The “narrative self” refers to the part of our brain that tells us stories (narratives) about ourselves. We can experience it as ongoing, and often critical. It forms a part of Stage 4 of the Odoki Method.
- Bring to mind a situation where our inner voice was criticising us
- Notice the felt sense in the body. How strong is it?
- Now we ask ourselves, who is this inner voice criticising?
- Can we find the person it is criticising?
- If we find it, check whether it is a “sense” of something, or really a person.
- Repeat this process as needed - exploring this sense of something further, or picking additional situations
- Check how strong the felt sense is in the body. Has it changed in magnitude?
An optional additional step:
- If the sense of something appears to be needing “me” to be a certain way, or just to be there, ask it, “do you exist?” and “isn’t it great that you exist?”
- What impact does this have on the story?