tuesdays in jUly
@ 11-12:30pm pt / 1-2:30pm ET
VIA ZOOM
(the time zoneS ARE Pacific and Eastern Standard Times, calculate your time accordingly)
(Meetings will be recorded and available for a week to stream after each session, and then housed in The River, our membership portal)
Whether you’re Beyoncé or the girl across the street, we all have an inner critic.
The inner critic is a universal archetype that carries the burdens of our generational conditioning, our cultural and systemic values, and our own wounds and traumas.
Whether we realize it’s the inner critic or not,
we may not know what to do with this voice or the feelings and sensations it produces in us.
In this series, we learn and practice a process that I (Chetna) have been practicing and facilitating for 6 years now with hundreds of creatives, healers, activists and changemakers.
This process draws on ancient practices in self-observation, inquiry and realization, and from therapeutic modalities like internal family systems, cognitive behavior therapy, Mindful Self-Compassion, Gestalt therapy and Somatics.
“Working with Chetna and my inner critic was so grounding.
I had gotten myself into a pressure cooker with all kinds of unnamed dread swimming around in my head. It all damned up against what I was calling a ‘simple task’ of uploading a creative work, one I was resisting with my whole being.
Through the process, I was able to release and integrate emotions that I had turned away from. I left with a few compassionate next steps to come into alignment with my values and greater self-trust. My body felt filled with warmth and life, ready to flow and move and love.”
— Sara
This is for you if
You feel overwhelmed, unmotivated, frustrated, doubtful and anxious due to your inner dialogue
You find yourself in a battle with yourself, or avoiding and numbing your mind in ways that don’t feel good
You are your “own biggest critic”
You’ve tried affirmations but perhaps they haven’t “worked”
You know better and believe that you’re capable and enough, but it’s tedious to hold and embody these beliefs, for real
You desire the spaciousness and encouragement needed to create, make and play in joy and peace
You want to cultivate kindness and trust in yourself
Themes across 5 weeks
Recognizing the inner Critic through somatic awareness and emotional intelligence
Seeing the inner critic’s patterns and tendencies with non-judgment
Noticing our trauma responses
Compassionate boundaries with the inner critic
The power of conscious consent
Creating inner spaciousness
Body wisdom and grounding practices
Fortifying our nurturing voices
Integrating self-nurturance and kindness in action
Living agenda for gathering:
Grounding
Check-in
Psycho-education
Embodied exercise and individual reflection
Small group sharing
Large group harvesting
Closing
We’ll call in tools like:
Mindful Self-Compassion
Guided meditation
Mindfulness
Expressive arts (movement, doodling, writing)
Somatic Therapy
Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Internal Family Systems
Ceremony + ritual
creating with the INNER CRITIC
“Not Enoughness”
“Wasting Supplies”
“You’re an Imposter”
“You want to share music?! You’re so irrelevant”
Investment
SLIDING SCALE: $200 - $350
This fee structure is set up to create a sustainable working model based in principles of resource redistribution and financial accessibility; covering the curriculum development, class preparation, communication/administration, facilitation of sessions and overall life-time value of this work.
MORE PARTICIPANT PERSPECTIVES
“This course pushed me to dig deep and explore the hidden parts of myself that I keep from the world. Working with the group and Chetna, I shared my inner most thoughts, my demons, the anxious thoughts that play in my mind - my inner critic - and received nothing but love, affirmation, and kindness in return. I was able to let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. I am excited to continue to practice the skills Chetna taught us on how to be compassionate with ourselves, including our inner critic. I can not recommend this class enough.”
— Jay
“I can now recognize my inner critic when it comes up. I observe it but I do not identify with it as much as I used to. My inner calling became louder than the noise of my inner critic. During the program, I have learned the tool to let my inner critic be, and I’ve nurtured my spirit.
Today I am taking the leap to allow myself to do what resonates with my heart. I am grateful for the care and the support I have received from this community.”
— Myriam
”This was my first women's (virtual) circle I got to be in. I can really feel the effects of being in a weekly circle with females/like-minded people. I'm finding the workshop has made me more grateful and proud of my "parts." I'm finding myself be more compassionate towards myself. The power of language in what people share in this safe space Chetna creates is transformational.”
— Sonia
“This nurtured and re-established my connection to my own creative abilities. After a very difficult year tending to my many health issues, I found myself lost and anxious, unable to express my experiences or emotions in a nourishing way. I always felt a sense of urgency to create, constantly at odds with my inner critic and societal pressures.
Through chetna’s guidance and the supportive atmosphere of the group, I was able to go deep within myself and cultivate a gentler relationship with my creative genius. Slow, patient, and sweet, I was able to trust myself and other fellow creatives on this journey of discovery. It really has been profound and beautiful.”
— Laila
“Prior to this program, I was stuck in a years long battle with my inner critic. This battle kept me from fully diving into my creative gifts and showing up as the writer i wanted to be. I was trapped in the mires of the comparing mind.
Working with chetna allowed me to access the powerful tool of self-compassion to redefine my relationship with my inner critic. This redefinition has completely helped me transform my creative approach, allowing me to truly show up for myself and my writing practice. ”
— Leticia
"Working with chetna, especially around inner critic work and vulnerability, has been a healing balm to the deep pains I’ve felt around my creativity and self-expression. this course allowed me to deepen my awareness of that which blocks my abundance. I’ve shifted the way i interact with these blockages, and so they've become easier to navigate.”
— Nic