Hello unique learners!
Today we will focus on grounding and a breathing exercise and we will continue with our inner critic visualization So are you ready?
We will begin by sitting with a straight spine as long as you are sitting comfortably You can place your hands open on your thighs and sit upright and just pause for a moment and point your attention to your physical sensations Pay close attention to what's happening in your body and around your body physically and notice how physical sensations are emerging like coolness,
Heat,
Tension,
Maybe relaxation really take a few moments to scan your body and relax Next,
Turn your attention away from your body and towards your sense of sound and notice if you can hear something up close and if you can hear something afar Turn your attention towards your sense of smell What do you smell right now?
And turn your attention to your sense of taste and notice if you taste anything maybe some leftover from your coffee and finally move your attention to your sense of sight Open your eyes if you haven't done so already and notice what you are seeing around you whether or not things are round what shape they have,
If it's an open space or not and you can keep your eyes open or you can close them if you prefer for the alternating nostril breathing technique We will do the easy version but this still helps to reduce anxiety and it looks something like this you close your right nostril with a finger and you breathe in through your left nostril again you hold it for a couple of seconds and you breathe out slowly through pursed lips and then you change nostril so now you close your left nostril and you breathe in through your right and you breathe out through the mouth and don't forget to change Are you ready to join me?
Close one nostril and breathe in hold it and breathe out through pursed lips Close one nostril,
Breathe in hold it and let that go Change nostrils,
Breathe in hold it and let your expectations go breathe in hold it and let it go Last one,
Breathe in hold it and let it go Return to your natural breath and close your eyes Excellent,
Well done and now ask where is your inner critic,
Where is your villain?
And try to visualize them standing in front of you and what are they saying to you?
And how do they look?
Perhaps angry,
Judgemental Don't pay too much attention to what they are saying but really focus whether or not they are becoming more angry or they are spreading fear and observe them as the adult that you are and who is this villain fighting?
Maybe you are the superhero or rather can you be your own superhero?
Remember,
The voice of your inner critic is reacting to your deeply held fears Accept all these parts of your inner critic and we are going to try to use your self compassionate voice to express empathy towards the fears held by your inner critic So if they are saying you can't do anything right try to say to yourself I am doing my best and try to analyze it again whether or not your inner critic is saying guilt based statements like I should or I should call my mother more often or I need to be stronger or maybe they are shame based statements like you are never good enough and they are trying to protect you from something If you find this very difficult,
Return to your breath and really observe the inner critic as the adult that you are This does need a little bit of practice and let's just pause your inner critic right now and we are going to try to shrink them So it's really important that you visualize them becoming smaller and smaller and you can do this by breathing in and breathing out Maybe your inner critic starts screaming and shouting even more or become more angry,
Energized So just breathe in,
Breathe out and make them smaller and smaller and smaller Make them as small until they fit in the size of your palm and see them for what they really are,
Scared little things in your head Now place this inner critic for example in your pocket because unfortunately we cannot get rid of them because they are a part of us but what we can do is make them smaller and work with self compassion I'm going to ask you to place your hands on your heart and say to yourself out loud,
I am suffering This is a moment of suffering Suffering is part of life,
Other people feel like this May I be well,
May I be loved,
May I be kind to myself May I be well,
May I be loved,
May I be kind to myself And say thank you to yourself for trying to protect you even though in a non-helpful way but thank you for now changing your ways by taking part in this mindfulness course Thank you for taking your time and you can open your eyes,
Move around a little bit And now you are getting familiar with your inner critic,
I invite you to really pay attention to what sort of categories your limiting beliefs,
Your inner critical thoughts stem from So don't take them too hard or believe them,
That's not what I'm saying,
But try to see a difference Are some of them guilt shame based?
Or does it come from this pattern where you believe that you have first difficulties developing healthy relationship or the second knowing who you are and how you function in the world as an adult Or three,
Do you have troubles with self-control and the ability to respect boundaries and limits Or maybe four,
Other people's needs are more important than you Those are actually self-limiting beliefs and they stem from somewhere,
They did probably stem from your childhood But now it's really important to indeed raise awareness of where they stem from Either they are from limiting beliefs or they are guilt or shame based statements which often are actually voices from critical parents or caregivers So that is my homework for today and I'm looking forward to talk more about that inner critic and those limiting beliefs and where they stem from in the next day Namaste
