Harness The Inner Critic For Confidence & Self-Love (Live)

In this recording from a live circle from March 2023, learn how to harness the power of your inner critic, liberate your power, and feel confident, creative, and free. Most of us think the best way to manage the inner critic is to silence or ignore it. Your inner critic is an important part of you, a self-protection mechanism generated from your past experiences to protect you from hurt, failure, shame, and discomfort.

Learn to harness the power of your inner critic to empower you to step into your creative power and accelerate your personal growth.

Transcript

So okay,

Let's dive into the topic of the inner critic quite gently.

And before we start this conversation,

I would love to hear from you what your relationship with the inner critic is like.

Are you familiar with the term inner critic and what is your relationship with the inner critic?

So that's the question as we dive in.

Also think of today's session as more of a conversation.

So it's a two-way,

It's a flow,

And also rather than just you and me,

There's this whole big circle of us.

It's inside timer,

There's this magical bowl holding us and then we have this magic soup or broth that is cooking together.

So we all bring some ingredients in and the more you're able to share the inputs,

It will help me,

Support me to guide the conversation to reach different aspects and different insights for you.

Let's see.

Sammy says,

I feel if something charges me,

I have to stop and realize there's an opportunity to learn.

Amina says,

I'm too familiar with my inner critic.

It definitely causes anxiety for me.

Sondra Ann says,

The inner critic is becoming more quiet through mindful practices like these.

Qibol says,

I found it interesting what you said about the inner critic having a role to play.

And I always saw it as a toot.

Sammy says,

I don't take myself too seriously which is great.

Now we all have different ways of dealing with the inner critic and just from what some of our friends have shared in the chat,

It seems like in our circle today,

Some of us are very familiar with this inner critic and it's causing some anxiety.

Some of us really don't have a good relationship with it.

Some of us have been cultivating a specific relationship with the critic through mindfulness and the critic is becoming more and more quiet.

Kenya says as well,

My inner critic has become quiet for me as well since starting mindful practices as well.

Great,

That's beautiful.

The next thing I want to invite you to share in the chat is some of you have already mentioned it indirectly that you mentioned the critic is either loud,

Meaning you hear the voice of your inner critic or maybe your inner critic might be at times quiet.

Sammy says,

I'm friends with myself so I don't really criticize myself.

I'm very compassionate inwardly.

That's great.

Then I'm not sure today's session will be of benefit to you much but probably you will still take something away hopefully or maybe you could share with us,

Rest of us,

Because today's session is really for those of us who have this relationship with the inner critic that we're hoping to improve or hoping to receive some tools to navigate this relationship with the inner critic.

So now the question leading on to the previous question is how do you know when the inner critic is speaking?

What does your inner critic sound like?

Kenya says,

Inner critic says push yourself harder.

Hebo says the inner critic sounds negative,

Dull tones,

Do me.

Kenya says the inner critic says do better.

So it sounds like the inner critic is the voice of pushing,

Of striving.

Let's see,

Amina says inner critic causes me to spend a lot of time on things to make sure I do it things perfectly.

Annette says why is this so hard for you?

That is what the inner critic would say.

So we've already got a sense and a feel of that and if anyone else would like to share I really invite you to do so.

Sometimes what happens when we share is we have the space to voice some thoughts or experiences that we have that we've been containing within us.

This is why speaking to someone else like a therapist or to your friend or even doing journaling practices and writing out these thoughts or these emotions that can be difficult or triggering situations that can be difficult to manage internally,

They give a physical space for this to exist outside of you.

So it's very helpful practice.

So it sounds like we are all pretty much familiar with the voice of our respective inner critic and for some of us,

For each of us,

Let's say the voice of the inner critic will sound maybe slightly different from someone else's inner critic.

Some inner critics will focus on making sure we do things completely perfectly.

Other inner critics may say why are you performing so poorly?

This should be easy for you.

So very very high expectations and feeling and demeaning your value or you know the level at which you're performing.

Let's see Sondra N has just shared in the chat that for her the inner critic is disempowering and feels heavy in my chest.

Nat says I don't think I have an inner critic.

More of the inner guidance,

Support and problem solving.

Great,

Great.

