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On Fridays, we’ll take a breath: See below for a food for thought as you enter your weekend to reground on what matters most 🙂
Food for Thought
What is the quality of your inner dialogue lately? Are you treating yourself like a bully in a classroom?
This past week, I listened to a fascinating episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty featuring neuroscientist Emily McDonald (linked). During their conversation, Emily shared an analogy that really shifted my perspective on self-talk. She asked us to imagine a student sitting in a classroom while being bullied. In that state of constant alarm, the child cannot possibly focus on the teacher or absorb the lesson because their nervous system is entirely occupied with survival and safety.
On the other hand, when a student feels secure and supported in their environment, they have the mental capacity to be present and truly learn. Their nervous system is at ease, allowing them to soak up what is around them.
This same logic applies to our own brains. If your inner dialogue is plagued with judgment and criticism, you are essentially bullying yourself out of being present. When we are stuck in that state of dysregulation, it becomes difficult to function in our day-to-day lives as we are meant to. We end up living in a perpetual state of fight-or-flight rather than a state of flow… by our own doing.
I invite you to reflect on your own internal narrative this weekend. Are you speaking to yourself with the love and patience? Or are you creating an environment where you feel unsafe within your own mind? If there are certain scenarios where your self-talk turns into a bully, try to actively work on reframing those thoughts. We deserve to feel safe in our own company so that we can show up for our lives.
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