{"id":14047,"date":"2019-08-21T07:26:30","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T07:26:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/?p=14047"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:47:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:47:38","slug":"basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/","title":"A Basic Meditation to Tame Your Inner Critic","content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Nearly everyone recognizes the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/how-to-recognize-your-inner-critic\/\">inner critic<\/a>, that judgmental voice inside us that heckles and cuts us down. Whatever we do isn&#8217;t enough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Reasoning with our inner tyrant validates it as if it deserves our attention, when mostly its just an unhelpful pattern of thinking we&#8217;ve picked up along the way. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/living-loving-imperfect-life\/\">push for perfect<\/a> is exhausting, but often avoidable with practice. Rationalizing with what is basically an irrational habit doesn&#8217;t help much. The inner critic is like the old two guys on the Muppet Show endlessly deriding whatever happens without reason at all. Reasoning with our inner tyrant validates it as if it deserves our attention, when mostly its just an unhelpful <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/mental-meteorology-noticing-thoughts-leads-healthier-habits-mind\/\">pattern of thinking<\/a> we&#8217;ve picked up along the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Guided Meditation to Quiet the Inner Critic<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"layout- align\"><article class=\"podcast js-podcast-player podcast--wrap\">\n\t<button class=\"podcast__playpause js-podcast-playpause\">&nbsp;<\/button>\n\n\t<div class=\"podcast__content\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"podcast__heading\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA Basic Meditation to Tame Your Inner Critic \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t<div class=\"podcast__seekwrap\">\n\t\t\t<input type=\"range\" class=\"podcast__seek js-podcast-seek\" value=\"0\" max=\"741\">\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<ul class=\"podcast__meta\">\n\t\t\t<li class=\"podcast__duration js-podcast-duration\">12:21<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t<audio preload=\"none\" class=\"js-podcast-audio\">\n\t\t\t<source src=\"https:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/mindfulorg\/dPTcuserlzjQ.128.mp3\">\n\t\t<\/audio>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>To start this <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/what-is-mindfulness\/\" target=\"_blank\">mindfulness<\/a> practice, begin by focusing on breathing.<\/strong> Notice the physical sensation of breathing in, and then breathing out as best as you&#8217;re able. <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Find yourself a posture of ease and strength.<\/strong> <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>However you&#8217;re feeling right now, leave things alone for the next few moments<\/strong>. Your attention wanders and then comes back to breathing in and breathing out. <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>For many of us this is already enough to bring self-judgment to mind<\/strong>. You may immediately start thinking &#8220;I&#8217;m not very good at this&#8221; or &#8220;I should do this more often.&#8221; But for this brief practice today, reflect on somewhere in life you do feel judged. At school, at work, as a parent or as a child. <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Notice first how judgment is more than a single thought<\/strong>\u2014it may affect how you feel, with tension or unease somewhere in your body, it may influence your emotional state. <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Then, notice where your thoughts go<\/strong> when experiencing this kind of self criticism, and the patterns you fall into under this kind of stress.  <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Now for the next few minutes, practice leaving that voice of judgment<\/strong>, that inner critic alone. Stop wrestling with or appeasing it, or pushing it away. Label it if you want, or even give it a specific name if you prefer. Recognize what it feels like to you, and then let it be. <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>On each in-breath, acknowledge whatever you&#8217;re experiencing right now<\/strong> in your body, your emotions, your thoughts, nothing to fix or change, this is what&#8217;s going on right now. And on each out-breath, offer yourself relief. Wish yourself what you would a close friend with the same doubts. <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Breathing out, wishing yourself relief or strength<\/strong> or humor or joy or anything else that feels appropriate. Breathing in, this is how things are, breathing out focusing on ease or whatever else comes to mind. <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Wish yourself well<\/strong>, not because you deserve it more than anyone else, but because you deserve it as much as anyone else.<em> <\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-mindful-section-header heading heading--section heading--left has-black-text\"><span>read more<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<article class=\"posts posts--horizontal posts--large \">\n\t<div class=\"grid-noBottom\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col-4\">\n\t\t\t<header class=\"posts__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/calming-a-rush-of-reactivity-with-compassion\/\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"timberpost\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/Calming-the-rush-of-reactivity-with-compassion.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/Calming-the-rush-of-reactivity-with-compassion.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/Calming-the-rush-of-reactivity-with-compassion-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/Calming-the-rush-of-reactivity-with-compassion-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/Calming-the-rush-of-reactivity-with-compassion-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/Calming-the-rush-of-reactivity-with-compassion-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" alt=\"Calming a Rush of Reactivity with Compassion - A blonde woman standing in the middle of a field with one hand on her heart and one hand on her chest\" width=\"267\" height=\"200\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"posts__badge\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"posts__badge__label\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLoving-Kindness &amp; Compassion\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/header>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"col-8\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"posts__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"posts__heading\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/calming-a-rush-of-reactivity-with-compassion\/\" >Calming a Rush of Reactivity with Compassion<\/a>&nbsp;\t\t\t\t<\/h6>\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"posts__excerpt\">\n\t\t\t\t\tDuring moments (or days) when everything seems impossibly complicated, we can still return to one place of simplicity: our innate capacity for presence and kindness.