So the inner critic can be associated with certain manners of speaking,

With certain physiological sensations as well as emotional states.

It can also be associated with,

I want to shout out to our friends who are in the chat,

Actually let me phrase that as a question.

When do you notice the inner critic coming up for you?

When does the inner critic usually show up?

Are there specific situations or triggers or times of the day,

The month or interactions in which the inner critic tends to start to surface?

Jan says for her getting into social situations.

Annette says the inner critic tends to speak when she is procrastinating.

Sondra N says times of overwhelm,

Also when I'm around my mother.

Amina says when I need to public speak for work.

Keebo says when I face something that will mean leaving my comfort zone or people whose opinions I care about.

Now it sounds like again for all of us,

Whatever situations or triggers that cause the rise of your inner critic,

That will be different and unique for you.

But this is important for those of us who are tuning in to be aware and become more mindful of when your inner critic tends to speak.

Amina said that's a really good one.

Keebo.

Kenya says worsens when my cycle,

When in my cycle,

But also when around parents or not feeling well.

Yeah for sure.

I also used to feel the voice and hear the voice of my inner critic coming out more often in the presence of my parents,

Especially my father who used to be very critical of us.

And also in my menstrual cycle,

For those of you who are menstruating,

The inner critic's natural phase or where the inner critic lives is usually around the time of the luteal phase,

Which is the 7 to 14 days leading up to your period.

That's when the fluctuation of the hormones happens.

Progesterone levels start to rise.

Estrogen levels are at their lowest and this results in the tendency for many women to start to feel very critical towards themselves.

If you are perimenopausal,

Then you might also experience these same symptoms as you're undergoing a major hormonal change internally and also physically.

Let's see.

Nat says my dad,

My father raised us in a very positive way.

He always told us we're going to have many critics as we grew up in the world and that you have to be confident in yourself.

Kenya says I can relate with critical parents,

Especially father.

Now we can see that from our chat today that upbringing plays a huge role and the role models in our life have also influenced how we speak to ourselves through either that is the voice of our inner champion or the voice of our inner critic.

Now I wanted to point back to the fact that during our Qigong practice earlier today,

Our movement meditation practice today,

More than once I emphasized that the inner critic is not all bad.

It's not all something or someone that we should be silencing completely.

Why is that the case?

Because the fundamental belief of principle in the practice of Taoist philosophy,

Which I follow and I deeply believe in Qigong,

But also in yoga as well,

We have this belief of union between Shiva and Shakti.

And I introduced the inner champion from before as well as the inner critic.

The reason why many of us struggle with the inner critic is because the inner critic has taken too big a role in our lives and we've not managed to nourish or to have sufficient support from the inner champion.

And the problem is not with the inner critic,

The problem is this dynamic.

When the two are balanced,

Then we are able to very accurately be able to see ourselves,

To know and have a good sense of self-esteem,

To be confident in ourselves and at the same time be sufficiently discerning,

Critical and at the same time refined to know our strengths,

To know what we excel at,

To know our weaknesses and know that these are the things that we should improve on without feeling a sense of low self-worth,

Without feeling that we are never enough,

Without feeling that we have to be perfect in order to exist in this world.

So I want to say first that it's probably an unpopular view and probably you might have read some resources or heard from some people that the solution to the inner critic is to silence the inner critic and I personally am not a big fan of silencing the inner critic because I believe all voices should be heard.

Now whether you hear the voice and then trust in the voice or whether you hear the voice and then you ask yourself where did this voice come from?

Whose voice is it that I'm really hearing?

And we already see from the chat some hints as to this.

So I'll give you an example,

Some of the self-critical things that I hear my inner critic telling me comes from somewhere else including my upbringing,

Including some things I heard from friends or certain environments that happened growing up.

So this is not me and by being able to hear rather than silencing these voices,

You understand the influences of these factors in your upbringing and then you can make an informed choice and decision moving forward.

Is this actually valuable for me?

Is this actually the truth?

Another thing I wanted to point out is that for those of us who are very used to having the sense of championing,

We do have the opposite end of the spectrum.

There are some people who are just so boastful of themselves and I don't think any of us here today fall in this aspect but perhaps in your life you have encountered someone whose sense of inner champion is unbelievably big.

