Bleep. Bloop. Blorp.

My brain is not working.

Genuinely.

It’s not.

I have writer’s block.

Over the past few weeks, I have not been able to write.

It has taken me a lot longer than I’d like to admit to write this post.

And to be fair, life has dealt me a few tricky cards recently.

Not only has my creative brain taken a SLUMP,

But my mood has also dropped.

So I’ve wanted to hide in a hole and watch endless Brooklyn 99 and talk to nobody.

I have cut myself some slack,

Or tried to…

Let’s be honest,

I’m not very good at cutting myself slack.

And who should I find in this time of ‘not really cutting myself any slack but beating myself up for present and past ‘failings’, mishaps and character flaws‘?

MY INNER CRITIC.

Everybody has an inner critic.

And sometimes it can be really useful.

To help you work harder and push you to be the best person you can be.

Other times, it is destroying.

Every time you try to write something, ‘You’re a crazy lady and you need to SHUT UP’.

Every time you look in the mirror, ‘Oi oi ugly!’

Last Friday night, I couldn’t sleep because my brain brought up why an old friendship had dissolved years ago. This was a good 10 years ago. It has no reflection on my current life.

But my inner critic, wanted to bring it up.

Cheers, pal. Cheeeerrrrrsss.

So how can we quieten that sneaky little bugger?

Acknowledge your thoughts

They are there. Ignoring them or trying to push them away only makes it worse.

If you had an angry beaver that lived in your house (stick with me here), you wouldn’t move to another room to ignore it.

Neither would you get drunk to forget it was there.

You would acknowledge the angry beaver and figure out why it was angry.

Or get some professional beaver help. Whatever.

Analogy aside, you can only move past the negative thoughts, once you acknowledge their existence.

Listen to them OBJECTIVELY rather than emotionally.

Imagine you are wearing a shield that protects you and listen to those thoughts.

Often those thoughts are UNWARRANTED and born of own personal insecurities rather than SOLID FACTS.

By acknowledging they exist, and why they are happening, we can move away from the inner critic.

Is your inner critic trying to tell you something HELPFUL?

Sometimes your inner critic is telling you USEFUL advice.

For example, tidying your room, cleaning your house, being kind to people, getting your work done on time, not being an arsehole.

Or that you have psychological issues that you need to be properly deal with.

You catch my drift?

Thank you (very occasionally) Inner Critic.

Out POSITIVE your inner critic

HA HA Take a dash of positive, you sneaky inner critic.

Sometimes you have to realize how many times in the day you have spoken negatively to yourself.

If it’s a lot, even as a joke to friends, there needs to be some positive.

It will be hard especially if you’re inner critic is riding high on negative thoughts…

Each day, make an effort to note the positive and AMAZING things about yourself.

Make an effort to note the PHYSICAL.

That may be difficult, but try.

Also note all the AMAZING things you do.

And who you ARE.

Be kind to the little child version of you.

Would you speak to a child like that?

Hell NO!

Try to not be CRITICAL of others

When all you hear in your own mind is your inner critic, it can be very easy to be critical of others.

To engage in GOSSIP.

To get annoyed at the smallest things in other people.

Be aware of this.

And try not to engage in it.

For your own wellbeing.

And others.

Be kind to yourself in other ways

Romance yourself.

Pour yourself a bath.

Watch your favourite series.

Make your favourite food.

Go to a pilates/yoga class.

Do what is most kind for you.

Be so kind to yourself when your brain is not.

I often find when my anxiety levels are high and my inner critic is SKY HIGH, it’s a good idea to boost my iron and magnesium with CACAO.

And also chocolate.

That’s bound to make ANYONE feel better.

So I’ve made these delicious boost balls as an afternoon snack when you feel the slump and negativity dawning.

I’ve also used Themptation’s Raw Cacao Hemp Butter for extra protein and the positive effects that hemp has on anxiety and mood.

Chestnut Puree is the base ingredient which is rich in B vitamins for energy and BRAIN FUNCTION. Which is fantastic for a clearer mind and mood.

Completely refined sugar free so no energy crashes just good old sustained protein energy with some unrefined sugar sweetness. OM NOM!

These are my ‘Beat the Blues Cacao Chestnut Boost Balls’

Beat The Blues Cacao Chestnut Boost Balls

Ingredients –

• 1 sachet of Chestnut Puree (200g)
• 1 and 1/2 cups of low sugar muesli (mix of oats, nuts, seeds and raisins)
• 1 tbsp of raisins
• 2 tbsp of raw cacao
• 1 tbsp of maple syrup
• 3 tbsp of Themptation’s Raw Cacao Hemp Butter
• 1 pinch of salt

Method-

• In a mixing bowl, mix the chestnut puree with the raw cacao hemp butter.
• Stir in the raw cacao, maple syrup and pinch of salt. Then add the muesli and raisins to give the mixture a firmer texture.
• Roll into balls and pop into the fridge over night.
• Grab one out of the fridge for an extra boost and JOY.

Hopefully these tips and boost balls bring some extra JOY to your life.

And beat the inner critic blues.

Remember, be kind to yourself.

Much love,

Joy xx