Practice mindfulness and meditation
We all have an inner critic. For most people this voice is relentless. Otherwise known as the superego, it is the internalized voice which lets us know where we don’t measure up!
However, this voice comes from the process of socialization which we experience in order to become ‘civilized’ and it is designed to make sure we don’t attract attention or are protected from real and often imagined risks. It is necessary for adults and other caregivers to teach us but long after this teaching has become useful we can be driven even in adult life by this critical part.
The key is to recognize when this is operating and to know how to defend against it.
By knowing it is normal and by recognizing when it is operating we can develop compassion for ourselves and start to get some space from the inner critic.
Mindfulness and meditation are very helpful here.
Even 5 minutes a day has been shown to have demonstrable results as we start to witness our thoughts and learn to pause as we ‘unhook’ from unhelpful stories.
When we detach from the stories we tell ourselves such as “I’m not good enough, I’m not enough, not successful enough, clever enough, pretty enough, funny enough….the list is endless, we can start the process of being with ourselves with compassion just where we are.
Taking a deep breath and being in the present moment, is often enough to recognize that in this moment which is all we have, we are ok.
This post was originally published here.
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