They are just so egoistic and they are just so full of themselves and they think that they are perfect but they are really not and also they are not acting in a way that is,

How would I say,

Is balanced,

Is whole.

So essentially if we go back to the idea of the inner critic and today's topic is harnessing the power of the inner critic,

We've already talked about the first couple of steps which is firstly noticing your relationship with the inner critic.

This is number one.

Who is this inner critic and for those of you who have been silent,

If you've not been sharing and you've been having a difficult time with the inner critic,

A practice that I find really helpful is to be able to give a name to this inner critic.

Some people say my inner critic is Abba or you might say it is a barking dog and this barking dog is called Didi,

That's the name of our dog but he's not my inner critic.

So just naming this inner critic and noticing that this inner critic resides within you and you can choose to befriend this inner critic,

You can choose to ignore this inner critic,

You can choose to observe this inner critic and I believe at this point of time what we're doing as we do mindfulness practices and early on a few of us have already mentioned in the chat that as we do more and more mindfulness practices what happens is the hypercritical voices tend to become less and less outspoken and maybe because we become aware and we make the conscious effort and choice not to feed them.

It's just like imagine there's this tale and I cannot remember the full story maybe some of you will know there are two wolves living within us and the wolf that will survive inside of us is the wolf that we choose to feed not the one which is bigger or you know more negative or more positive and we can choose to feed whichever aspect of ourselves more attention,

