Most of us talk to ourselves all day long.
But very few of us ever notice how we do it.

How do you talk to yourself?

I don’t mean the everyday thoughts like, “I forgot to buy milk,” or “Where are my glasses?”
I mean your inner dialogue, the way you actually speak to yourself.

What does it sound like?

Is it commanding?

“I should do that.”
“I need to be ready.”

Is it critical?

“I’m not good enough.”
“I should do things differently.”

Or is there warmth in it too?

“Good job.”
“You’re good at what you do.”
“That was a great joke.”

Have you ever really reflected on how you speak to yourself?

We all have an inner dialogue, but most of us rarely notice it. It just keeps running in the background, sometimes a little louder than we would like.

When we spoke about this in my Monday yoga group, someone said something that stayed with me:

“I have a dialogue, but I don’t listen to myself.”

Maybe that’s where it all begins.

The way we speak to ourselves, and the way we listen to ourselves, often becomes the way we speak to and listen to others.

What if we became a little more aware of the words we use when we talk to ourselves?
And the tone behind them?

What if we chose, every now and then, to say something kind?

How does it feel to say:

I am kind.
I have a sense of humor.
I am strong.
I am fast.
I am happy.
I am loved.
I am thoughtful.
I am valuable.

What happens if you begin to use words like these when you speak to yourself?

Words that are both true and kind.

Maybe when you wake up in the morning.
When you brush your teeth.
When you put on your socks.
When you take them off.
When you go to bed.

Let yourself rest in that feeling for a moment.

Maybe this can be a practice.

When we move, breathe and become still, we begin to hear the way we speak to ourselves a little more clearly.

And in that awareness, something can soften.

Because perhaps this is where peace begins.
In the quiet conversation we have with ourselves.

I am loved.

I am loved.