Connecting With Your Inner Child - Inspiration Network Podcast (Episode 20)

In this week’s episode of the Inspiration Network podcast, we explore what it means to connect with your Inner Child. We all have an Inner Child who craves our attention. She is the part of us that we once were - reflecting both the 'positive' and 'negative' aspects of our experience.

Inner Child work is a meeting of the Inner Child. A reclamation of your experience, offering safety, compassion and kindness to the little one within.

Transcript

Welcome to the 20th episode of the Inspiration Network podcast.

If you have been following along with the daily meditations I've been offering on Facebook and YouTube,

Then you've probably heard me speaking about the inner child.

And we have done a meditation on the inner child and I'd really like to explore this concept further so that you have a better idea of what it means to connect with your inner child and why this work is so important.

So as humans we really are connected to a life full of miracles.

Everything in this universe is miraculous and any time that we're disconnected from the miracle that is life,

We notice that we are separated from happiness.

We are separated from truth.

And oftentimes this separation comes from the space within us,

The child within that has turned away from suffering,

That at some point experienced pain or disconnect,

Trauma,

Difficulty,

And not knowing how or not having the tools or support to deal with we've turned away from.

We've moved away from presence.

We've moved away from the miracle that is life and started to kind of bury those feelings,

Bury the difficulties,

The struggle,

The pain,

The frustration,

The hurt,

Because we didn't know how else to deal with it at that time.

So as an adult,

When you are experiencing disconnect,

When you are experiencing suffering,

Very often this is related to your experience as a child.

And so you know what that feels like because as an adult when you are challenged or when you go into that state of suffering,

Who are you acting like?

Are you acting like an evolved,

Aware adult who has all of the tools and resources?

Or are you acting like a child?

Are you acting like a smaller,

Younger version of yourself who doesn't know how to deal?

Right?

It's pretty obvious.

We shift into this very young state of being.

And this is a really innocent space that we're in.

When we move into that space,

When we become hurt or we're reminded of the difficulties and trauma and struggles of our childhood self,

Then of course we're not going to know how to deal with that.

We're not going to be sure of how to move forward.

We haven't felt safe.

We haven't felt connected and held in this space before.

And so the work really is about reclaiming this childhood self.

It's giving the love and the safety to the child within.

And so that's really what it means to both connect with the inner child.

So connect with the part of self that is experiencing difficulty or struggle and then turning away from because they don't know how to deal.

And then offering the love and support that that child needs,

That inner child needs in this present moment or perhaps even connecting back into the feeling,

The experience that you had that you can relate to as a child and then giving to yourself what you needed then.

So if you needed a shoulder to cry on,

Then you can be that.

If you needed love and comfort,

Kind words of support,

Then you can offer that to yourself now.

If you needed to leave a situation,

If you needed a helping hand out,

If you needed permission to be different,

If you needed the support to shift and change,

Then you can give yourself all of these things now.

And it's so much easier,

I find,

To connect in with this inner child and give yourself what you need now when you are treating yourself as a child,

As your childhood self.

Because it's easier to find the compassion.

It's easier to connect with the innocence.

And even though you are very deserving of love and kindness and compassion and you are innocent now,

We can connect so much ease here with the child.

We can relate to the innocence of the child.

We can relate to the needs of a child.

Oftentimes we take on this belief or this understanding that we have to know better,

Do better as an adult.

That we have to have it all together,

Have it all figured out.

Not experience suffering,

Push through,

Hustle,

Do,

You know,

Create,

Keep moving,

Keep moving.

It's this never-ending habit energy of trying to escape the inner child wound.

To try to escape the feelings of not being good enough,

Of not being worthy,

Of not being loved and supported for who we are and who we were.

So the ignorance and ignorance simply being the seeing of falsehood.

So not seeing reality.

So the ignorance of our true reality,

Which is this worthiness,

This innocence,

Creates even further wounding for us.

So as children we were wounded when we weren't accepted for who we were,

Who we weren't,

You know,

Given what we needed in that time.

And then when we fail to recognize our innocence and give ourselves what we need as adults,

This creates further wounding.