Less attention,

We can choose to give in to these negative thoughts and self-limiting beliefs or we can hear them and then question is this true is some degree of this true because I also want to point out to the fact that very often if we have this inner champion in our lives what happens is many of us if you joined me for the week where we talked about people pleasing you all know that the inner champion is a lot about yes you're great you're such a giver you are very connected with the world you own your own your inner power in that state and mental being what happens is we tend to give a lot and we might be in this place that is very externally focused and we might end up giving too much of ourselves or saying yes to the things that we weren't really sure that we wanted to say yes to and we said that in that moment and state of being while still in that people pleasing mindset or still being in that yes you know I'm in this group sure I want to contribute but then what the inner critic does it is it gives perspective it puts you from that positive yeah I can do everything everything is possible no problem it draws you back to the reality of what is and sometimes for many of us it does it in a very harsh and unhelpful way but sometimes the inner critic has a real role because if the inner critic if your inner critic is not shouting or screaming but is quietly telling you you've taken on too much it's time to take a break you should have said no just now instead of yes why are you saying yes you are overwhelmed why did you take on more um let's see there are some comments that came in to the chat kenya says learning to say no was one of the most difficult things to do however it has been the best choice yes and that's thank you for sharing that and even then even knowing this and i'm sure in in our circle today that many of us know this that saying no is difficult but it's good for us it's good for you it's good for me and yet and yet in every single situation especially if you associate with being a people pleaser you see yourself as a giver you see yourself as someone who can who connects with others who really wants to be in service to support others to be in community each time it is a practice it is going to be continually difficult and if you continue staying on the path having this really great relationship with the inner champion who tells you to say yes to everything yes you can do it no problem you can do everything and you ignore the voice of the inner critic which sometimes gives you the truth of course in a very exaggerated and a very critical and sometimes harsh tone then what happens is that you feel overwhelmed um now this is just one part of the picture and i want to to get that out of the way first because that is this is not a popular view so i wanted to to address this first and see if any questions or any um sharings came up and kenya just shared in the chat the work continues yeah it's a continual process a practice now so if we are all open to the idea that the inner critic has a role to play then how might we navigate the relationship with this inner critic let's see julie says i replay previous conversations in my head that are regretful that's when the beast tells me i am a effing idiot um sondra n says i learned that when i hesitate it's because i'm learning leaning towards no but struggling with boundaries this pause has helped me to work on understanding my boundaries and not overloading myself um kenya says to kibo says to kenya i totally relate to what you are saying yeah kenya thank you so much for your donation and for your presence and for sharing with us um it's not an easy topic and i choose to talk about it because i think it is at the heart of every single one of us i don't personally relate to being a perfectionist and yet and yet i still have this ongoing relationship with the inner critic and i really truly believe that we uh with the inner critic we can cultivate a relationship that maybe you don't love the inner critic but you understand there is a space and a time and a value for this inner critic and also more importantly that perhaps the way you hear the inner critic it could be adjusted or changed perhaps the inner critic doesn't have to shout perhaps the inner critic doesn't have to use vulgar words or to say that you're worthless maybe the inner critic could learn now if you give the inner critic a name like um i don't want to say a random name and it happens to be someone in our group but let's say let's say the inner critic is called ccb um so if ccb your inner critic and you communicate with this inner critic you could let this inner critic or as julie said the beast let them know that you hear them but the tone at which they are sharing information or insights with you is unbelievably harsh unhelpful then that might change your relation relationship or the beast maybe the beast is not a beast and the beast could become a dog or a cat and kibo says her um the my my inner critic is called little shit we all have names for the the inner critic and we can choose to hate it or we can choose to understand our relationship with it and to let this relationship shape and change and i invite you after our conversation today because again it depends on your own experience for some of us the inner critic will have close to no value maybe all your inner critic does is criticize you incessantly without providing you any perspective of what is true then if that is the case probably your inner critic is not so helpful and you you would be it would be better worth your time spending more time cultivating and bolstering your sense of confidence by leaning into your inner champion if however you notice that you have two not a good relationship with boundaries then the inner critic has true value for you because i did mention before at the start of today's session the inner critic is associated with the metal element in the creative cycle this is the process of refinement when we create a project for example at the beginning we brainstorm we gather all the information and we have all these ideas exploding in our head and we are really excited to start that's the wood element that's the creation starting then that's the fire element which is really doing and giving it all and expressing yourself in the world and connecting with your true strength and flourishing and being authentically yourself this is the natural space and where the inner champion lives then we have the transition into the inner critic now that's bridged of course by the earth element i'll talk about this in a later time and actually last week we talked about people pleasing as well that's connected to the earth element but after this period of relation or for those of us who are past menstruation that's in the woman's life cycle that is when you are at the peak of maybe 30s to 40s that's when a lot of us feel like okay yes you know i have a good sense of identity of who i am in the world why i'm doing who i'm connecting with i'm showing myself to the world then we reach a stage where we are like refining and we start to care less about what other people think and care more about what we really think and what we really want and hidden beneath the harsh voice or the tone or the shouting or the criticism or the slur words that your inner critic might be saying could be some real gems it could be some truths that you failed to see when we were in the earlier phase of like yes i can do everything no problem i'm invincible yes um i'm out in the world and i am blah blah blah and i am and that is the energy of i am that's the fire element but the inner critic is about boundaries it's about like what is me where do i start and end and where does someone else start and end and how can i create this safe space and this boundary so that i can exist it's okay i can relate to others and at the same time i know what i stand for i know what parts of me truly shine and because that's the energy of the metal element and also very importantly the inner critic is about letting go and some of us mentioned this earlier on and a lot of us who associate with having the inner critic speaking quite loudly in our minds we associate with being perfectionist that's here sandra thank you so much for your donation it means so much to me and thank you for joining in net says that that's a big issue for me what people think about me and what they might be saying yes so this is you see these two forces so the five elements in the creative cycle ultimately they are underpinned by two equal and opposing forces these are called yin yang shiva shakti the sun and the moon masculine and feminine but they are outward facing showing yourself to the world owning your power being creative mainly making things happen and inward facing knowing yourself having a good relationship with yourself being able to let go of other expectations from other people self-limiting beliefs that might have been inherited from other people so agitated yeah so we we can't we can't just have one it is it is not enough it is it's not and also if you're always with the inner champion and you might be in that state where the inner champion is very focused on receiving this external affirmation that oh you know like what would our other people think and saying yes when you say yes you usually say yes to someone else rather than saying yes to yourself so an important part of saying no to someone else is understanding that when you say no to someone else you can say yes to yourself you can say yes to someone else you can there are various different ways and also there are more ways than just saying no I mean you could also find a way that it could be both yes or both a no it really depends so let me go back to this conversation I find I am moving off track just very slightly but I want to invite all of you to to think back to what your relationship with your inner critic has been and to start to over the next couple of days really start to tune in with the help of your meditation practice of course if you have a meditation practice or mindfulness practice whatever form whether that is qigong yoga whether that is doing pranayama breathing techniques like breath work whether that is somatics all it does it makes us more aware of what is happening inside and then when we're aware of what is happening inside we can hear the voices that we might have ignored and I know some of these voices might be difficult to deal with if that is you the first thing to do is to create safety especially if your inner critic has been so overwhelming and it's causing you emotional overwhelm if that's the case that my course which is overwhelm to ease might be helpful for you or you can check out my blog which is there's an article that is on emotional overwhelm so it's wellington.

