Day 3 - Inner Judge Vs. Inner Voice
When we begin to search for our inner voice, we often hear our inner judge as well. We’ve become very comfortable with letting our inner voice become a victim to our inner judge or the central breeding ground for gossip, complaining, and just being negative, which is easy to do. If we wake up to this distinction, our inner voice can express itself freely each day even in the midst of our inner judge.
My inner judge is the collection of insecurities that I’ve given voice to over the past years which is completely normal and completely human. We all have insecurities and fears and the more power we give to those, the louder they become. There is a difference between awareness and power. We need to be aware of our inner judge but we don’t have to give it power over us.
Assumptions are also my inner judge. If I don’t feel grounded or have time for self-care, I fall victim to assumptions. That is the biggest challenge for me personally: creating assumptions off of my own insecurities and really feeding those if I don’t have that time to detox my brain. This can create an unhealthy cycle of inner judge chatter which we’ll explore below.
I see my inner voice as an endless supply of power. It’s an infinite supply of encouragement or love or anything I really want or need it to be depending on my day. My inner voice has no gender. My inner voice is completely ageless. My inner voice is a reflection of what the universe wants for me which is the best. The momentum we can create with our inner voice helps create our personal power.
Instead of seeing my inner voice and inner judge as enemies, I see them as entities who have very different opinions but can have intelligent conversations. They learn from each other. Practicing how to identify both your inner voice and your inner judge can be incredibly helpful as you begin to start tuning in to your thoughts and feelings.
If I wake up in a place of gratitude and do my best to say kind things about myself, to say good things, healthy things about my body, then my inner voice is able to lead the conversation towards what is healthy for me. It’s an exchange of power. If your inner voice comes from a place of self-love and self-compassion, then the inner voice can act as a forcefield against my inner judge becoming too powerful.
Exercises & Journal Prompts
Write 5 thoughts that seem to be coming from your inner voice.
Ex: “I am proud of the way I am learning today” is a thought we can categorize as inner voice. Can we amplify this thought, can we give it a color, can we remind ourselves of this thought when our inner judge speaks up? Can we write this inner voice thought somewhere where we can see it daily to encourage us?
Write 5 thoughts that seem to be coming from your inner judge.
Try and release the judgement around what’s coming up.
Remember we can learn from all of our thoughts and feelings.
Ex: "I am not good enough” is a thought we could categorize as inner judge. We can be careful to question that thought. “Is that true? Maybe not. Maybe I’m just feeling that way and it will pass. I can allow myself the space to challenge that thought from my inner judge.”
When you look at all 10 thoughts from both inner voice & inner judge, answer the question “What can I learn from this?” for each one.
For inner voice thoughts, answer the question: “How can I remind myself of this daily?”
For inner judge thoughts, answer the question: “How can I challenge this thought?” & “What thoughts from my inner voice would help give this thought less power over me?”
**Today is the only day without audio content so that you can focus on hearing your voice. Sometimes when we listen to outside input or outside noise too much, we forget how to listen inwards. Today is really a day to tune in to yourself fully.**
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