Turns Out The Inner Critic Needs A Yoga Class

When the inner critic gets loud, most of us double down on control, comparison, and self-judgment. We tried a different way: letting all things be exactly as they are, even for a breath, and watching how quickly clarity returns. From the yoga mat to the checkout line, we unpack the “not good enough” loop and offer practical tools rooted in A Course in Miracles and Ashtanga Yoga to bring you back to center.

We start by naming the critical mind for what it is: a habit of thought, not a verdict on your worth. Then we lean into a simple practice from the Course—these thoughts do not mean anything—to create space in the middle of reactivity. In that space, cause and effect becomes clean feedback rather than punishment, helping us course-correct without shame. We talk about life as specialized curriculum, equanimity as a skill you build rep by rep, and why contrast can be a teacher that points us toward what we truly want: peace, freedom, and steady joy.

The heart of our conversation is innocence. Not denial, but the original wholeness that fear can’t touch. We explore what it means to choose love over fear in real time, how to lay judgments on the altar so they can be altered, and why forgiveness is a strategy for freedom, not a favor. You’ll leave with a short prayer for daily practice, micro-habits to pause and reset, and a fresh lens for your relationships that honors your worth and the worth of others.

If this met you where you are, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a gentle reminder today. Your support helps us keep making space for the quiet truth beneath the noise: only love is real.

