Tame Your Inner Tyrant

Quick Win

That negative inner voice is irrational — but persistent. A mindfulness meditation practice can help you recognize and disarm the noise. Set aside 20 minutes for the following exercise.

Try This Today

• Reflect. Think or write about your experience with your inner critic — the judgmental voice that cuts you down. Is it an occasional presence? Or more constant? How has it affected your life?
• Meditate. Listen to our guided meditation focused on taming your inner critic.
• Write about your experience. What feelings came up during the meditation? How did it feel to offer yourself relief from the inner critic?

Why

This activity combines mindfulness meditation, in which you practice noticing thoughts and feelings without getting swept away by them, with self-compassion, the practice of treating yourself with acceptance, love and care. Both may be helpful in neutralizing the inner critic. Mindfulness training improved well-being in a 2019 meta-analysis of 38 studies of health professionals. Research by Kristin Neff at the University of Texas at Austin and others has shown an association between self-compassion and various aspects of mental health. A review of 11 studies, published in 2020 in ​International Psychogeriatrics​, affirmed the potential mental​ ​health benefits of self-compassion for older adults.