YogaLondon: Inner Critic vs. Inner Teacher

The Significance of the Moon to Yoga		Close

If you are familiar with ashtanga yoga, you've probably been cautioned against practicing yoga at the time of a full or new moon.

This has little to do with the popular notion of higher incidences of accidents and birthings during full moons, but more to do with our internal energies at these times.

A full moon is the product of the sun and moon at opposite ends of each other, and the earth fixed between. This positioning causes both the sun and moon to gravitate to the earth, resulting in the pulling of tides in bodies of water. Alternately, a new moon occurs when both the sun and moon are in conjunction.

More about the significance of the Moon to Yoga

Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher Training March and April 2012
Posted by Yoga London

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Inner Critic vs. Inner Teacher
YogaLondon Staff on 27 July, 2009 |

We all have those nagging whispers that float around in our heads. Sometimes they seem to motivate us towards good ("get up off that couch and do some exercise!"), while at others they tempt us towards the bad ("Ahhhh, one more biscuit can't hurt."). So who are these little angels and devils that reside in our minds?

These two voices are the Inner Teacher and the Inner Critic. The Inner Critic is the voice that sounds like the Voice of Reason. It can discourage you from doing things - "Don't try doing that, you'll only fail and look silly/feel like a failure." It can sound like it's looking out for you. What a deceptive little voice. The Inner Teacher is a quiet voice that calmly sits in the background. It will only speak to you when you ask it a question, and you'll have to listen carefully to hear it's reply. It's the inspired knowledge of 'truth' that amazingly resides in each and every one of us. It's our intuition. The difficulty is in knowing which voice is which.

By doing Yoga you can quiet the Inner Critic; train it into silent submission. When you've this you'll finally be able to hear your inner teacher clearly. But how do you do all of this? You can do this with the breath.

As you move from asana to asana draw your attention ever more closely to the breath, and create a breath so loud that it drowns out the incessant internal dialogue. If you find it difficult to concentrate on the breath, repeat a mantra. Try thinking "So" on every inhale, and "Hum" on every exhale. Repeat it over and over again as the breath rises and falls. Do this with patience and with the sole aim of quietening the Inner Critic. Soon enough, and without you even trying, you'll find the Inner Teacher.