My yoga teacher is kind of a genius.
This morning in class, as we were moving into Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose), she said to us, "Treat your Inner Critic like a drunk friend at a party. Let them babble whatever nonsense they're going to babble, but put them in the backseat and tell them firmly that you're the one driving the car."
See what I mean about genius?
What I love about this way of approaching our Inner Critic is that it acknowledges the Inner Critic's existence without giving over our power. I think it is really hard to completely silence your Inner Critic. In fact, I think it is nearly impossible. But if we can look at them like the drunk friend we've all helped get home from a party, we can see how powerless they are.
So today as I sit down to write, I'm going to hand my Inner Critic a bag so he doesn't make a mess of my car, and let him spew nonsense while I work.
What are some of the ways you deal with your Inner Critic? I'd love to hear about them!
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I got nothing on squelching that damn critic. Just wanted to say that the title of this post is brilliantly hilarious. :)
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely loved this! I will now steal that phrase and use it as needed.
ReplyDeleteYoga teachers are so smart! Inner critics...not so much. My yoga teacher says talk to yourself the way you would talk to a friend. We wouldn't have many friends if we let that silly slush do all the talking :-)
ReplyDeleteI do like the way your teacher thinks. When my darkness starts talking too loud I politely thank it for the input then ask it to submit the suggestions and comments to the committee.
ReplyDeleteI always liked R.K. Narayan's remark: "Writing is a yoga." Just recently I was reading Iyengar's 'Light on Life.' He makes a comment on the relationship about asana: 'If you learn a lot of little things, you may end up knowing a big thing.' It struck me how much it's like writing a novel. You just have to keep writing those individual words, and pretty soon it's a whole book.
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