Pause The Self-Criticism

When self-criticism takes you off guard, here's a powerful way to stop it from getting stronger. When left unchecked, this negative internal voice can easily spiral. This is a gentle meditation full of supportive affirmations to press pause on the critical voice.

Transcript

Come into this space with me for us together to just press pause on the critical voice. Your critical voice can come in sometimes unexpected, Sometimes maybe regularly, But the critical voice never serves us. The critical voice just hounds us with criticism, With all the reasons why we're not good enough or we don't look a certain way or we're not performing a certain way. This is your chance to call it out, To press pause on it. So instead of focusing on all of these negative things you're telling yourself about yourself, We are going to regulate the system again and we're going to focus our attention there. So can you take a breath in for four counts, Can you hold it for a moment and can you then release your breath for eight counts. Let's do this again, So let's breathe in for four counts, Let's pause for a moment and let's release the breath for eight counts. Well done, This is you refocusing your attention coming into the body. So let's do this one more time, Breathing in for four, Pausing for a moment and let's breathe out for eight. So let's just recognize the mind has got busy, It has got busy telling yourself things that are super judgmental and super harsh. It's got busy telling you things that you don't deserve to hear. I want to encourage you to perhaps place your hands on your lap, On your thighs to just signify that you are grounding back into the body. Let me come in to remind you that you really do not deserve to talk to yourself in this way. I am guessing you wouldn't talk to anybody in this way. You're being so hard on yourself, You are noticing all the negatives about you and then amplifying it. It's okay to get frustrated at times and it's okay to even get a little bit frustrated with ourselves or to want to encourage ourselves to lean into something different but I want you to remind yourself that it's never okay to criticize yourself this harshly just as it would never be okay to talk to someone else like this. If you have a tendency to criticize yourself then sometimes you won't even stop to realize how harsh it is. Let's gently use some affirmations to lean into a different way to talk to yourself, Let's remember what that even sounds like. It's okay for me to get things wrong and it's okay for me to not be perfect. I am trying my best and I am doing my best and everyone's best is never perfect because that doesn't exist. It's okay for me to take breaks, It's okay for me to not be achieving things and accomplishing things all the time. If I'm telling myself that other people are better than me or that they're somehow perfect or they've got it all sussed out, Remember that they are human too. We're all human, We're all flawed, We're all just trying our best. Some days that goes quite well and other days it doesn't and it's okay if you're having one of those days, You don't need to beat yourself up for it. You are good enough even if you're not believing it. Can you try affirming to yourself I am good enough even if I'm not believing it. Please go gentle on yourself, Please cut yourself some slack because this way that you're talking it's more harsh than you deserve. Can you just neutralize this somewhat? Can you affirm to yourself if nothing else then maybe I'm not as bad as I'm telling myself or not as whatever it is that you're telling yourself. Just neutralize that thought. Well done, Just take some time to be perhaps more at peace, Maybe sit with this music for a while to remember that you do not have to be talking to yourself and repeat in this way. Come back to love, Come back to compassion, You absolutely deserve that.