Would you like to explore your own Voices? Here is an exercise you can do at home:

1. Identify and write down a list of your Sub-personalities, Identities, or Inner Characters. Each one has a particular “energy,” and often has a set of comments it makes over and over, or a set of behaviors it does over and over.

2. Give each one a name. Have fun with this. Almost all of us can identify The Boss, The Critic, and The Judge inside of us. Going deeper, you may find identities such as a Stern Teacher, Aunt Gertrude, Mr. Sneaky, or Dragon Spawn. Look for Voices that are both “positive” (e.g., Goody-Goody Girl or Mr. Nice Guy) and “negative” (e.g., Hell-Maker: Bitch Goddess from the Underworld).

3. Write out their job descriptions – what each one is doing – and identify their deeper intention (most are providing some sort of protection).

4. If each Voice was a person who worked for you, and you could assign them to a new job, what would you ask them to do? Think about what each one is good at, and use that strength in the new job description. For example, the Judger is great at examining others’ weaknesses and deciding what’s wrong with them. Use its highly developed skill to now look at everyone’s strengths and beauty to decide what’s right with them.

5. Send each Voice some appreciation for the job it has been doing up to this point. Ask each one if they would be willing to change jobs, and listen to what they have to say. If a Voice would like to speak out loud, move your body into a different chair or position for each Voice. Reserve your primary chair for your Aware Ego, the one you consider “yourself,” and move back to that chair in between each other character’s expression.

When you accept every part of yourself, and deny no part of yourself, and appreciate each part’s role in your life, you will begin to experience true inner peace and harmony.