Self-observation

Years ago I lived at a yoga centre for a few months. I received room, board and yoga lessons for cleaning bathrooms and changing sheets. One of the takeaways from that experience for me was a quote I heard there:

“Self-observation without self-criticism is the highest spiritual practice.” ~ Swami Kripalu

A very useful human strategy

For those of you who might be a bit uncomfortable with the spiritual or with the fact that I am quoting a Swami no need to worry because I have discovered this practice of self-observation without self-criticism is also a very useful human strategy.

When we can observe ourselves, our speech, our actions and our behaviours without criticism, without the need to change anything our awareness opens up. We can start to see the effect that we have on ourselves and the effect we have on others. Through awareness comes change.

How we create the world

Our speech, our actions, our behaviours and most importantly our thoughts are what creates the world around us. Our thoughts and judgments are what create our perceptions of the world.

How we speak to ourselves, how we judge ourselves has a huge effect on how we show up in the world. Non-judgment is a challenge from brains that are wired to judge, assess and evaluate. We wouldn’t be able to survive in the world without judgment and we most definitely wouldn’t be able to work.

Making the shift

Kamini Jain, an Olympic athlete that I interviewed from my book In Her Own Words: Women’s wisdom to move from surviving to thriving spoke about how important her critical voice was in training. It allowed her to master the technical precision of her sport of kayaking. When she carried that voice into competition with her, she noticed its effect. She learned to shift the voice to a more confident and self-congratulatory voice for competition. That more supportive voice allowed her body to flow which was exactly what she needed to win.

I invite you to notice

Over the next couple of weeks, I would invite you to notice:

• When does your self-critical voice serve you well?
• When does that voice cause you to shrink or withdraw?
• When does your self-congratulatory voice come out and play?
• Where else could you be more self-congratulatory?

Once you are aware, look for opportunities to shift towards what will serve you better.

Remember you are amazing, you are so capable, you are unique and you are worth celebrating.