitude for the wisdom to be gained.
Gratitude for the insight you've received.
And set an intention and focus on gratitude for a positive and productive follow-up conversation with the person who gave you this feedback.
When you are ready,
Gently open your eyes and return to the space you are in right now.
I encourage you to use this practice whenever you need to process critical feedback or difficult conversations.
May you be well,
May you feel peace,
And thank you for joining me in this practice.
Namaste.
