Recently, I scheduled an appointment with my dentist for a weekday morning and felt LEGIT anxious for days…Apparently, former full-time corporate me had convinced newly full-time freelancer me that we needed permission from "someone" to take the morning off. Decolonial thinker me is still puzzled by the whole exchange.

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Like Riley, the main character in Disney and Pixar's Inside Out 2, there a lot of inner voices in my head competing for attention and validation. And, the loudest and most relentless of them all is the voice of my inner critic.

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Ignoring her is futile, and listening without questioning her assumptions almost always leads to anxiety and stagnation. So, when she starts in on me with the disempowering self-talk, I pick up a pen and start journaling.

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If your inner critic (like mine) has a tendency to go into overdrive every time you need or desire rest, below are a few journal prompts to help you get started unpacking the root causes ~ from the inside out:

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• How often do feel guilty about wanting (or needing) to rest or take a break?

• When it happens, do you permit yourself to rest anyway?

• If not, why not?

• If so, are you able to REALLY rest?

• What might you do differently to honor your need for rest if and when you feel guilty in the future?