Self-criticism and shame
The voice is running. It has been for a long time.
→ Part of you has turned against another part.
- You replay things you said and did
- You speak to yourself in ways you would never speak to anyone else
- The feeling is aimed inward, at yourself
- Arguing with it makes it louder
What's actually happening
The attacker and the target are both you, so there is nowhere to go. What loosens it is not winning the argument. It is enough space to see the voice as something happening, rather than as the truth.
Practices
Start with whichever is most available to you right now. The first groups tend to work soonest; the later ones build over time.
Awareness
- Compassionate Presence
The simple act of being with whatever is arising in you, without judgment or avoidance. Unresolved experiences seek resolution — and that resolution is offered by total, non-judgmental presence.
- Disidentifying
Finding the truth by discarding what is false. Rather than searching for consciousness, you eliminate everything that consciousness is not — until only consciousness remains.
Mind
- Conscious Affirmation
Transforming your mind by deliberately tuning it to a chosen state, pattern, and disposition. The practice of consciously rewiring your underlying beliefs and self-image so that new outcomes and possibilities become effortlessly natural to your system.
- Mindful Reflection
Gaining profound wisdom and mental maturity by observing the network of your past actions, radically accepting your present position, and strategically directing your future. It is also the deep work of recognising that the “person” you take yourself to be is not a fixed entity — it is a constantly changing phenomenon, held entirely within the eternal Now.
Why this works
When the night is hard
Occasional notes on sleep, practice, and what actually helps — quiet, useful, no noise.
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