How to Soften the Inner Critic

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Jul 10, 2025

Scott Stabile, author and breathwork guide who champions love and self-compassion. He explores the origins of the inner critic, how it functions as a protective voice, and playful techniques to soften it. Short practices include creating witness space, using body anchoring, and befriending fearful parts to access more presence and acceptance.

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ANECDOTE

Early Shaming Shaped Posture Insecurities

Scott remembers a boy in gym class saying

INSIGHT

You Are The Ocean, Thoughts Are Waves

Viewing your thoughts as waves and yourself as the ocean reduces identification with the inner critic. This perspective widens your lens to hold both suffering and beauty in the world.

ADVICE

Celebrate Everyday Acts As Self-Love

Notice and acknowledge the small everyday acts of self-care as acts of love. Build momentum by giving energy to those caring actions.

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In this episode, Matt speaks with author and love advocate, Scott Stabile. Together, they break down the psycho-spiritual aspects of the inner critic and how to best work with it from a place of love. If you are someone who is hard on yourself and has a tough time finding self-love and self-compassion, this episode will help you develop greater awareness of your inner critic, where self-judgment originates, and how you can start practicing more acceptance of yourself and others through presence, love, and compassion.

The concepts and questions we explore in this episode are:

How do you define love and self-love/compassion?
Do you believe it's possible to transcend self-judgment?
What does self-compassion look like?
How does prioritizing self-love/compassion serve the world outside of yourself?
Are there specific tools or techniques you can recommend to foster deeper self-compassion and self-love?
How do you feel, if at all, that lack of self-compassion is contributing to the insanity and division we're seeing in our world?

Today's Guest: Scott Stabile

Today's Host: Matt Landsiedel

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