A Challenge: One Day of Non-Judgment
Welcome back! In this episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast, we are talking about an interesting challenge called the Non-Judgment Challenge Date Day.
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Someone recently dared me to take a whole day to be with myself, listen to my body and feelings, and sit in peace. This sounded wonderful to me and, while I never do this, I decided to send my husband and kids away for one day so that I could complete this challenge.
What could have been a nice day was immediately plagued by self-judgment. It quickly arose and kept taking me out of simply being with myself for the day.
“I should be doing this instead”
“You are being lazy”
“Why did you choose that activity?”
“You have to do it this way because that way is a waste of money”
“You shouldn’t be feeling this way”
“You don’t deserve this”
“Why did you do it that way?”
“Why are you the way you are?”
These statements above are just a few of the judging statements that we say to ourselves throughout the day. It sounds horrible when you see it written out in front of you, but we still say things to ourselves without hesitation or even thinking about it sometimes. We may not even be aware of it.
Rather than using this day as one of freedom and pleasure, I decided to shift the focus of the day to practicing non-judgment. I called it the NON-JUDGMENT CHALLENGE DATE DAY (or #nonjudgmentdateday on social media).
The challenge goes as follows. The Non-Judgment Challenge Date Day is a day that you spend my yourself—for the entire day—practicing doing things that you enjoy. Do things that are exciting and fun for you, or even new. While you are participating in these activities, observe your thoughts—negative and positive—about yourself and the activity that you are partaking in. Be very aware of the thoughts in your mind.
For me, the Non-Judgment Challenge Date Day was very eye-opening. I highly recommend that you try this yourself! In this episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast, I reflect on my very own Non-Judgment Challenge Date Day and the struggles that I experienced.
Here are the steps, if you want to give it a try. Maybe find an accountability buddy and have them try it too. It was SOOO helpful for me to try this and see where I have work to do.
- Find a day (or a hour or two) to be just by yourself
- Check in with yourself and decide on something lovely to do for yourself. Take a walk, go to the mall, read a book, eat yummy food, play an instrument, etc.
- Observe any self-judgments you have about yourself and your ability to do this activity.
- Direct yourself away from self-judgment and practice just engaging in this activity non-judgmentally.
Before we go, I wanted to make you aware of about “What if?” It is a collaborative film project by Robin Roblee-Strauss for his senior thesis project at Hampshire College. “What if?” Is a movie that documents the experiences of living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The film is centered on people struggling with OCD as the experts on their own internal experiences and recovery processes. Guess what? You can be involved in this project! Click HERE to learn more about the project and how you can be a part of it by sharing your story, donating, or contributing artistic or cinematic expertise. With this project, in which individuals with OCD are collaborating together, Robin would like to empower those suffering to speak out and show the world an honest and courageous look into the struggle with anxiety and uncertainty.
About Kimberley Quinlan
Kimberley Quinlan is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who specializes in Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Eating Disorders, Panic Disorder and Body Focused Repetitive Behaviors (BFRB’s). Kimberley is highly trained in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), with a heavy emphasis on Exposure Response Prevention (ERP), and has been practicing meditation and mindfulness for many years. Kimberley has a special interest in the integration of mindfulness principles with CBT for OCD, Anxiety Disorders, and Eating Disorders. Kimberley has experience treating adults, adolescents, and children, and tailors each program to suit the age and cognitive development of each client. Kimberley has a private practice in Calabasas and Westlake Village.
For more information, you can find Kimberley at the following:
Website: https://kimberleyquinlan-lmft.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimberleyquinlan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KimberleyQuinlanCBTschool/
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