Mindful forgiveness of your Inner critic script 1

The words “inner critic” may seem a bit scary. But most of us have an inner critic. It’s our internal judge who often berates us, telling us we are bad, or worthless, or that we don’t measure up to some standard.

Most of us feel judged by this voice, and we don’t know how to be good enough. It can drive us to avoid any activities that are challenging, or to focus on anything else besides our work.

With forgiveness, you can stop this. In this exercise, you will work with your inner critic.

Find a comfortable meditation posture and bring to mind the voice of the critic.

Ask the critic to tell you what you like about yourself, what you admire about yourself, and what you appreciate about yourself.

You can also use these questions: How do I compare to myself? How could I improve? What do I like about myself? What do I appreciate about myself?

After the critic shares her thoughts, notice if you feel any shift in your body or mind. If you feel any resistance, it’s okay to let go of these thoughts.

Say, “I forgive you.” And then say, “May you find a way to be more compassionate to yourself.”

Repeat this process several times. Then allow yourself a few minutes to breathe and relax.

When you open your eyes, notice what happened to your body, your thoughts, or your emotions.

Try to remember the thoughts you had when you were first practicing mindfulness. Were you distracted or worried?

Take a moment to feel gratitude for your ability to practice mindfulness.

Mindful forgiveness of your Inner critic script 2

The internal critic—the inner voice that tells you what’s wrong with you—is the most common culprit when it comes to holding onto resentment.

In Buddhism, this is called the ego.

It’s the voice that speaks of what’s bad, of your failure, of your shortcomings.

But in the language of psychology, it is known as the inner critic.

It is the voice that judges, that puts you down, that tells you you’re unworthy.

When you hold on to these experiences, the ego creates suffering.

This is because your ego cannot accept you, your faults, and your shortcomings. Your ego says it wants things to be a certain way, and when things aren’t that way, it suffers.

The ego feels bad, it struggles, and it’s very difficult to accept.

As you work with mindfulness, you will become more aware of your thoughts and feelings, and the ego will fade.

Mindfulness helps you to recognize your inner critic and see it for what it is.

You can train your mind to have compassion for this voice.

For this exercise, sit in a comfortable posture, with your eyes closed and your back straight. Begin by inviting gentleness into your body, noticing any pain or discomfort.

Bring your awareness to the body, noticing the place of pain, and soften around it. Bring to mind a specific person you feel resentful toward. Begin asking for forgiveness from this person, using these phrases: I forgive you [or I forgive you as much as I am able to in this moment]. May you find room in your heart to forgive me.

Say a phrase slowly in your head, finding a rhythm. It may be helpful to offer a phrase with every exhale or with every other exhale.

Continue offering forgiveness until you feel the pain is released.

Take a few minutes to be with yourself. You may wish to say a prayer, sing a song, or do a gratitude exercise.

After a few minutes, open your eyes and return to the body.

Breathe deeply for a few minutes, resting your awareness on the breath before opening your eyes.

Mindful forgiveness of your Inner critic script script 3

Forgiving yourself for judgment and harsh criticism may be difficult. Your critical voice is not a real voice, but rather a false self-belief. When you engage in self-criticism, you give this voice power over you.

It is helpful to bring awareness to the critic, seeing it as a separate mind. If you catch yourself criticizing yourself, pause to connect with your heart. You can offer forgiveness to yourself by noticing the critic and saying, I forgive myself for being critical and harsh.

Recognize that this is a practice of mindfulness, helping you cultivate acceptance and tolerance for yourself. Your critic isn’t real.

You can forgive yourself for being critical and harsh, as well as for judging others. When you engage in self-judgment, try to bring awareness to the thoughts, noticing that you are thinking them.

Notice the judgments, letting them be as they arise in the mind. With each thought, see if you can simply notice it, then release it with a phrase like I forgive myself for thinking this thought.

Give yourself time to practice forgiving yourself. You may feel a little anxious at first, but if you are honest with yourself, you will realize that the critic is not a real voice.

In addition to self-forgiveness, you can also offer forgiveness to other people. For example, you can offer forgiveness to your parents, spouse, or partner by saying, I forgive you for any harm I have caused you.

May you find room in your heart to forgive one another. May you forgive one another.

Allow five minutes to pass, and then open your eyes.

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