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During each session of Be Your Own Beloved there is a point where our inner critics start to get really shaken up. For most women who take the class, it is SO outside of their comfort zone to take a selfie, let alone a whole month of them. I bet for those of you who’ve been on your own selfie journey you’ve found the same thing happen.
Our critic likes to tell us we are doing it wrong, likes to shame us with old stories and with the intention of ‘protecting’ us it is trying to stop us from out ‘outside of the comfort zone behaviour’, right? At least that’s how mine is!
In our live call for class I shared this:
That our critics rise up when we do.
And do we want to keep small and protected. Or do we want to rise up?
Our inner critics are getting shaken up cause we are shaking things up. I know when I try to put it in these terms it calms me a bit when I’m having a fierce inner critic day…when we remember that we are indeed choosing to go outside of our comfort zones and that this is a part of that process, I find it easier to not take their words to heart.
You know what I mean?
As well, the process of making peace with our self-image doesn’t happen overnight. The path (for all of us) involves ebb & flow, kind days and critical days.
But is indeed worth the work it takes to feel like we are released from at least some of our old stories of how we see ourselves!
I thought I might also share a few of the stories I’ve told here about coming face to face with my inner critic:
New Wheels and a Lesson in Confidence
Making Peace with my Body…In a Bikini
When Your Inner Critic Shows Up You’re Doing it Right!
You know what else? Sometimes our outer critics rise up when we do too. When we stop playing small in our own lives, often that can bring up the way others are playing small in their own lives too. For example, people might be critical of you starting to share your selfies, making peace with your self-image and building confidence…because they feel the way that they haven’t done that themselves! Here are some ideas for dealing with our outer critics too!
The good news is that our rising up outlasts our inner critics capacity to be mean. Once we push past our inner critics…that is where change happens. One BIG example of that for me was this time just before Be Your Own Beloved Came to be. Everything in me was telling me to quit and that I wasn’t enough when in reality…I was just about to find the work that I feel I’m really most meant to do in this lifetime. Of course I’d have the fiercest critics attacking me and telling me to quit before that happened cause I was indeed rising up to my own potential.
I really hope you’re having a critic-free day but in case you’re not…what are the ways you might be rising up in your life right now and not playing small that might be sparking your inner critic to react?
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