Inner Talk

It can be negative, positive or neutral. If you listen, you may notice that your inner voices are sometimes authoritative, childish, or inspiringly divine.

Negative self talk is quite common. It sounds critical, harsh, or limiting. It makes us feel defeated, powerless or "bad".

You talk to yourself all the time, even when you're not aware of it. What you say to yourself has found its way into your head from a lifetime of programming and exposure to others. These thoughts and beliefs are passed down through your genetic makeup and ancestry.

You can spend a lot of time analyzing your inner talk, but what really matters is the impact it has on your life in the present moment.

When it comes to your health, your self talk can guide you to make wise decisions, or those based on fear and old programming. It can cause you to repeat behaviors that keep giving you making poor lifestyle choices, or it can help you make the changes you want to make to be healthier and happier.

The key is whether you control what you hear between your two ears, or it controls you.

Mastering Your Inner Talk

Keep in mind that all these steps are on-going and cyclical. But if you stick with it, it gets easier and you will notice changes for the better.

Also remember that even though some, or possibly a lot, of your programming and inner talk seems negative, there is a positive intention behind it. Your subconscious mind is trying to protect you and keep you safe.

That's why breaking out of the comfort zone, despite knowing it's not always in our best interest is so difficult. We can try to force change through conscious will power for a while, but unless the powerful subconscious mind accepts your new programming, you'll most likely revert back to old habits.

First, acknowledge that most of what you tell yourself now was downloaded from others a long time ago. You acquired much of it as a child. Your subconscious is still running those old programs. They may or may not even represent your present or future truths and realities at all.

The second step is to be aware of your self talk. Observe and listen to what you say to yourself. Even more importantly, listen to how you say it. How does what you hear make you feel? What is the predominant message and tone?

Next you want to decide if a particular voice or message is serving your best interest in the present or not. Is what you're hearing really true today?

Finally, take steps to change your limiting or negative self talk to more positive talk. Be vigilant and committed to the changes.

It takes about three weeks for new neural pathways to develop. Some thought changes happen quickly and permanently. Others literally require you to do the work of changing your mind. Decide how you would rather think and feel and stay the course.

There are several leading edge techniques to help you change your mind and master your inner talk.

See the Mental and Emotional Healing Guide for a lot more information about negative thinking patterns, damaged emotions, and techniques for helping you shift your negative self talk and limiting beliefs.

Also see the Mind Body Connection Primer for information on the subconscious mind and tools to help reprogram it.

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