Could your inner critic actually be a friend?
It’s popular on social media right now to try to eliminate the inner critic rather than reclaim our potential to work with it. I invite you to consider this- could your inner critic actually be a friend?
During your late luteal phase (this is your "inner autumn" phase just before you begin bleeding again), you slip into a reflective energy that is extra sensitive to your environment. You naturally go into a hyper-critical state in order to analyze what in your life needs to be polished, enhanced, or released. This prepares you for the upcoming dip in energy you'll experience in your menstrual phase (aka your period).
Contrary to what you may see on social media, the inner critic shows up in this phase strongly to serve you in 2 ways;
1) To sharpen you, bring resolution, and give you tough love. The inner critic is the part of you reflecting and asking you to level up. To take a good, honest look at your life. We like to demonize the inner critic, when this may be just a part that’s feeling really loud right now because your senses are heightened and it’s really trying to serve you and get your attention to show you where to level up.
2) You have a strong burst of energy in the luteal phase to take projects to the finish line and there may be something on the other end of that causing fear. If you accomplish the tasks you set out to do, what do you actually fear will happen? Although it seems ineffective, the critic is trying to protect you.
This is a protective mechanism you likely developed in childhood and it’s still playing out - if you didn’t judge this part, what might it actually be trying to do for you?
The irony of of success is that we don’t usually prevent our success because we think we can’t, we prevent it because we fear something happens when we reach success.
👉🏼Do you think you won’t have time for your kids if you bring in the money you put on your goals list?
👉🏼Do you remember your dad resenting your mom when she made more than him?
👉🏼Do you fear you’ll be ostracized from your family if you reach your goals?
Where is this criticism showing up most strongly?
What are you about to do JUST before the critic gets really loud?
You are likely to be successful in this luteal phase because of this special energy you have and if you notice self-sabotaging patterns like you sit down to get work done and instantly fall into a loop of, “I’m not ready, I’m not smart, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, etc...”, ask yourself what do you fear would happen if you WERE ready? If you ARE smart? If you DO know what to do?
If you want to really maximize this energy, somatic coaching is wonderful! We can work with deep-seated beliefs and release them more easily because your body is already biologically ready to find things that don’t serve you anymore and let them go!
There are 3 things I’ve created to support you in transitioning to a feminine-led life;
Cycle Sync For Life: a self-paced course teaching you how to cycle sync in every area of life from nutrition and diet to relationships and productivity.
The Gentle Business Jumpstart: a 12-week 1:1 business coaching program to get your feminine-led business started or scaled.
1:1 Feminine-Focused Life Coaching: my approach to coaching blends mindset work, practical application, and mind-body (somatic) coaching for long-lasting transformation.
