Hello,
My name is Megan Noreen,
Your cyclical living guide.
And in this meditation today,
We are going to be meeting the inner critic.
So it's very important that you are in a safe space,
That you are feeling safety within your body,
Within your nervous system.
As we are going through the meditation,
If at any time you feel overwhelmed,
You feel unsafe in your body,
Then please do pause the meditation or stop the meditation and come back to it at a later time.
The inner critic shows up most prevalently during the inner autumn or the premenstrual phase of our cycle.
So this would be a great time to come and participate in this meditation.
But you are welcome to do it at any other time of your cycle as well.
If you are feeling ready,
You can go ahead and find yourself in a comfortable position,
In a comfortable space,
And you are invited to close your eyes if that is available for you.
And we are just going to begin by feeling into and creating more safety in the body.
So as you are just coming into the awareness of your breath,
Just allowing your breath to flow easily in and out.
Then bring your awareness down to the connection you have with the surface below you,
Wherever you are seated or lying down.
How does your body feel rooted and grounded in this space?
Just feeling that connection between your body,
Your skin,
And the surface that you are on.
Allowing this rooted groundedness to bring in more safety in your body.
And if you would like to say the affirmation,
I am safe,
You are welcome to do that as well.
I am safe.
I am safe.
And if there is any part on your body that is feeling a bit vulnerable,
It might be feeling a bit unsafe,
You can also place a hand on that part of your body while you are saying the affirmation,
I am safe.
And when you feel comfortable and ready to journey on,
I would like you to visualize yourself in a sacred space,
In a sacred room,
Or the sacred outdoors,
Whatever is very meaningful and sacred to you.
Take a moment to turn inward and see how your body feels being in this space.
This sacredness,
This deep connection to the environment around you.
And then you see in the distance,
Your inner critic is coming towards you.
And as they are coming closer and closer,
You begin to see what they look like.
Is it a person,
An animal,
An object?
What do they look like?
I am not trying to change or fix anything about their appearance,
Just allow your critic to show up as they are.
And if at any time you feel the critic getting too close to you,
You feel your boundary is being breached,
You can gently or firmly tell your critic that they need to back up.
So as you are looking at your critic,
You are taking them in,
In this moment,
Doing a quick body scan,
What sensations,
Feelings come up as you are meeting your inner critic.
And now you are going to invite your inner critic to say one phrase or one sentence.
We are not allowing them to say any more than that,
We are going to just focus on one thing at a time.
So if you would like to invite your critic to say one phrase or sentence to you.
As you are listening to the critic,
Again,
Check in with your body,
Has anything shifted?
What sensations and feelings are within your body as you are hearing from your inner critic?
Is there anywhere within your body that this phrase or sentence lands?
Is there any part that feels cooler or warmer,
Tingling,
Any sensation within your body?
And if you would like to,
You can also place a hand on that part of your body where this landed.
And again,
At any time,
If you no longer feel safe,
If you no longer feel comfortable,
You can ask your inner critic to move further away from you if you need to widen your boundary.
You could ask them to leave.
Being safe and comfortable in the body is the main priority here.
Bringing your awareness back to the inner critic as you are looking at your inner critic,
What would you like to say to them?
What is a phrase or a sentence you can say to your inner critic so that they know their words have no weight for you?
And as you say this phrase or sentence to your inner critic,
Again coming back into your body,
Seeing where does that land?
What sensation or feeling is within you now?
For this next part,
We are going to ask the inner critic to leave.
In any way that you feel comfortable,
To let the inner critic know they are no longer welcome,
They no longer have power over you,
And that they need to leave.
And watch as your inner critic walks away,
Disappears.
Now we are going to come back into the body.
How are you feeling in this moment?
Are there any lingering sensations or emotions from the phrase that the inner critic said to you?
Let's take a quick scan within your body to see if it is still within.
If it is still there,
You are invited to place a hand or simply bring your awareness to that part of your body,
To that place where the inner critic is seated within you.
Then you are going to take the phrase that you said to your inner critic.
We are going to replace the inner critic with that phrase or another affirmation of your choosing.
So as you send this loving energy to this place in your body,
To this seat of your inner critic,
Sending all of your loving energy with your affirmation.
And watch as the inner critic dissipates,
Dissolves,
Falls away,
Being replaced by this loving,
Kind energy.
As you continue to bring more awareness around this loving energy within you,
Just going to allow it to expand with each inhale.
Allowing it to expand throughout your entire body,
Your entire being.
Seeing this loving energy coursing through your veins,
Flowing through every cell of your body until there is no space left for the inner critic.
There is no space for anything but love.
And becoming present to all that is love within you,
To all that is divine within you.
As we seal this practice with a deep inhale and an exhale,
Knowing that this embodied feeling of divine love is available for you to come back to at any time that the inner critic arrives again.
I hope and I pray that this meditation has empowered you to embrace your divine self as an antidote to the inner critic.
Be blessed,
Dear one.
