A Yogic Approach to Your Inner Critic

The internal dialog of self criticism can be brutal. It can be LOUD, and drown out other thoughts. Maybe it served some kind of evolutionary function by keeping us from taking dangerous risks, but for many people the voice of self judgement is constrictive and debilitating.

It can be helpful to understand that voice as a story we make up about ourselves to make meaning of the discomfort and stress we carry in our bodies. Beneath the berating monolog is a sea of sensation, of memory, of incomplete physiological responses to our experiences. When settling occurs in our system and underlying conditions fueling the voice fall away, there can be a sense of presence and calm. The "technology" of yoga provides an effective framework for balancing the mind body systems. In our classes and in my own practice I find great value in moving at a pace that allows for tuning into sensation and having a visceral sense of the connection of one moment to the next. In this way, the practitioner syncs the light of awareness with what is actually happening in the moment, not ruminating in the past or what should have happened. A curiosity replaces the know it all critical voice, and even in this embodiment that you may have inhabited for many many moons, there are frontiers still unexplored. Take a break. Turn in and be curious.