Transform your critical self, transform your life-Part 3

Are you so in love with your chosen mantra? How’s that relationship going with your mind? If you’re just joining in, we’re at part 3 of one of the most important health changes you can make in your life…how you talk to yourself!

If you need to catch up, stop and go read Part 1 and Part 2 first and then come back and join us!

We've practiced mindfulness with our critical voice, sent her love and infused her with sacred mantra. Are you proud of your badass, loving self or what?

Step #4 Do a little prophylactic meditation, that’s just fancy talk for preventive treatment!

Now, don’t get nervous if you don’t like or know how to do meditation. This may be the simplest, but most powerful, kind I could teach you. But it will rock your world.

And even if you’ve done it before or heard of it, I’m going to ask you to “Empty your cup” and try it like a beginner.

It’s called lovingkindness meditation and it may feel at first, like you’re doing nothing. But you need to trust me on this. It infuses you slowly but surely!

You’re using mantra when you hear your mean voice so let’s come at it from the different direction and help prevent it as well.

Lovingkindness meditation is really just using certain phrases as your touchstone, instead of breath, sound or your body.

You recite the phrases, usually about four, but you can vary that too. And when you feel your mind wander, come back to putting concentration on the phrases.

Lovingkindness meditation has different parts, where you send lovingkindness to yourself, to someone you love, to someone who challenges you, to the world at large. But it’s often taught that no one should go further than themselves until they learn that important job. So let’s just stick with that phase ‘cause it’s our focus right now.

Here are the phrases I use:

• May you be safe

• May you be healthy

• May you have joy

• May you live with ease

You can fill in whatever works for you after the “May you…” prompt. You basically want to send yourself the blessings you would send to someone you dearly love.

Repeat those to yourself several times upon awaking and before sleeping. Start there.

I’ll just share my experience if it helps but trust you’ll have your own.

I felt like nothing was happening after a month of doing this every day. But I kept going. And even after another month, I felt like it may be “not working” on me.

But then I realized something subtle but powerful. I would make a mistake and instead of criticizing myself, I would hear myself telling me how “silly” I was instead of "stupid” or “dumb.” Those words sneakily would creep into my personal dialogue and even though I acted like they were used in a joking way, they were degrading. So this change to using lighter language felt lighter in my body and my spirit.

Now, since then, the changes have been even less subtle. But I offer that we sometimes need to do some preventive and acute treatments to change a situation.

I can’t wait to hear what happens for you so keep me updated, ok!

Let’s dive further into this next week!

Live well,
Tanmeet