Dissolve Self-Criticism with Wisdom and Compassion
How can we transform our inner voice to offer ourselves more self-compassion and less self-criticism? Dr. Rachel Turow, author of The Self-Talk Workout shares scientifically based strategies that support us in building healthier habits of relating to ourselves.
Website: RachelTurow.com
LinkedIn: @rachelturow
#selfcriticism #selfesteem #kriyayoga #meditationandthebrain #nonjudgment
Dr. Rachel Goldsmith Turow
Dr. Rachel Goldsmith Turow is a psychotherapist and research scientist who has trained hundreds of individuals in the use of mindfulness, self-compassion, and cognitive behavioral skills. She is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences. Dr. Turow is the author of several books including Mindfulness Skills for Trauma and PTSD and the book we are speaking about today, The Self-Talk Workout: Six Scientific Backed Strategies to Dissolve Self-Criticism and Transform the Voice in Your Head.
COMMENT FROM RACHEL TUROW: Thank you so much for the invitation and conversation. I had a wonderful time speaking with Laurel and our talk inspired me to read more about yoga philosophy. I’m sure there are lots of treasures there.
THE YOGA HOUR TEAM COMMENTS: I feel that this is a powerful and important Yoga Hour program. There is so much about Kriya Yoga that is in alignment with her work. Self-criticism is so endemic and is a real core problem for many of us. Dr. Turow has been working in this field as a psychotherapist and research scientist for many years. She has discovered that self-criticism is connected to a whole range of mental conditions including depression, PTSD, addiction and self-harm. Through her research and also through her regular meditation and mindfulness practices she has come up with six strategies to overcome self-criticism. She says that self-criticism has become such an ingrained habit for most of us that we can't just decide to stop. I appreciated how science has discovered what is happening in the brain with self-criticism and what strategies can physically rewire our brains to redirect our thoughts to self-compassion. We need tools and then we need to practice those tools to strengthen our "self-compassion muscles". Dr. Turow says that we can challenge the assumption that we are the way we are. Being our own worst critic is not a fixed characteristic. We can become our own best friend.
DR. TRUJILLO’S COMMENTS: I really enjoyed our conversation about how to transform our self-talk to include more self-compassion and kindness. I was interested to learn that anxiety, depression, PTSD, and stress all have a component of negative self-talk, and that it’s not enough just to want to be kinder to ourselves. Dr. Turow pointed out that changing our inner dialog requires practice which can include meditation or taking a few moments each day to write down ten things that we did to improve something for ourselves, our families, friends, and acquaintances, from sending a text to taking out the trash.