Dr. Nicole LePera

Because with safety right now, we can shift from reaction into a new response, right?

Say the thing that we want to say.

Stay instead of disconnecting.

And then kind of from the other practical steps, we all, right, have a voice of criticism.

Beliefs in our head, again, formed in our earliest environment.

They do not just go away with a magic wand.

Similarly, I always like to break down change into two steps, right?

I become aware of what my stress signals are.

I make a new choice.

I create safety where there isn't.

I become aware of my critical voice or the beliefs in my mind, right?

The new choice I can make.

I can't shut those off.

But what I can do, back to your meditation practice, right?

It's not changing anything per se.

It's kind of flexing that attentional muscle, noticing changes.

When you're down the rabbit hole of criticism or where you're coloring your current experiences with past beliefs, reminding yourself of how unworthy you are in this moment.

And this person's lack of text response is an example of how unworthy.

That's all going to happen in our mind because that's what we've learned and practiced.

What we can do once we become aware of how much our mind is coloring our current reactions is we can refocus our attention away from that mind.