Change from the roots on up

I was thrilled to read what Lincolnposte had to say about social change and how we as humans seem to be trying to go about it. And Jodi Taylor's brave post about changing the world made my heart smile.

I feel really good about talking about change from the roots on up. In other words changing ourselves before trying to change others. For me, learning how to do this has been a real struggle. How do I do this gently and with kindness? (the tendency has been to be violent and impatient with myself I.e "what's wrong with you, self? Hurry up and stop being so judgmental" or whatever the change in question may be. The point is do you notice how silly it is to try to combat the judgemental thing with self-judgement being the starting point?

It has become clear to me that the first step is simply noticing myself. Sounds easy. Ok, try it for a week - heck try it for an hour. Notice when I am judging. Not try to stop judging, just notice. (funny how that leads sooner or later to stopping the judging...it just doesn't feel good to judge) Notice when I am not breathing properly, wow look at these shallow breaths. Not try to change 'em - and funny how, again, eventually the breathing starts to change. What if we got really good at this "noticing things"? Think of all the changes that would happen...seemingly spontaneously.