For years, I allowed my Inner Critic to tell me that I wasn’t talented, attractive, intelligent or knowledgable to become a coach, a writer, or - in fact - to do anything other than take low-paying, easy jobs and allow myself to be treated like dirt. The same thing happened with relationships - I put up with behaviour that I wasn’t happy with because the Inner Critic convinced me that I should be grateful that somebody nice wanted to be with me… and that I could never do better.

So what is an Inner Critic? Well, it’s that part of you that stops you from taking the next step - applying for that job, publishing that article, speaking your mind - because it’s whispering to you: “Who are you? You’re not good enough

You know that feeling in your gut that tells you something is wrong?⁣ ⁣ What if, instead of trying to numb it and ignore it, you were to listen to it?

What if you invite that emotion in and ask "what are you trying to tell me?"⁣ ⁣

So many people think they are broken because they can't stop feeling the pain and anxiety of the world. ⁣ ⁣

You are not broken, my dear. You are sensitive. And that's not a bad thing, despite the many ways you may have been told over the years that you're "too sensitive".⁣ ⁣

I don’t know about you, but the first thing that pops into mine is an image of a woman in a bath full of bubbles up to her neck, candles precariously balanced around the side, a glass of red wine in her hand.

“You can’t take a break,” my Inner Critic reminds me, “You haven’t saved the world yet. Look at it - there’s still so much work to do. How can you just sit around reading a magazine and enjoying yourself? Besides - the things that give you pleasure are bad for the environment.”

Sound familiar?

Tons of people are already leaping to the ‘rescue’ with articles about how to keep calm during a pandemic. Most of these articles talk about how we should meditate, breathe, try not to panic, wash our hands, and exercise. Yes, that’s all great stuff, but have you tried to meditate when your brain is going “omg I’m going to die omg what about my grandparents omg what about my income”, when you miss your friends, and when your body is crying to be out in the sun? That sh*t is HARD!