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Transcript

Naming The Not Good Enough Loop

Calling Out The Critical Mind

Let All Things Be As They Are

Space, Clarity, And Freedom

Life As Specialized Curriculum

Holding Innocence Amid Struggle

Community, Practice, And Support

Prayer For Inner Stillness

Practical Spirituality Beyond Dogma

Cause And Effect As Feedback

Self Realization And Loving Nature

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Greetings, Namaste. Welcome to a Return to Center, a place where we explore universal principles, bring them down to earth in a practical way, learning how to embody more and more love. I'm Marie Russell, and for over two decades, I've guided spiritually sincere women and some very soulful men back to center. Through the practices of Ashtanga Yoga on and off the mat, through the teachings of A Course in Miracles, and through the wisdom gained from a life well lived. Together, we explore what it means to live with love as your vantage point, your default, to hear the small still voice even when fear feels loud, and to trust your original intelligence, especially in the moments that stretch you. It's through the testing that we receive the refinement, the experience, the clarity, the grounded knowing that becomes our testimony. This is my humble offering, a space of remembrance, a rhythm of integration. It's about honoring what's already here within, beyond the noise, where only love is real. This is a return to center. Greetings, greetings, welcome back to episode two of A Return to Center. I'm so glad to have you with me here today. I'm finishing a yoga class right now and feeling the inspiration to talk about a topic that has been really dear to my heart, something that I find I struggle with in my personal life, in my professional life. And I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of women struggle with this topic. And it's this I'm not good enough. So in our curriculum in A Return to Center, we have a whole module set aside for this core belief of I'm not good enough. But outside the context of training and kind of just opening up a conversation for us to have around not only why is this such a prominent thought that so many of us are secretly battling with, not only why is it there, but how to move beyond it. I think what happens when we have any circumstance in our life where we're in judgment of ourselves and there's this thought. And whether we're conscious of it or not, it's there and it's it's judgmental. It's like you're not good enough, you could have done that better, you should be blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That is the critical mind that I want to call out for us today. And we're so early in this next version of the podcast that I really do want to set a precedent for us that says, you are innocent, you are whole, you are complete, the light of the divine shines in you. And no matter what you say or don't say, or someone said or didn't say to you, whatever happens, whatever happened, all of those things cannot change this eternal innocence that we are gifted with. So then why do we falter? Why do we find ourselves struggling in our relationships, in our jobs, at the grocery store, wherever we are, that we find ourselves getting frustrated and judgmental. And a lot of that we think we're projecting onto others. We think it's like, oh, you should have done that better, or I'm frustrated because you said that. But what we're really frustrated with is our own perception and judgment of the situation. And there's a great lesson in the Course of Miracles that says, let all things be exactly as they are. And what that lesson means to me, let all things be exactly as they are, it means you get to set down all of your thoughts about A, B, and C. There's a lesson early in the workbook that talks about how these thoughts are meaningless, I get to allow all things to be exactly as they are. And if I am willing to pull on that thread of wisdom, on that mantra, on that thought, in the midst of what feels often like a whirlwind of judgment, of not good enough of projection, if I'm willing in the moment to pause and say to myself, these thoughts do not mean anything. These thoughts are meaningless. If I'm willing to say that in the moment, then it gives me space. And when I have space, there's clarity, right? If I am willing to allow all things to be exactly as they are, even the things that you really want to change, even the things you really want to control, even the things that you think you can do better than somebody else, or that should be a certain way. If you can allow it to be what it is, there is great freedom in that. And that's really what this practice is about. That's what this philosophy, this yogic mindset is about. This is what the Course of Miracles is inviting us to learn and to practice. The course says that everything in life is your specialized curriculum. So whatever is happening is happening for us to learn a specific set of lessons. And even though there are times in my life where I'm feeling like I am killing it, I'm nailing it, I'm allowing all things to be exactly as they are. All negative judgmental thoughts are meaningless. You know, I'm in the flow, I can feel the vibes, all is well. There are still that many more moments when I feel that I'm off center. And whatever that trigger is that takes me into this thought system of I'm not good enough, that is a part of the human experience. And so even if I'm there, if I can have the power and the stamina to not even judge that, to be an observation and be like, okay, I'm having a hard time right now. I'm thinking negative thoughts about myself, I'm feeling low, I'm feeling sad, all of those things. If I can allow myself to have that experience at the same time that I know somewhere in my consciousness that I'm innocent and that it's all good, and that this is happening for me to learn something, that is everything. That default program, that backdrop. And that's why I am so passionate about the yogic tools, about the practices, about a return to center and the bundle that we're putting out. I'm so excited about it because I need it. And because I have needed it, and because it's made all of the difference in terms of learning how to manage and move through life, which can be super complicated and difficult. I see people every day come into our yoga studio, get on their mats, and everybody's struggling with something, friends. Everybody's got this thought in their head about how they could have done something better or different, or how they're afraid they should have done something better. And it's sad the human condition. There's a part of me that wants to go out there and be like, you're innocent, everything's fine, you are as you created to be. But the truth of it is we live in the reality of contrast. That's what this is. We learn through having what we don't want. That's how we learn what we do want. And deepening our desire for goodness, for freedom, for wholeness, for realization, that practice is so healing. And that's really what I wanted to share today. I wanted it to be quick and short and specific. And I want to leave you with a little prayer, a little meditation, a little idea for you to consider. Sit quietly and close your eyes. The light within you is sufficient. It alone has power to give you the gift of sight, exclude the outer world, and let your thoughts fly to the peace within. They know the way. So that's from the Course of Miracles. It's just an opportunity to sit quietly, to unplug yourself from the outer world and all of its responsibilities a little bit every day. If you can pull out a little bit every day, and that's why I love the Course in Miracles, because I know every day I'm going to open that book for a few minutes and it's going to set me on track. The Course says that even five minutes spent with the Holy Spirit a day is enough to ensure that he will order your thoughts for the day. Now, Holy Spirit, inner teacher, highest wisdom, God, Christ, whatever you decide to call it, I'd like to remind all of us that the topics that we discuss in here are beyond dogma and doctrine. So this is not religious, although you will find these themes in almost all of the religious traditions. But the difference between a religion and a spiritual path is that on the spiritual path, there is a deep sense of practicality in here. It's like I want to learn an