Your Inner Critic Isn't Telling You the Truth

The neuroscience of self-criticism — why that voice in your head is so loud, why it’s lying to you, and what actually rewires it

Dr. Judy Ho

Apr 22, 2026

https://drjudyho.substack.com/p/your-inner-critic-isnt-telling-you

When ICE Shows Up, These Businesses Will Be Ready

Across the U.S., training, resources and hotlines have emerged to help workplaces exercise their rights in the case of an ICE raid. By: Emily Nonko 

Teaching released me. It was one of the most dramatic transformative experiences of my life and entirely positive. Writing poetry became easier than it had ever been before. Louise Glück

Writing is a kind of revenge against circumstance too: bad luck, loss, pain. If you make something out of it, then you’ve no longer been bested by these events. Louise Glück

When we are brave enough to be in the present, we have the power to transform the world.

― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind 

Articulating and expanding your motivation when you wake up in the morning has the power to change your whole day.     
― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

In the beginning of running and of meditation, one of the biggest obstacles is laziness. One kind of laziness is basic slothfulness, in which we are unable to extract ourselves from the television or couch. In this case, just a little bit of exercise can send a message to the body that it is time to move forward. Even putting on workout clothes and beginning to stretch helps bring us out of our sloth. By the same token, sitting down to follow the breath for even five minutes has the power to move us out of laziness. Another form of laziness is that we don’t make time in our busy, speedy life to go for a run or to sit down and practice.     
― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

Being aggressive, you can accomplish some things, but with gentleness, you can accomplish all things.
― Sakyong Mipham, Ruling Your World: Ancient Strategies For Modern Life

To be gentle is to understand that life is a journey deserving constant attentiveness. Therefore it is gentleness that allows us to finish a marathon, not putting pressure on ourselves to immediately think about the next one. Gentleness is “just doing it” in such a way that we can do it again and again.

― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

The bones and tendons of the mind are mindfulness and awareness. Mindfulness is the mind’s strength, and awareness is its flexibility. Without these abilities, we cannot function. When we drink a glass of water, drive a car, or have a conversation, we are using mindfulness and awareness.
― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

 

The difference between the mind and the body is that no one is surprised to get winded while running to catch the bus. Nobody gets mad at themselves, saying, “I can’t believe I can’t run 26.2 miles!” However, when we become overwhelmed by longer hours at work, more e-mails, or more parenting duties, we become irritable, moody, and unhappy. It doesn’t occur to us that our mind is out of shape. We put more stress on ourselves because we assume we should just be able to handle it all.

― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

Meditate with delight and run with joy.

 ― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind 

 In Tibet, we have a traditional image, the windhorse, which represents a balanced relationship between the wind and the mind. The horse represents wind and movement. On its saddle rides a precious jewel. That jewel is our mind. A jewel is a stone that is clear and reflects light. There is a solid, earthly element to it. You can pick it up in your hand, and at the same time you can see through it. These qualities represent the mind: it is both tangible and translucent. The mind is capable of the highest wisdom. It can experience love and compassion, as well as anger. It can understand history, philosophy, and mathematics—and also remember what’s on the grocery list. The mind is truly like a wish-fulfilling jewel. With an untrained mind, the thought process is said to be like a wild and blind horse: erratic and out of control. We experience the mind as moving all the time—suddenly darting off, thinking about one thing and another, being happy, being sad. If we haven’t trained our mind, the wild horse takes us wherever it wants to go. It’s not carrying a jewel on its back—it’s carrying an impaired rider. The horse itself is crazy, so it is quite a bizarre scene. By observing our own mind in meditation, we can see this dynamic at work. Especially in the beginning stages of meditation, we find it extremely challenging to control our mind. Even if we wish to control it, we have very little power to do so, like the infirm rider. We want to focus on the breathing, but the mind keeps darting off unexpectedly. That is the wild horse. The process of meditation is taming the horse so that it is in our control, while making the mind an expert rider.
― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

 Awareness puts us in tune with the elements. This elemental connection is part of being alive. We are too often indoors, unaware of the elements. The elements are not our enemies: we ourselves are made of the elements. When we connect with them, they inspire us and make us stronger, allowing us to communicate with the world in much subtler ways.

― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

Beginning a conversation is an act of bravery. When you initiate a conversation, you fearlessly step into the unknown. Will the other person respond to favorably or unfavorably? Will it be a friendly or hostile exchange? There is a feeling of being on the edge. That nanosecond of space and unknowing can be intimidating. It shows your vulnerability. You don't know what is going to happen. You feel quite exposed. There's a chance you'll experience embarrassment. Yet this very feeling is what allows you to connect to the other person.

― Sakyong Mipham, The Lost Art of Good Conversation: A Mindful Way to Connect with Others and Enrich Everyday Life

I have always found a natural relationship between running and meditation. Running can be a support for meditation, and meditation can be a support for running. Running is a natural form of exercise, for it is simply an extension of walking. When we run, we strengthen our heart, remove stagnant air, revitalize our nervous system, and increase our aerobic capacity. It helps us develop a positive attitude. It creates exertion and stamina and gives us a way to deal with pain. It helps us relax. For many of us, it offers a feeling of freedom. Likewise, meditation is a natural exercise of the mind—an opportunity to strengthen, reinvigorate, and cleanse. Through meditation we can connect with that long-forgotten goodness we all have. It is very powerful to feel that sense of goodness: having confidence and bravery in our innermost being.
― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

One of my favorite sayings is “If you want to be miserable, think of yourself. If you want to be happy, think of others.”
― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

There is a direct correlation between physical exertion and mental relief.

 ― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind 

Running and meditation are very personal activities. Therefore they are lonely. This loneliness is one of their best qualities because it strengthens our incentive to motivate ourselves.
― Sakyong Mipham, Running with the Mind of Meditation: Lessons for Training Body and Mind

One of my favorite Tibetan sayings is “Even if you’re going to die tomorrow, you can learn something tonight.

  ― Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into an Ally