“26 Weeks Pregnant!”
Shared by Kristina Smedley
I’m 26 weeks pregnant! WOW!
It seems crazy to say that, especially after the difficulties of the first many weeks.
No, I didn’t have any morning sickness.
I didn’t receive any scary test results.
And getting pregnant wasn’t too far outside our plans… although I really thought it would take months, not just a couple weeks.
I’m so grateful and fortunate for this to be our experience so far!
Instead, the difficulties were all in my head.
Specifically, that voice in my head, that we all have, referred to as our Inner Critic.
I’ve been working with my Inner Critic for a long time, years in some ways, and very explicitly for the last year or so.
Among other areas, body image and body shame are a couple key areas my Inner Critic historically pops up! I had made some great progress in transforming this voice. Until BOOM, I got pregnant and the Inner Critic came back screaming!
“You’re getting fat!”
“Everyone is noticing but you can’t tell them you’re pregnant yet.”
“Everyone is judging you.”
“Don’t eat that… it’ll just make you fatter!”
It seems ridiculous; I know!
It’s actually embarrassing to write this down and share these “crazy” thoughts with you.
Pregnant women gain weight, of course, they do and it would be unhealthy not to. But those are logical thoughts, and the Inner Critic doesn’t work with logic.
The Inner Critic is deeply rooted and aims to keep us safe in some way. It forms in our early formative years and considers its job to be of utmost importance, whether logical or not.
It takes intentional work to transform the Inner Critic, and as I experienced, unexpected triggers can cause it to rear its ugly head.
The good news is, I had much more awareness and many more tools available to me as I became overwhelmed by this voice in March and April. And I have Breanne by my side, who’s been on this journey with me and working with her own Inner Critic.
We’ve read many books on the topic – “Soul Without Shame,” “Freedom from Your Inner Critic,” and “You Are What You Say” are some of the best!
I’ve taken courses, attended workshops, and regularly talk to my coach about my experiences.
So, as I felt attacked, I knew how to respond. That doesn’t make it simple or lessen the difficulty, but it does give me confidence that I can respond and move through the situation into a more healthy and thriving space. And that’s certainly been what’s happened!
Having a healthy inner voice is foundational to being a confident woman. It’s vital and the first area that we must address if our goal is to be confident in all aspects of our lives.
Breanne and I have been researching and working with our Inner Critics for many months and have proven in our own lives that Inner Critics can be transformed. We’ve now turned this into a proven process to help other women who face a similar challenge – an inner voice that holds us back, pushes us down, and diminishes our confidence. I’ll share more about this later today.
It just takes that first step to decide we’re no longer willing to live with the inner voices that have been holding us back. Once we’re committed to making a change, awareness increases and transformation is possible!
#DaringlyResilient
#MindfullyEvolving
Comments
Post a Comment