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The Voices Within


An important component of any organization is their communication strategy. What happens in communication is deeply influenced by our understanding of power, our emotions, beliefs and experiences. These deep emotions emerge due to ineffective patterns, beliefs and experiences and become like inner figures - grouping together by the inner voices. In this workshop where we supported the cohort to explore their communication strategy, we explored the inner voices in the mental wellness sessions.

We all have many thoughts in our head. Many of these thoughts are like voices. As if there is a person sitting within us speaking to us. While attending Mahabharata Immersion- a program by @Raghu Ananthanarayanan I came across this framework of inner voices. If the thoughts in our head follow a pattern, they are akin to a person sitting and talking. His framework provides seven voices, four of them are ineffective and can be transformed into effective voices with the help of the other three. When we can look at these voices from a space of equanimity, we can transform them. Of the four ineffective voices I just picked up two - Victim and Judge so that we could all go deeper into our exploration.

Procrastination, pressure while fundraising, making different kinds of decisions brings up these thoughts and feelings. They are not easy to recognize or understand. 

They are my thoughts, how do I see them as different from me? 

Aren’t these fears real? 

It took the group time to connect probably because of those thoughts. When a person says I am just a small cog in the system, she sees it as reality and not a judge telling her “You are small” !!! As they roll played these voices, they began to see how much like an archetype they live in our heads, affecting our peace of mind. Their judge talks to them about fear of whether they could do something or not, the victim tells them their language and their image in the eye of the funder. The fear of failure is another statement of the judge - you have to be right, you need to meet the target that you set. The participants engaged in the role play, they also explored these voices through drawing. We spoke about the victim - who is hurt by others, the Judge who is caught in should and should not and the Guardian who believes that the world is up in arms.

The way to quiet these voices may be to picture them, hear them out like a friend. A friend listens, encourages, clarifies but does not criticize. A witness quietly hears what is happening. We played these roles to bring out the voices of a friend and a meditator within us. This is how healing happens.

Where do these voices come from? 

From our experiences that left us vulnerable and helpless. They also come from the social structure around us. A structure that equates productivity with success, a structure that insists on being available for everyone. A structure that defines the roles of men and women. This structure encourages inadequacy and constant movement. The voices of friends and meditators allows us to examine these structures. The whole purpose of this is to quiet these voices to transform. The judge can be the wise voice in us, the guardian can be the warrior. These voices will be our true inner voices shaped by deep inner intelligence that we can carry.

When I think about what constructs I include while working with these NGO leaders, I take into consideration Parity Labs promise of bringing them a sense of ease and peace, the experience of centeredness and healing. 

What will help them heal from trauma and effects of trauma? 
What will get them in touch with their own capacity, resourcefulness, creativity and equanimity? 

We then decide to bring in different frames. These frames are conversation starters. They are not a replacement for their own experience. We connect these frames to their experiences.


This is not an easy concept to work with. It takes time for people to recognize the patterns in these voices. Yet they shared that they found the concept interesting and meaningful and that they would want to explore it with me in our one on one sessions. In the one on one sessions, these conversations go deep. Its good to be a friend that listens before she speaks


by Dr. Sanjyot Pethe, Wellness Associate at Parity Lab


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