Welcome,
Unique learners!
This is part 4 already of my quick inner critic series.
You will need a light chair in order to do the exercise.
In the previous session we continued to exercise silencing our inner critic.
Here you got introduced to imagining your inner critic and in this session we will go a step further,
Placing the inner critic outside of ourselves.
When I think of my inner critic,
It becomes easy to be aware that the thoughts are there.
When I listen to my inner critic and try to visualize my super villain,
My inner critic is a mixture between Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter,
Lady Tremaine from Cinderella and Cruella de Vil.
She is selfish,
Vain,
Cruel,
Obsessive,
Cold,
Jealous and very unhappy.
And then I ask myself,
Are these characteristics that I want?
And why do I listen to this villain?
So let's go even a step further by literally placing our inner critic outside of ourselves.
So please settle in in the room and be ready to do some uplifting work.
Close your eyes if you haven't done so already.
Breathe in through your nose and hold it on the top and breathe out through the mouth with a sigh.
Once more,
Breathe in through your nose,
Hold it and breathe out longer than your in-breath with a sigh.
Try to focus on your thoughts.
Inner critic,
Where are you?
Become aware of your inner critic thoughts,
But don't focus too much on them.
Instead,
How do your negative thoughts from the inner critic sound?
Is it a familiar voice?
A loud voice?
Screaming?
Does he or she sound mean?
Does it have an evil laugh?
Breathe in and breathe out.
Now try to see your inner critic sitting in front of you on a similar chair.
Is it a villain from a TV show?
Is it the Joker?
Ursula?
Venom?
Skeletor?
Breathe in and breathe out.
Now try to focus on their eyes.
How does the inner critic look at you?
Breathe in and breathe out.
Is the inner critic speaking right now?
What are some of the characteristics you would give to your inner critic?
Angry?
Mean?
Jealous?
Vain?
Is this how you want to be?
Don't forget to breathe in and breathe out.
Now don't forget,
You are your own hero in this story.
And the good guy always win.
Now open your eyes and be ready to fight.
Stand up and look at the chair you sat in.
The inner critic,
Your villain,
Was just sitting there.
Grab the chair,
Walk outside of the room and place your chair there.
Yes,
I'm deadly serious right now and then close the door behind you and go back to the place you initially started.
How does that feel?
If you feel comfortable you may want to swing around your arms,
Jump or shake the tension off.
May you be free,
May you be safe and may you be loved.
And next time you are aware of your inner critic it might be fun to lock that villain up where it belongs.
And my take home message is you are doing your best.
And if you could have done it better you would have done so right?
So no need to listen to that inner critic today.
Namaste.
