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.
Responses to “Dealing with Your Inner Critic”
David
Dear Michele, thanks for your video.
I am in my way to play a concert in two days and what you have said about the inner voice brings the most important part of a good performance.
I already in the place where I will play, I have access to the piano as long as I want but I can’t keep fully focus for more than two hours so I do two hours morning and two hours afternoon.
My inner voice while I practice slowly the difficult parts of my program tells me yes keep that… no, no do that… practice slowly, that faster etc. But most important keep focused in what you want to do.
Worse situation is when I find myself thinking about something else, then I say “ What, what I am doing? “ then again no thing in the present.
So is life you life becomes what you think.
That’s the result.
Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Michele Theberge
Thank you for sharing, David! I appreciate you sharing your experience as a musician. I think the Inner Critic is something that confronts us in many situations and I hope these studio tips can help anyone – no matter the situation. Best wishes in your musical journey.
Pam
Hi Michele, I am really appreciating your blog posts. I find that what you are saying about our process or our work’s relationship with the outside world is extremely relevant to not just my art but my work as a holistic health practitioner. I agree, being aware of our feelings is so helpful in getting out of stuck places, The journaling is very good too. Sometimes if I am very stuck, doing a period, a few days or a few weeks of morning pages as described in the Artist’s Way will help me to move through the backlog of feelings that is keeping me from moving forward. Thank you again for this wonderful offering.
Michele Theberge
Thank you, Pam! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and your connection to the Artist’s Way.