What lies does your inner critic tell you?
If you’re anything like me, mine like to pop up to claim that I’m not enough. I’m not doing enough, I’m failing. It usually visits when I’m already overwhelmed.
It wakes me up at night and presents like a catalogue of all the things I’m failing at, the people I’m letting down, all the balls I’m dropping.
Piles of unfolded laundry, the clients I had to cancel last week when kids got sick, the bills I need to pay, the mess I need to clean. Allllll the darn things that we’re all trying our best to juggle.
Does this happen to you, too? Let’s silence that inner critic and all the lies it’s trying to make us believe. Here are some two steps to take to move through it:
Recognize It
The power is in quickly recognizing your thought pattern. That’s how we stop the spiral, just recognizing that the familiar voice is popping up.
I know it’s not easy, and it takes regular practice. And, even then, it sometimes it takes me a few minutes of inner turmoil before I recognize it.
But, the first step is awareness and noticing. For most of us, our inner critic plays the same old tired script. The thought patterns become imbedded in our brains. Recognizing when we’re getting caught up in a conversation with our inner critic is the first step to quieting it down.
What does your body need?
There is magic in getting out of our head and into our body. So, the second step is quieting that voice long enough to ask your body what it needs.
In all my years working as a healer, I know now that the path to healing is through the body.
So, practice pressing pause on the destructive conversation with your inner critic. Just long enough to check in with your body. What does it need in that moment? Our thinking brain takes the driver seat way too much.
Stop the car and check in. Our body has all the wisdom we need, if we can learn how to listen.
- Does your body need water? Stop what you’re doing and drink a glass of water.
- Do you need movement? Get up and walk around, down on your yoga mat, or just a moment to enjoy the movement of breath.
- Do you need rest? Ask if there’s something you can take off your plate to go to bed early.
Make it simple. But remember that our body needs nurturing just as much as our kids do.
I think you’ll find that your inner critic is much more quiet and easy to manage. And a bonus? When our kids get to see us connect with and care for our body, we give them permission to do the same. And what a gift that is, for everyone!
