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Sounds True: Insights at the Edge

Anne Lamott and Neal Allen: Taming Your Inner Critic

Sounds True: Insights at the Edge

Tami Simon

Religion, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 26 December 2023

⏱️ 70 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Many people have written and taught about the inner critic. But few have illuminated the subject with an approach as refreshing, innovative, and accessible as the one Neal Allen presents in his new book, Better Days—which includes a foreword by his wife, the celebrated writer Anne Lamott.

In this podcast, Tami Simon sits down with the uniquely talented, often quirky, and always insightful couple to hear how they’ve come to understand and reframe the sneaky inner voice that manifests as an unnecessary source of torment for millions of people. Give a listen as they discuss: vulnerability as a path to relationship—and to the divine; radical silliness; the protective role of the superego (and why it’s so reluctant to give up control); the empty chair technique in gestalt therapy; giving your inner critic a new assignment in life; reclaiming the value of curiosity; destroying your false identities; anxiety and its source; tips for identifying the sometimes subtle voice of the inner critic; the futility of arguing with your inner critic; exploring the truth of who you really are; the “saying yes” practice; acceptance and surrender; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello friends. My name is Tammy Simon and I'm the founder of Sounds True and I want to welcome you to the Sounds True podcast, Insights at the Edge.

0:11.5

I also want to take a moment to introduce you to Sounds True's new membership

0:16.1

community and digital platform. It's called Sounds True One. Sounds True One features original premium transformational docu series

0:27.4

community events classes to start your day and relax in the evening. Special weekly live shows including a

0:36.8

video version of Insights at the Edge with an after-show community question and answer session with featured guests.

0:45.0

I hope you'll come join us.

0:47.0

Explore, come have fun with us and connect with others.

0:51.0

You can learn more at join.

0:54.3

Sounds True.com. I also want to take a moment and introduce you to the

0:59.0

sounds true foundation, our nonprofit that creates equitable access to transformational tools and

1:07.3

teachings. You can learn more at sounds true foundation.org and advance, thank you for your support.

1:16.5

In this episode of Insights at the Edge,

1:19.0

my guests are Neil Allen and Annie Lamotte.

1:22.9

And this is a conversation I've been looking forward to.

1:27.5

Let me tell you a little bit to begin about Neil Allen.

1:30.6

He's a writer, spiritual coach, and speaker whose chief interest is removing obstacles of the ego.

1:39.1

He's the author of Shapes of Truth, Discover God Inside you, and a new book, which is what we're going to be talking

1:47.2

about today, it's called Better Days, tame your inner critic.

1:53.0

The foreword to Better Days is written by Annie Lamotte

1:57.0

who describes Neil as her personal husband,

2:01.0

which every time I hear that or think of it, I get a chuckle, and I don't quite know why I'm

2:06.3

chuckling, but I chuckle nonetheless.

...

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