\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/calming-a-rush-of-reactivity-with-compassion\/\" class=\"posts__readmore\" ><span>Read More<\/span>&nbsp;<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/mindful\/assets\/img\/arrow-right.svg\" class=\"icon icon-arrow-right\" alt=\"\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"posts__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"posts__author\">Steven Hickman<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"posts__date\">November 4, 2020<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"posts posts--horizontal posts--large \">\n\t<div class=\"grid-noBottom\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col-4\">\n\t\t\t<header class=\"posts__header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/a-guided-rain-meditation-to-cultivate-compassion\/\" >\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"timberpost\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/A-Guided-R.A.I.N.-meditation.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/A-Guided-R.A.I.N.-meditation.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/A-Guided-R.A.I.N.-meditation-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/A-Guided-R.A.I.N.-meditation-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/A-Guided-R.A.I.N.-meditation-768x480.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/A-Guided-R.A.I.N.-meditation-1536x960.jpg 1536w\" alt=\"A Guided RAIN Meditation to Cultivate Compassion - Image of rain falling on an umbrella\" width=\"267\" height=\"200\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"posts__badge\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"posts__badge__label\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGuided Meditations\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/header>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"col-8\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"posts__body\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h6 class=\"posts__heading\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/a-guided-rain-meditation-to-cultivate-compassion\/\" >A Guided RAIN Meditation to Cultivate Compassion<\/a>&nbsp;\t\t\t\t<\/h6>\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"posts__excerpt\">\n\t\t\t\t\tMichelle Maldonado guides us through a four-step practice to recognize, acknowledge, investigate, and sit with our natural awareness.\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/a-guided-rain-meditation-to-cultivate-compassion\/\" class=\"posts__readmore\" ><span>Read More<\/span>&nbsp;<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/wp-content\/themes\/mindful\/assets\/img\/arrow-right.svg\" class=\"icon icon-arrow-right\" alt=\"\"><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"posts__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"posts__author\">Michelle Maldonado<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"posts__date\">November 30, 2020<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An in-the-moment exercise for confronting the nagging voice in your head. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":36098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1197,13484,17598,17599,17606],"tags":[1108,17274,913],"departments":[],"issues":[],"coauthors":[805],"class_list":["post-14047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guided-meditations","category-compassion","category-meditation-practices","category-mindfulness-for","category-stress-anxiety","tag-inner-critic","tag-premium","tag-resilience"],"acf":[],"site_id":1,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tame Your Inner Critic for Positive Change Using Meditation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tame your inner critic with mindfulness + breathing exercises. Relieve yourself from long-held patterns of perfectionism.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Basic Meditation to Tame Your Inner Critic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An in-the-moment exercise for confronting the nagging voice in your head.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mindful\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mindfulorg\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-21T07:26:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-31T15:47:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/innercrti.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Bertin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@MindfulOnline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@MindfulOnline\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Bertin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Bertin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7a6efc978038d8863a708bf4a3bcd626\"},\"headline\":\"A Basic Meditation to Tame Your Inner Critic\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-21T07:26:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-31T15:47:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":476,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/innercrti.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Inner Critic\",\"premium\",\"Resilience\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Guided Meditations\",\"Loving-Kindness &amp; Compassion\",\"Meditation Practices\",\"Mindfulness For\",\"Stress &amp; Anxiety\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tame Your Inner Critic for Positive Change Using Meditation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/innercrti.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-21T07:26:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-31T15:47:38+00:00\",\"description\":\"Tame your inner critic with mindfulness + breathing exercises. Relieve yourself from long-held patterns of perfectionism.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/innercrti.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/innercrti.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Nataliya\\\/Adobe Stock\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Basic Meditation to Tame Your Inner Critic\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mindful\",\"description\":\"Healthy Mind, Healthy Life\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"Mindful.org\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Mindful.org\",\"alternateName\":\"Mindful\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/Mindful.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/Mindful.jpeg\",\"width\":200,\"height\":200,\"caption\":\"Mindful.org\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/mindfulorg\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/MindfulOnline\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/mindfulmagazine\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/mindful-org\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/mindfulonline\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/mindfulmagazine\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@mindful.org\"],\"description\":\"We are dedicated to sharing the gifts of mindfulness through content, training, courses, and events\u2014helping people enjoy better health, foster more caring relationships, and cultivate a more compassionate society. Mindful is the voice of the emerging mindfulness community. We work to provide insight, information, and inspiration to help us all live more mindfully. From the latest articles on mindful.org, online learning, Mindful Magazine to our conferences and collaborations, our activities support people seeking to learn more as well as leaders working to bring genuine mindfulness practices into the mainstream. We offer courses, personal stories, news-you-can-use, practical advice, resources and insights that speak to anyone from novice meditators looking for guidance to corporate managers exploring new ways to cultivate workplace engagement and fulfillment. Our audience learns from leaders in the field about effective techniques for mindful living, and the science that points to its benefits.