Buddhafield 2026
It’s been a week since I returned from Buddhafield…. With no mobile signal and no digital distractions, life became beautifully simple: dancing, singing, shared meals, creativity, and the kind of human connection that happens when people are fully present with one another.
Turning Toward the Inner Critic
Away from the noise of everyday life, I found myself face‑to‑face with my inner critic. In Transactional Analysis, this part of us often reflects the Critical Parent or the Parent in the Child — those internalised voices that tell us who we should be, how we should behave, and what isn’t acceptable.
I realised how strong and unkind my own critic still is. How quickly it judges. How confidently it speaks over the softer, more vulnerable parts of me. And how much compassion it still needs.
Because beneath every harsh message is usually a frightened part trying to keep us safe in the only way it knows.
An Invitation to Explore Your Own Inner Critic
If you pause for a moment, you might notice your own critic too:
What does it say when you’re struggling?
Whose voice does it resemble?
Which vulnerable part of you is it attacking or trying to protect?
What might shift if you met that part with gentleness instead of blame?
Many people discover that their critic is actually directing its harshness toward a younger, tender self — the part that learned to survive by being careful, compliant, or invisible. Offering compassion to that part can be profoundly healing.
Connection That Felt Alive
Buddhafield reminded me how deeply we need connection that isn’t mediated by screens — connection that is embodied, creative, spontaneous, and human. Sharing songs around a fire, dancing barefoot, sitting in silence with strangers who slowly become companions… it felt free and alive….
And in that aliveness, my inner critic softened. Not because it disappeared, but because I finally had the space to listen to it without being overwhelmed.
Returning Home With Compassion
Coming home, I’m carrying a renewed commitment to meeting my critic with kindness. Not silencing it, not fighting it, but understanding it. Letting the vulnerable parts of me breathe again.
If you’re noticing your own inner critic as you read this, remember:
You are deserving of compassion. Your vulnerable self is not the problem. And you don’t have to navigate these inner dynamics alone.
Therapy can be a place where these parts of you are met with warmth, curiosity, and relational depth — a place where you can begin to feel free and alive in your own life…