Settle into your body.
Notice your breath,
The inhale,
The exhale,
The natural rhythm that's been with you your entire life.
Now place one hand on your heart.
This is your centre,
Where you are always welcome,
Always home,
Always enough.
Breathe into this space and let yourself soften.
There's nothing to fix right now.
You can simply be.
There's a voice that says you're not doing enough,
Being enough,
Succeeding enough.
A voice that measures your worth by productivity and achievement.
This voice shows up when your resources are low,
When your body's exhausted,
Undernourished,
Fighting to stay physically well.
When stress has frayed your nervous system,
When emotional turbulence has pulled you off centre.
This is when the self-doubt floods in and you start spiralling into shame.
But that voice is not truth,
It's old programming.
A part of you that learned love and worthiness had to be earned.
And you are not that voice.
You are the awareness that hears it and that changes everything.
Notice this,
The critic shows up when you're depleted.
It's not telling you the truth about your worth,
It's signalling that your system needs care.
You need rest,
Nourishment,
Grounding or gentle attention to what your body and heart are asking for.
The practice isn't to fight the critic,
It's to recognise it as a messenger saying I need care,
I need to come back to centre.
You don't need to eliminate this part of yourself,
You need to integrate it,
To meet it with curiosity instead of resistance.
Imagine saying to that critical voice,
I see you and I know that you're trying to help but I don't need you to be so harsh with me anymore.
I am safe and I can grow from a place of kindness.
Return to your breath,
To your heart space.
Remember,
You are not your thoughts,
You are not your accomplishments or failures.
You are consciousness itself,
Aware and awake.
Your worth is woven into the fabric of your existence.
It cannot be added to or taken away.
When the critic speaks,
Return here,
To your breath,
To your heart,
To the silence that holds everything.
You are whole even when parts of you are struggling.
When you notice the critic rising,
The self-doubt,
The unworthiness,
Take a moment to pause.
Don't spiral into shame but ask yourself,
What does my body need?
Am I tired?
Hungry?
Stressed?
Anxious?
Ungrounded?
Maybe you need to eat,
Step outside,
Sit in silence,
Or write in your journal.
When you meet yourself with this care,
The critic softens,
The spiral stops.
You've chosen compassion over criticism,
Presence over pattern.
Feel your body in the chair,
Your feet on the floor,
Or if you're lying,
Feel the bed beneath you.
You are supported,
Held by the earth itself.
Take a deep breath in,
And as you exhale,
Imagine roots growing from your spine down into the ground.
Deep roots anchoring you,
Connecting you to something solid and unchanging.
From this place of groundedness,
The critic has no power.
Place your hand on your heart once more.
Feel the warmth,
The steady beat,
The life moving through you.
You don't need to criticise yourself into growth.
The most revolutionary thing you can do is meet yourself with kindness,
Especially when you're tired,
Especially when you're struggling.
Remember,
You are not your thoughts.
You are the awareness that notices them.
You are not broken.
You are not defective.
You are whole.
Take one final breath in,
And release.
May you walk through this day knowing your worth is unshakable.
May you catch the critic before it pulls you under,
And meet it with compassion.
May you remember to feed,
Rest,
Ground yourself,
And return to the silence that holds you.
May you be gentle with yourself when you stumble.
May you trust that kindness is the bravest thing you can offer yourself.
Go gently into your day,
Knowing that you are so loved.
