I Am You
Our “inner voice” is often crucifyingly critical.
It can be incredibly judgemental.
What can we do about this? Well, there’s a bunch of obvious possibilities: meditation, therapy, eft, releasing.
Here’s another good way.
We hone our judgemental internal natures by criticising the people around us.
Next time you’re walking down a street or in a mall, listen to your inner monologue.
Invariably it’ll be something like: “Wow, fat… Ugly shoes… Ooh, she’s cute… Awful hair… What a loser… Ugh…” AND SO ON.
Notice also the ratio of negative to positive. 10 to 1? Worse?
Guess what we do the rest of the time? We turn that razor sharp criticism on ourselves.
Pretty logically, if we can drop our internal judgement of others, we’ll also shrink our own self-criticism.
So here’s an interesting way to do that.
The first step may sound a little odd, but it’s important, even if not immediately obvious.
Straighten your posture, pull your shoulders back a bit, and open your heart. How? Just imagine that you’ve opened a door on the front of your body. Then let the energy pour out.
Why do this? Partly to let love pour out of your body and connect you with others. If you’re sensitive or intuitive you may feel this happening, but don’t panic too much if you don’t. The important thing is just to set your posture and the intent to open yourself.
Now, as you’re walking along, gently focus on each person (same as you would if you were checking them out, or about to be judgemental). Then, simply say “I am you.”
That’s right. I Am You.
The thing is – we’re all the same. We really are. Sure, there are external variations, but on the inside we all love, hurt, desire and die.
So, when you say “I am you,” you’re forcing your mind to focus on the similarities, rather than the things you do or don’t like.
Additionally, it will VERY powerfully bring to the surface all those internal criticisms.
If you’re doing it genuinely, this conflict may typically appear as your mind shouting denial, or even physical tension, clutching or pain in your body. Don’t let it freak you out, it’s all just energy.
This is the other important reason we open our hearts and chests – to let that energy out.
Just imagine the tension leaving your body out the front of your chest, and it will. You set the intent, and it will follow.
For maximum effect, do this with the types of people you find most awful – the fat, ugly, old, infirm, badly dressed – whatever sets you off.
I walked across London Bridge the other morning, against the rush hour flow, doing exactly this.
In the space of five minutes I must have said “I am you” to a hundred people. I felt an incredible amount of criticism and judgement come up and leave too.
Afterwards, I definitely felt more peaceful, and perhaps unsurprisingly, much more loving towards others.
Best of all, I felt a ton calmer and more accepting towards myself. Less judgemental. That nasty internal chatter significantly quieter.
In the days since then? I’ve stayed in that loving space. Best of all, I’ve also noticed a marked drop in my own self criticism.
All in all, quite neat (and stupidly fast!)