idea. For example, turn the other cheek. And I want to be able to practice that in my relationships and that to be my number one focus. Now, not to say that people in religious or that are religious aren't doing those things. I'm not saying that at all. I'm saying in the spiritual practice, that's the most primary function of your life. Like that's the most important thing is the application of universal principles in your day-to-day. That is my primary function. That's what most of my life is about. That's what I'm thinking about. I'm constantly in process. And for whatever reason, that's been the pull for me. The religiosity, the checking of boxes, the having to do things right, and then dealing with some kind of consequence from a higher power doesn't resonate with me. I feel that if there is a consequence, because we do live within the universal principle of cause and effect, that it's not a punishment, it's a reflection. It's like if I act out of bounds with my integrity, or if I'm rude or disrespectful, then the feedback I'll receive for that is negative. I will feel bad. That's the contrast. But that in a sense is almost a good thing because it's showing me what I don't want. So I don't want to be judgmental. I don't want to give myself a hard time or give other people a hard time about things, because if I do that, then I feel bad. That's cause and effect. They're not separated. It's almost immediate. It's like in the moment the thought occurred of judgment was the same moment of the pain. So it becomes very interesting when we start to look at our lives and practice some of the things that we've been learning, either in our religions, in our family of origin, the background that we come from, or within the yoga practice or Course in Miracles, or the Sutras, or whatever study is resonating with you. I think ultimately it is about self-realization. And what self-realization means to me is knowing who you are, realizing that you are as you were created to be, that you are allowed to abide in your own nature. And that nature is love, that love is the permeating energy that you were created with and through and for. Only love is real, means that you are an extension of loving consciousness in a body, and that is all that you are. Everything else that we've inherited and taken on and survived with and adapted to is the contrast that we live within. And all that shows us is that we're the light. There's a practice in the eight limbs of yoga that speaks to this equanimity, that we can be grateful for the discomfort because it can show us how balanced we can actually be, how peaceful we can actually be. So when there is difficulty, if we can subscribe to these ideas here, then we can see it from a higher plane, from a higher perspective. We can withdraw from our immediate reaction of it, like that prayer was inviting us to sit quietly, close our eyes. The light within me is sufficient. It is enough. That is enough. And that is what I am and who I am, not all the rest of the stuff. So the Course in Miracles teaches us that we only have two options. We are either in love or in fear. It says you can either have a miracle or a grievance, but you can't have both at the same time. So if I want to be in the state of love, then I can't bring all my fear with me. I can't bring all my judgment and any kind of self-deprecating language or blame of self and others. I can't bring that with me because by definition, that is not love. That is outside the realm of love. So that is what a Course in Miracles would say is the illusion. It's the insanity that I believe that I'm somehow inadequate. I'm not good enough. There's something wrong. Those types of trains that we find ourselves getting on in our minds take us outside the realm of reality, which is love. So spiritual practice, in my humble opinion, is coming back to this center of return. I'm turning away from the illusion, from the judgment, from the grievances, resentments. I'm turning away and I'm turning to center. And that center alignment is the innocence, is the truth of who you are. And that is so powerful. That's why I loved A Course in Miracles, because I came to the material pretty broken, thinking that I was like really a bad person. I don't think that my religious background wanted me to believe I was a bad person, but my interpretation was that I was. What I heard really kind of encouraged this negative version of me. I saw myself in a negative way. I was never going to be good enough. I was responsible for other people's pain, for their suffering, their any decisions I made that they weren't in alignment with. You know, there was so much pressure to perform. And so when I came to this material and it was just so direct, it was so like, you're holy. You're whole. You are a son of God. Nothing you can do can change that. There was this almost sense of disbelief that I could be included among what the Course calls the ministers of God, the teachers of God, those who are subscribing to this idea that only love is real, that understand that universal principle and that ultimate truth, that I could be included in that was first a disbelief and then a relief that I didn't have to believe all of the things that my critical mind was telling me about myself and others. And one of the things, too, inside the course that's so powerful is this teaching that your brother is innocent too. So there's no space for you to be innocent, whole, complete, and created, and for everybody else to be missing the boat. So the practices within the course and the lessons are constantly teaching us about the deeper layers of forgiveness and clarity and seeing the light in others and how to allow holiness to guide our relationships, how to establish ourselves in the state of love so that we can stay in that space while we're learning and while we're practicing. So that's what I wanted to give today a little riff on your innocence to challenge the thoughts about you and others that say that you're not good enough. You know, I think that all of us are so pure-hearted that it's covered. You know, it's like there's this purity within, but we get lost in those layers when we start to do the inner work and we start to see all of our mistakes or all of the places where we could have done better, or places where we think we're failing, like all of that, those are just barriers to love's presence within us. And so we need to learn how to move through those, how to coach ourselves through those feelings, those thoughts, those behaviors, so that we can remember in the moments when it matters that you're innocent, whole, and complete, and you are as God created you to be, and returning to that center space is where freedom, happiness, joy, peacefulness, gentleness, all of that good stuff is there. If we are feeling defensive, if we feel anxiety, all of those things mean we are subscribed in those moments to fear. And that's okay. It doesn't mean we need to be upset about it. It just means that we need to see that's where we are. We're in fear. And if we can only be in one place, what is the bridge back to love? And I would say that's a decision and a choice that we make. We decide to return, we decide to lay down our thoughts at the altar of God. One of my favorite teachers talks about how when you put something on the altar, it becomes altered. And so surrendering this aspect of ourselves that's not good enough to that which is so healing. And that's where all the good stuff is. So trusting you have a beautiful week this week. I'm wishing you all the good things. I'm wishing you peacefulness, I'm wishing you moments of clarity. And if I can support you in any way, we've got some links in the show notes of some of the stuff that we offer. And I'm happy to hear from you. Wishing you all the best. Bye for now. Thank you, thank you for your ear today. Thank you for your heart space. Thank you for being open. Thank you for returning to center with me. This space is here for the moments you forget and the moments you remember, for the breath beneath the push, for the truth that doesn't shout. If what you heard today met you where you are, I invite you to take your time and let it settle. And when you're ready, share it, sit with it, or simply return to it. Because the center isn't a place we find once, it's a rhythm we remember. Until next time, stay true, stay open, share with your friends, family, and remember, only love is real. Anyway, Namaste.