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Everyone has an inner voice. That’s the running commentary of thoughts, feelings, and emotions that constantly operates in the background of your mind, according to Healthline. Your experiences and beliefs can either make it positive or negative.
Healing your inner voice requires identifying the source of negative thoughts and understanding its associated emotions and impacts on your life. It allows you to nurture a positive outlook about yourself and the world around you.
Before you explore the strategies on how to heal your inner voice, it’s essential to understand more about your inner voice. And this begins with identifying the source of your inner voice. Early childhood experiences, family relationships, and significant life events all contribute to your inner voice, according to the organization Psych Alive. You should understand these sources to gain insight into why you experience negative thoughts.
By recognizing the emotions associated with your inner voice, you can begin to understand the impact on your life. Common emotions associated with a negative inner voice can include fear, guilt, shame, anxiety, and depression, according to research in Frontiers in Psychology. But you can overcome this by healing your inner voice. Here are three strategies that can help you on your journey.
Developing self-compassion
Self-compassion promotes healing of the inner voice, according to Psychology Today. By practicing self-compassion, you can avoid self-limiting or destructive thought processes, which can limit your motivation or initiative. You can reduce anxiety and make positive changes in your life with it.
The act of self-compassion involves kindness and understanding in difficult times instead of judgment and criticism.
Practicing positive self-talk
Positive self-talk can help to counteract negative thoughts from your inner voice. Thoughts will constantly flow through the mind; it's inevitable. However, you can shift how you speak to yourself, according to the meditation app HeadSpace. Try replacing negative thoughts with positive affirmations and focusing on what you can control instead of worrying about what you cannot.
Next time you find yourself speaking negatively to yourself, pause for a moment. Ask yourself, “how would I respond to a close friend who shared this view?” Whatever their situation, you'd likely speak gently and sympathetically to them.
Now imagine responding to yourself the same way. According to Dora Kamau, a teacher at Headspace, you can accept yourself if you are kind to yourself. You can raise your self-esteem by switching your negative self-talk to a loving and kind one.
Fostering resilience
Resilience influences healing your inner voice. A belief in your abilities and qualities creates the foundation for a resilient mind, according to The American Psychological Association (APA). You can grow and succeed by accepting your shadow side, learning from failures, and taking on challenges. Nurturing your inner voice helps you accomplish this. Despite disasters and setbacks, this voice has faith in you.
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