Most of us have high standards for ourselves. Whether wanting to gain recognition, feel like we belong, or achieve our goals, we can easily fall short of our ideal and in the process judge ourselves as being not good enough. Practiced over a lifetime, this striving for perfection hardens into self-judgment, unworthiness and low self-image. For the vast majority of people who come to meditation retreats this habit of self-criticism is a central issue. As someone who knows this problem first-hand I can attest to its debilitating power. When I was growing up I had a hard time just looking in the mirror. I wasn't cool. I was shy. I wasn’t buff. I was "pudgy cute." Though we didn't have a …