Com blog and there's a post on emotional overwhelm and how we can navigate emotional overwhelm through the creative cycle and the five elements so in any case create some safety so that you have a little bit of buffer and distance because ultimately remember you are not either your inner champion nor your inner critic they are the voices the two wolves or chatty one or for example the the shitty one whatever you want to call them right they co-exist inside of you but you are not them you are so much more you are this container that hold them and you can choose how you want to relate to them how you want to tune in to them you can choose to tune out from them you can choose to tune in and take with a pinch of salt i just recently wrote this in a blog post earlier today on the inner critic that an important thing is whenever your inner critic speaks to listen but to not take it a hundred percent because either your inner champion or your inner critic they are only showing one side of the picture each just like our two eyes if you only look with the left eye your vision is not complete the same with your right eye and also the same with our lungs with our heart with our ears and even with our nostrils but just not our mouth for some reason um but and so and so i really thoroughly believe that for many of us maybe it is not your case and i'm sure i don't know every single person's case and i don't know i did not hear from every single one of you but i really believe that for many of us the inner critic it actually has some role to play especially in your in your in the situation of overwhelm and the inner critic is choosing to speak out go beyond the criticism go beyond what the name calling and understand why your inner critic is speaking to you one very helpful practice that i heard from another teacher here on insight timer she's called carolyn um i can't remember her family name but she's she offers creative writing here on uh insight time and every monday she has a session so she said to write a letter to your inner critic telling them telling your inner critic how you feel about them if they've been causing you distress or discomfort and then very powerfully write back from the perspective of your inner critic to you when you do that you might realize where your inner critic is coming from because usually the inner critic is a persona it is a voice that was created to protect you based on your situations your memories your experiences in the past where you experience fear or trauma or you were hurt or threatened and this inner critic is there as a self-protection mechanism it doesn't mean to be there just to to hurt you it's not there intentionally to hurt you it came it came out of a feeling of wanting to protect and and so if you understand this then you will realize that then there's a different way of relating to the inner critic kivo says okay i'm gonna cushion mine and rename it to little number two yeah and you can decide which one is number one and which one is number two and let them speak let them let your inner champion and your inner critic have a conversation with each other i really feel that this is how we can continue to navigate the relationship we have with others but also with ourselves as we are on this journey you know many of us are here meditating on insight timer meditation is what brought us in i really thoroughly believe that many of us came here because we are seeking a deeper understanding and connection with ourselves and for some of us maybe something more each time you get to know a deeper layer of you you understand that there are so many aspects of you and neither not any one of them is you all of them are you we cannot if we want to live a life where we feel whole we cannot reject ignore or avoid any part of ourselves no matter how difficult no matter how traumatic no matter how saddening it might be or how triggering it might be we we have to embrace all all of you and when you embrace all of you it will be difficult right and for many of you again i don't know all of your stories because not many of you shared in the chat about your experience about with the inner critic and i'm sure many of you are having a difficult time i have worked with clients who have had very very difficult relationships with the inner critic on the outside it seems like they are living a great life everything is perfect but internally every single day they are feeling anxious they are feeling that they are not worthy they are falling short of perfection and they are not rightful to be alive to be living here so you only you know your relationship with your inner critic and your inner champion so perhaps the work today after today's conversation is maybe you start to notice the presence and the balance and equilibrium between these two inside of you when does the champion speak what does the voice of the champion sound like in relation to the critic and could you allow and create a platform and a holding a vessel because that's what your body is your body is a vessel and we are in this vessel and we're having this conversation kenya says i call my inner critic my shadow self sasha he both says um the conversation will be number one hey number two what's up number two go suck an egg number one interesting suggestion boil or raw number two you can't do either number one i'll try both you see that there is this role um it can get funny when the the two start to converse with each other and ultimately at the end of the day remember that you are the one who sees it all you are the observer you are also the action taker yes for sure but you see you hear you feel you touch you hold the space and you can choose how you want to feel even if in the past for example this voice maybe the voice has been so disruptive it has been so loud that perhaps at the beginning you have to silence it or you have to just not hear it and you have to focus on hearing the sound of the other voice first remember that you have this power you can choose how to relate to this again everything i offered today is a guidance i point out my perspective i point out what i feel is balanced i don't know where you are on your journey and i don't know your personal relationship with the inner critic or with the inner champion but you know you understand you feel there's no i can't remember who i heard this from but you are the world's leading expert on yourself not even those of you who see a therapist not even your therapist your partner your children your parents will know you better than yourself no one knows you better than yourself and so i think at the end of the day reminding yourself that even if there have been some conditioned behaviors or physiological responses that unfold in your body in the moment as your