Dealing with Your Inner Critic
Today I’m following up on an earlier video, “The Pernicious Inner Critic”.
As a younger artist, I was fully committed to being in the studio, but it was fraught with difficult emotions. I had critical voices that would creep into my head, making me feel tired and beaten down or wanting to seek escape in loud music or food.
Left unchecked, the inner critic will slowly build up and wear you down. When I was younger I dealt with those feelings of insecurity with a variety of coping mechanisms, as we all do at times. Whether it’s drowning out your own inner voice with loud music or food or alcohol, we all have ways of attempting to soothe our minds.
For me, what has helped break this cycle was being able to identify and label those negative thoughts. I use meditation and mindfulness to help me with this. It took a while, but eventually I learned how to just sit and be still with uncomfortable feelings.
Just by being still with myself, I felt lighter and freer.
Tools like meditation can help develop this skill. When you can sit, be present, and witness those thoughts that arise, it is easier to see them for what they are – just thoughts.
As you sit and tune into yourself you might like to:
– Listen and feel your body – where is the discomfort?
– Be present with your breath
– Write out your thoughts that arise. Once they are out of your head and in front of you, it’s sometimes easier to see how warped those thoughts can be.
For those who are new to becoming aware of the inner dialog, I often recommend setting a timer in your studio. When that timer goes off, pause. Notice how your body feels. Make a note of it and what is going on in your head. Write it in a journal or on a piece of paper. The practice of simply acknowledging what you are feeling is an important first step. This is a time simply for observation, not judgment.
I would love to hear more about how this helps in your studio. I also invite you to please share any advice or tips you may have for others for dealing with your inner critic. Please write to me in the comments section below, so we can all learn from one another.
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