Hushing the Inner Critic

I recently collaborate with my dear friend Ezell Hudson to create this beautiful video.

The unfortunate truth is that the first time I watched it I hated it. The inner dialogue that began to play in my head proclaimed, “Oh my form is terrible in that pose! I can do better! This is embarrassing! That low pony makes me look like a founding father! Wow, I suck.”

But this is why I practice yoga- to NOTICE the voice of the inner critic that exists in all of us and recognize that it only tells lies.

Because of a grounded yoga practice I had the awareness to stop this thought form and redirect the narrative. This is essentially self-mind-control. In a world ripe with gimmicks, snake oil salesmen and tricks to profit off of you thinking you need to be fixed, it is a radical act of power to stand up against this by remembering your innate wholeness.

The notion of your not-enough-ness is an utter lie.

The perfect pair of yoga pants is not going to make you whole. Doing a handstand is not going to make you whole. Getting the job promotion is not going to make you whole. Nothing externally will ever fulfill that inner voice that says you need to DO, BE, HAVE MORE to be enough because it is simply not true.

When was the last time you credited yourself for the hard work you put into just being you? When you exercise is it to fix a flaw or to celebrate all the ways your body can move? Is your inner dialogue a broken record of beratements or do you encourage yourself the way you would a small child?

We are often so hard on ourselves and focus on what is wrong rather than all that is great. Yoga teaches us to be compassionate- to ourselves and others. It teaches us to question what is fact and what is false. It is a mode for us to celebrate all that we are capable of and to find a place in this world of duality.

The next time you feel yourself caught up in the story of not-enough-ness, forgive yourself.