\",\"email\":\"mindful@mindful.org\",\"legalName\":\"Mindfulness United Pty Ltd\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7a6efc978038d8863a708bf4a3bcd626\",\"name\":\"Mark Bertin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/head-shot-2017_HQ-96x96.jpg2a9c2d297389462cf51d09928a737888\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/head-shot-2017_HQ-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/head-shot-2017_HQ-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Mark Bertin\"},\"description\":\"Mark Bertin, MD., is a pediatrician, author, professor, and mindfulness teacher specializing in neurodevelopmental behavioral pediatrics. He\u2019s a regular contributor to Mindful.org and Psychology Today. He is the author of How Children Thrive: The Practical Science of Raising Independent, Resilient, and Happy Kids (Sounds True, 2018). Dr. Bertin resides in Pleasantville, New York. For more, visit developmentaldoctor.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.developmentaldoctor.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.mindful.org\\\/author\\\/mark-bertin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tame Your Inner Critic for Positive Change Using Meditation","description":"Tame your inner critic with mindfulness + breathing exercises. Relieve yourself from long-held patterns of perfectionism.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Basic Meditation to Tame Your Inner Critic","og_description":"An in-the-moment exercise for confronting the nagging voice in your head.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/","og_site_name":"Mindful","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mindfulorg","article_published_time":"2019-08-21T07:26:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-31T15:47:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1200,"url":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/innercrti.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Mark Bertin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@MindfulOnline","twitter_site":"@MindfulOnline","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Bertin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/"},"author":{"name":"Mark Bertin","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7a6efc978038d8863a708bf4a3bcd626"},"headline":"A Basic Meditation to Tame Your Inner Critic","datePublished":"2019-08-21T07:26:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-31T15:47:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/"},"wordCount":476,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/innercrti.png","keywords":["Inner Critic","premium","Resilience"],"articleSection":["Guided Meditations","Loving-Kindness &amp; Compassion","Meditation Practices","Mindfulness For","Stress &amp; Anxiety"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/","name":"Tame Your Inner Critic for Positive Change Using Meditation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/innercrti.png","datePublished":"2019-08-21T07:26:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-31T15:47:38+00:00","description":"Tame your inner critic with mindfulness + breathing exercises. Relieve yourself from long-held patterns of perfectionism.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/innercrti.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/innercrti.png","width":1920,"height":1200,"caption":"Nataliya\/Adobe Stock"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/basic-meditation-tame-inner-critic\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Basic Meditation to Tame Your Inner Critic"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/","name":"Mindful","description":"Healthy Mind, Healthy Life","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Mindful.org","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/#organization","name":"Mindful.org","alternateName":"Mindful","url":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/Mindful.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/Mindful.jpeg","width":200,"height":200,"caption":"Mindful.org"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mindfulorg","https:\/\/x.com\/MindfulOnline","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mindfulmagazine\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/mindful-org","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/mindfulonline\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/mindfulmagazine","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@mindful.org"],"description":"We are dedicated to sharing the gifts of mindfulness through content, training, courses, and events\u2014helping people enjoy better health, foster more caring relationships, and cultivate a more compassionate society. Mindful is the voice of the emerging mindfulness community. We work to provide insight, information, and inspiration to help us all live more mindfully. From the latest articles on mindful.org, online learning, Mindful Magazine to our conferences and collaborations, our activities support people seeking to learn more as well as leaders working to bring genuine mindfulness practices into the mainstream. We offer courses, personal stories, news-you-can-use, practical advice, resources and insights that speak to anyone from novice meditators looking for guidance to corporate managers exploring new ways to cultivate workplace engagement and fulfillment. Our audience learns from leaders in the field about effective techniques for mindful living, and the science that points to its benefits.","email":"mindful@mindful.org","legalName":"Mindfulness United Pty Ltd"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/#\/schema\/person\/7a6efc978038d8863a708bf4a3bcd626","name":"Mark Bertin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/head-shot-2017_HQ-96x96.jpg2a9c2d297389462cf51d09928a737888","url":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/head-shot-2017_HQ-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/content\/uploads\/head-shot-2017_HQ-96x96.jpg","caption":"Mark Bertin"},"description":"Mark Bertin, MD., is a pediatrician, author, professor, and mindfulness teacher specializing in neurodevelopmental behavioral pediatrics. He\u2019s a regular contributor to Mindful.org and Psychology Today. He is the author of How Children Thrive: The Practical Science of Raising Independent, Resilient, and Happy Kids (Sounds True, 2018). Dr. Bertin resides in Pleasantville, New York. For more, visit developmentaldoctor.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.developmentaldoctor.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/author\/mark-bertin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14047"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272690,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14047\/revisions\/272690"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14047"},{"taxonomy":"departments","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/departments?post=14047"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=14047"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mindful.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=14047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}