Finding Peace With Our Inner Critic

Take a deep breath in and then breathe out.

Let's repeat this two more times.

Breathe in,

Breathe out.

Breathe in,

Breathe out.

Now let's breathe in and squeeze your whole body tight.

Squeeze every tiny little muscle you can and as you breathe out release the body,

Release all the tension,

Let it all go.

Breathe in and breathe out.

Let's do that one more time.

Breathe in,

Breathe out.

Breathe in,

Breathe out.

Release all the tension,

Let it all go,

Breathing in and breathing out.

Just let your body breathe in and out,

All muscles relaxed.

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Michael Singer says true growth is realizing you are not the voice of the mind,

You are the one that hears it.

One of my teachers suggested naming our inner critic to be able to separate ourself from that inner voice.

There is an eye show going on in our heads but we don't have to watch the show,

We can switch it off.

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Stillness is like the depth of the ocean,

Thoughts are the waves.

We want to go below the surface,

Below the surface is calm,

Quiet,

Peace,

Freedom,

Safety.

We will use an anchor to do this,

To focus and if the inner voice and thoughts start pulling us back up towards the surface,

Towards the waves,

Towards the eye show,

We just refocus on the anchor.

No judgement,

Just acknowledge it and begin again.

It doesn't matter how many times we need to do this,

Constantly coming back to calm,

Quiet,

Peace and freedom.

We will start with a simple mantra,

You may have your own mantra or you can try,

So hum,

On the breath in,

So on the breath out,

Hum.

You can say it out aloud or in your head,

So hum,

So hum,

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

So hum.

So hum means I am that,

I identify with the universe.

You can say I am the universe,

The universe is me.

So hum,

So hum,

I am the universe,

The universe is me.

I am the universe,

The universe is me.

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

So hum.

Rami said you are not a drop in the ocean,

You are the entire ocean in a drop.

I will leave you in silence so that you can practice your mantra for a few minutes.

Restariners,

Bow to the you I invite you to move to a second exercise or stay with so hum if you choose This is a breathing exercise We will breathe in for the count of four and out for the count of six If that's too much for you,

You can breathe in for the count of two and out for the count of four So we breathe in two three four out two three four five six two three four out two three four five six I'll leave you in silence to breathe at your own pace Breathing in breathing out finding the balance of the two Breathing in breathing out finding the depth finding peace calm quiet freedom safety you you you you One more round and come back to your natural breathing rhythm place one hand on your heart center and one on the belly and continue to breathe Try this week to be a little kinder to yourself to switch off the eyeshow to separate from the inner critic Remember not to believe everything you think Breathing in breathing out When you're ready take time to come back to the room Open your eyes and close the meditation when you are ready You