inner critic starts to get triggered remember okay that the critic is there but i am me i'm holding the inner critic this is just a voice i can choose not to listen to it i can choose to when i am able and i would like to hear it with and take it with a pinch of salt i can choose to engage converse with it i can choose to bring out the inner champion and let them talk i can choose to do anything i want but it takes practice of course it takes time and it takes practice and um and with regards to to i just want to end off also with the point because i know that in in the group there are some of us who have who are still on early on this journey of relating to the inner critic and if you notice anxiety happening unfolding or if you are experiencing a great degree of overwhelm a simple tool to do to work with the inner critic is to find this energy point in the center of the palm we did this yesterday and some of you are who practice regularly with me you you know this point this is in the center of the palm is connected to the heart it's pericardium number six it is the heart protector quite literally anxiety is associated with this heart energy this fire energy fire and metal they are different sides of the same thing and so what's helpful is when you feel start to feel really overwhelmed anxious focus and you can press on this point to breathe in and then take a huge sigh as you slowly release focus on this physiological sensation press to breathe in feel the pressure feel your pulse and then exhale and then you can do the same on the other side when you make a loose fist third and fourth finger press to breathe in and breathing out one more time press to breathe in and then breathing out now when you've done both you can let the palms rest here underneath the collarbones close to the armpits and if it's helpful you can even do this position rather than this if it's not comfortable for your shoulders this is quite nice try to let the center of the palms come right underneath the collarbone close to the armpit area so this energy healing point it maps on to when we do this we heal and connect with the lung or the energy channel meridian this is the yunmen which is the cloud gate uh lung meridian point and when you connect with this area you connect the heart together with the lungs the heart fire energy associated with the inner champion lungs associated with the inner critic and you remind yourself that okay i'm protected i am here okay he bow here so third and fourth finger let me repeat it again roughly and don't obsess about it don't worry about it because actually the point is pretty small but when we use our thumb we will almost always get it right anyway it's right in the center of the palm and between third and third and fourth finger roughly again it will depend on your anatomical structure of the the fingers how they are whether they go up straight some of us are more slanted with the fingers and when you press in the center of the palm you'll feel a slight tenderness like it's it's almost like a button that you're pressing and you're like oh it even goes some for some the of the students that i teach some of them say it even really feels like it goes directly to the heart because it is it is a cloak a cape a blanket for the heart and it protects the heart in western medicine it serves no purpose it's a sheath it's an electromagnetic conductor because that's what the heart does it has this electromagnetic impulses and it sends electrical signals through the body and our blood is iron rich so can you imagine we're basically this huge battery that has lots of energy and so when we do this and you place it here if you want to continue into the second movement i'll just leave you with this one you can use your fingers so the first one is massage here all right and then place it here and then just take a breath and remember that you are not alone that's the inner critic which may be giving you a hard time but the inner champion is also here all of you is welcome sometimes more welcome than others but yes remembering and reminding yourself okay things are okay i'm going to be fine right it is a difficult moment it is a difficult situation i'm having a hard time but it will pass as all things do and then if you want to nourish and to soften the inner critic this one is really helpful so if you have any lung related issues find the collarbone the edge of the collarbone highest portion trace down until you feel this tenderness of where the pectoralis muscle almost is it's close to the armpit again don't worry so much when we use our fingers because it's not acupuncture where they use the needles and we have to be very precise when we use acupressure almost inadvertently we will get it right so here down and use your i like to use these three fingers but you can use two you can use your thumb you can use a massage device and then you can gently massage the spine or you can press as you breathe in and then breathing out letting it go same on the other side and you can do both at the same time as well so again collarbone last portion of the collarbone retrace down close to the armpit but not at the armpit so it's still front facing so it's not underneath neither is it up to the back so it's still front facing and then you press to breathe in and then breathe out so let me type these points in the chat in case any of you i know some of you might be especially those of you who are perfectionists are like i really want to get it right let me share in the chat that's the heart protector and then in the hand and then the other point is the lung meridian cloud gate which is yunmen there's also another point that's very close yunmen and zongfu middle courtyard or middle gate so those are the two points you can do that i find it very very helpful to center into the moment and to really ground your energy because when we're feeling overwhelmed or when the voice of the inner critic is too much to bear of course we want to hear the voice right we of course we have a good relationship with someone else but in that heated moment all you can hear is the shouts all you can hear is the criticism so we have to go beyond that and by soothing ourselves by creating that safety and we can soften that tone of voice and then over practice start to hear what is below the surface and i think that is when things start to get really interesting um yeah do we have anything else that any of us would like to share in the chat i would really love to hear from some of you as to how today's conversation went and how you're feeling about navigating this relationship you have with your inner critic and i'm gonna have a quick look at my talking points as well to make sure that i shared everything i would like to share with you.

