From the course: Mindfulness Practices

Manage your inner critic

From the course: Mindfulness Practices

Manage your inner critic

- Many of us live with a very loud inner critic. This voice lives rent-free in our heads, trying to keep us safe. It's quite normal because as we evolved as a species, one of the primary functions of our brain was to help us survive. The problem is that our inner critic often seems to like to work overtime and meddle where we don't need it to. For many of us, the voice of the inner critic can be quite hurtful. It may tell us we're not worthy. It can prevent us from taking risks, from recognizing our essential goodness and take away our freedom to pursue what excites us. It hampers our joy, peace and confidence. I know this because it lives in my head, too. I finally called my inner critic Flog Me. Her motivation philosophy is the flogging will continue until morale improves. Except when she's around, my morale never really improves. I think of Flog Me like a bit of an over worried friend. Mindfulness practice has helped me become more aware of when she shows up. I say, "Hi, Flog Me, bye, Flog Me." I found a way to befriend her rather than believe her or fight her. This non-judgmental attitude gives me enough space so her voice doesn't totally impact my emotions or my actions. One of the ways mindfulness practice helps is that we become aware and develop a new relationship with our inner critic. We accept our inner critic as part of us, while not totally believing what she has to say. When we do this, we can live with less fear and more freedom and self-acceptance.

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