Episode 3: Mental Health and Conquering Your Inner Critic with Lineliz Vassallo
Unless you’re the Dalai Lama, there’s a good chance that you’re in that majority of the population that has a trash talking voice inside their head.
At least this is how Lineliz Vassallo refers to the Inner Critic.
Any time you have those thoughts in your head that tell you that you’re not good enough or start comparing other people who seemingly have their lives more together than you - just know that’s your inner critic moving into throw you off your game.
Before you start down the path of beating yourself up for having a voice that talks smack you to, don’t - a good percentage of our population struggles with their inner critic including people like the late, great Maya Angelou so you’re in pretty good company.
In today’s episode, that originally aired as an Instagram Live, Lineliz and I have a conversation about all things inner critic and how we can tame it through mindfulness practices and being more aware of our thoughts and self-talk.
*I feel I have a responsibility to mention that as fun of a conversation we had, we did touch on some heavier subjects like suicide and the tragedy in Uvalde, TX. These are topics that can be very difficult for anyone to hear, so if you are sensitive or burnt out from recent events, I would suggest not listening past the 1 hour mark.*
Here’s a brief overview of the episode:
[05:44] Compassion as a centering theme of Buddhism
[8:25] Starting with mindful self-compassion vs. meditation and mindfulness
[19:24] How to develop self-compassion as an explicit skill
[31:31] How to practice self-compassion without feeling awkward or cheesy
[43:50] Normalizing the inner critic
[51:55] Lineliz debunks a popular story about the Dalai Lama that often gets told in the mindfulness community
[58:15] Even the most successful people in our society still struggle with their inner critic and the tragic story of Miss USA, Chelsi Smith
[60:09] The tragedy out of Uvalde, TX, suicide rates in disaffected youth, and mental health
