Exploring Your Self-Critic

Hi friends! In this guided meditation, we will explore our self-critic. We will start by bringing awareness to our breath or the sounds around us, and then evolve to notice our self-critical thoughts. We can use mindfulness to be aware when we have those self-critical voices and bring a sense of kindness towards ourselves, and this will increase our ability to regulate emotions.

Take good care of you,
Manuela

P.S. Don't forget to bring a kind attitude to yourself for the judging thoughts!

Transcript

Hi friends,

This is Manuela from Ankura.

Today we will explore our self-critique.

We are very hard on ourselves.

And sometimes it's like we have this hard self-critique,

This loud voice inside our head.

We can use mindfulness to be aware when we have those self-critical voices and bring a sense of kindness towards ourselves.

And this will increase our ability to regulate emotions.

This will increase our emotional intelligence.

So let's start.

You can do this meditation seated.

And if you are seated,

Try to keep your body upright,

Your feet on the floor.

Your hands can rest on your lap.

Or you can do this meditation lying down.

Remember,

Comfort is key.

Your eyes can be closed,

But you can keep them open and just lower your gaze.

And let's begin by taking a few deep breaths.

Breathe in deeply and breathe out slowly.

And see if you can relax with each deep breath.

For the next period of time,

You don't have worries.

You have nowhere else to go,

Nothing else to do.

And now allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm,

To its natural flow.

And just stay with your breath.

Notice your body breathing.

Notice your belly moving up and down.

Your chest expanding and contracting.

The air moving through your nose.

Or you can notice the sounds around you.

For the ones that are not comfortable using the breath as an anchor for the attention,

You can use the sounds around you.

And I invite you to stay with the sensations of breathing or if you prefer to stay with the sounds,

Breath after breath or sound after sound.

Just staying with it the best you can for a few moments.

At a certain point your attention will wander and thoughts will come into your mind.

When you notice that you are lost in thoughts,

You can make a soft mental note like thinking or worrying or past,

Future.

And then come back to the main focus.

Notice self-critical thoughts as they arise.

And use mindfulness practice to not judge yourself,

To not judge yourself for being judgmental and just noticing judgment.

And you can make a simple mental note.

And try to keep a quality of kindness towards yourself.

You can bring curiosity.

Notice how interesting your mind is without judging yourself.

Bring a sense of kindness and curiosity.

And when you are ready,

You can open your eyes and get back to the world around you.

Take good care of you.

Reviews

Thank you for this reminder to be kind and compassionate to ourselves. 🙏🏻😊