Kibo says i just want to say i got a lot out of this with regard to how to perceive my inner critic put for thought yeah of course you're welcome Kibo.

Sondra M says i did the long meridian cloud gate yunwen i'm not currently suffering the critic but noticed a sense of calm immediately yeah amina i'm glad you resonated with this session that's great also because the other thing is i remember i remember who said this from before the critic tends to dwell in the past so if you are noticing the voice of the inner critic notice if the critic is criticizing you on saying that you're not good enough as compared to something or someone else or that you you failed them and having a good relationship with the critic is also embracing the the part of you that you can let go and the lung energy channel the large intestine so the lungs are like taking in and giving away right taking in and giving away lungs embrace the heart a large intestine is the yang means active the one that is moving yin means more passive more receiving so that's the yang organ that is associated with the mental element and the inner critic and it empties and fills up it empties and fills up and we can only move into expansion into like inner power like the inner champion if we can let go and we can experience this through our breath and there are four seasons of our breath just like the four seasons of a year and the four seasons of a day that's the inhale you hold the breath this happens naturally you don't have to do anything and then you exhale and then again there is a very slight pause after the exhale it comes naturally so the in this phase in the the four seasons the inner critic's natural place and space is in the second half of the cycle when we breathe out when we let go when we contract into ourselves and when we move deeper into ourselves and sometimes question our beliefs sometimes question our actions our behaviors and very often it might not be comfortable but it is definitely valuable to some degree or again depends on your situation so i hope that i can leave you with this thought and food for thought so that you can continue to explore and navigate this relationship you have with your inner critic and as with any relationship with anyone whether that is with your partner your children with someone valued in your life this relationship can be molded it can be shaped and changed and it will age and transform over time and you definitely have agency to mold and shape and change how you want to relate to your inner critic as well as your inner champion so um thank you so much oh brooke i'm glad you enjoyed this session i'm very very very glad and kenya i'm glad this has been wonderful for you um thank you so much everyone and for those of you also if you have been joining me for the past couple of sessions on wednesdays and yeah thank you so much i just want to say it has been my pleasure and i as bring me it's brought me so much joy to be here with you i really hope that today our circle of conversation our movement something has shifted for you and maybe you can bring back maybe one or two or a few tools or a few insights for you into the rest of your day your week your month and i hope to see you all right take care everyone and thank you to insight timer

Reviews

Very interesting and thoughtful but a bit too long for me. I can relate with the nickname and humor part. Namaste