Welcome back.
We're now on day seven of dealing with the inner critic.
I'm Sean Fargo.
One of the most powerful and profound exercises we can do to tame our critic is to replace the negative,
Harsh critique of the critic with a sense of care,
A sense of loving kindness,
Sense of well-wishing,
That we feel a sense of ease,
That we feel a sense of worthiness,
That we feel a sense of competency,
That we feel a sense of likability or acceptance.
So the practice is actually quite simple.
And if it becomes a habit,
A simple habit that we do day by day,
We'll literally rewire our brain and habituate the mind to have this as our default reaction the next time we make a mistake or maybe do something that's not that we intended.
So the practice is quite simple.
You can close your eyes or look downward or keep them open,
Whatever is most comfortable for you.
But we're gonna bring to mind a person or an animal that naturally makes our heart sing,
That naturally opens our heart,
Someone or a pet or an animal that we just naturally love so much.
For me,
Sometimes it's been a squirrel,
A cute little squirrel,
Or I've used the Dalai Lama or girlfriend or someone I really love.
And the practice consists of four phrases.
May they be safe.
May they be healthy.
May they be happy.
May they live with ease.
Now,
If you thought of someone who just naturally made your heart sing,
Those well-wishes were probably quite pleasant,
Very easy.
And so from there,
It can be helpful to bring that sense of care and kindness to yourself.
May I be safe.
May I be healthy.
May I be happy.
May I live with ease.
And from there,
Call me crazy,
But you can even wish loving kindness for your inner critic or someone you don't like or someone who you feel is an enemy in some way,
Wishing them a sense of safety and ease.
Just practicing this loving kindness practice over and over.
It's okay if you don't always feel it,
But just getting in the habit of wishing others and yourself safety,
Health,
Happiness,
And ease will influence the way that you treat yourself.
And over time,
Start to dissolve the inner critic bit by bit and replace it with a sense of brightness and spaciousness and love.
And guess what?
Congratulations,
You've completed the Dealing with the Inner Critic series.
Thank you very much for your participation and for dealing with your inner critic because it's not easy.
I know it's very difficult,
But thanks again.
And we'd love for you to join us at the same time tomorrow for one of our other meditation series.
We look forward to seeing you then.
Thank you.