And it can take us further down this path of disconnect and really build on the habit energy of hustling for our worth.

Of needing to do,

To keep moving in order to receive.

So the work is about remembering.

The work is all about coming back to the truth of your innocence.

It's coming back to what is happening right now in this present moment and noticing if there's anything below.

If there is a connection to our childhood self.

If there is a connection to the past.

If there is needs that are going unmet.

If there is something that we can do to support ourselves unconditionally,

To offer the love and support that we need right now as innocent beings,

As innocent children of the universe.

And this really,

When we remember,

We feel great compassion for the inner child.

We return to the awakened wisdom that exists within each cell of our body.

And we return to the remembering that this life is a miracle.

That all that we experience,

All that we are is miraculous.

And we return to the energy of joy,

Of happiness,

Of fulfillment and connection,

Of divine worthiness,

Of creation,

Of effortless being.

How powerful is that?

And all it takes is a little bit of awareness,

A little bit of mindfulness,

Of engaging the mind in this inner looking,

In this remembering of truth.

Of this seeing the truth behind our hurt,

Behind the struggles we've experienced.

So,

Oftentimes when we listen,

When we practice listening,

It's listening to another person.

But this inner child work is about practicing listening to ourself,

Listening to our inner wounded child.

And this child just begs our attention.

And we can have an inner conversation to deal with this.

So,

We can actually listen to what the child has to say and speak out loud or speak in her mind or write down in our journal the responses that our inner child needs to hear.

And if you haven't practiced this,

I really invite you to try to start the conversation with your inner child,

However feels good for you.

It can be so simple.

You know,

You speak very gently in the words of a child.

So,

Think of how you would speak to a child that you love and care about now.

You know,

If my daughter is hurt or suffering,

I'm speaking with the most kindness and compassion I can connect with.

And yes,

I'm going to be affected emotionally.

I'm going to be triggered by the feelings that she has because I'll remember the feelings that I had as a small child.

And so,

Being with those feelings,

I still share words of kindness and love.

I tell her that it is okay to feel how she is feeling.

I remind her that she is beautiful,

That she is special,

That she is important,

That everything that she shares,

Everything she does and creates is a miracle,

Is a representation of the truth of who she is as enough as a child of this miraculous universe.

And in reminding her of this,

I also remind myself of the same.

And so,

Think of the conversation with your inner child like this.

So,

Anytime you are feeling struggle or suffering or you are reverting back to that space of childhood,

Woundedness,

When you share your insight,

When you share your love,

Your kindness,

Your compassion,

You are healing both the child and your present day self.

And over time,

You find that this inner child who has been abandoned,

Who has been wounded,

Who we have turned away from for fear of going back to that space of hurt.

We find that this child now starts to be with us,

Starts to share her innocence with us and really help us see through the eyes of a child again the wonder that this child saw.

The joy,

The softness,

The playfulness,

The curiosity that is available to children.

When we embrace this child,

When we create safety for this child within,

We also bring forward the innocence,

The joy,

The curiosity and life becomes easy.

Life becomes softer.

Life becomes a joy.

It becomes a remembering of the miracles that we are remembering.

And so when we take good care of this inner child,

When we breathe with the inner child,

When we cry with the inner child,

This inner child feels safe again.

This inner child feels able to deal with the situations that they once were unable to.

And this translates into our present moment experience of dealing with our own present moment suffering,

Struggle,

Difficulties.

We become more capable because we can treat ourselves with kindness and compassion.

We can help ourselves through anything because there's nothing that is wrong with us.

There is nothing that is taking away from our worth.

There is nothing that is compromising our safety and security.

So when we embrace this inner child,

We are embracing our adult self.

We liberate ourselves.

We lessen our suffering and we experience transformation.

You know if we are holding on to long-held beliefs or memories of hurt,

Of being abandoned,

Of being left alone,

We start to integrate this and transform the energy,

Transform the memories,

The habits.

And our relationships become much easier.

We know better how to speak to the pain,

The suffering in another.

We know that when they are suffering,

It's essential that we connect in with that inner child.

That we are speaking to the inner child within them.

So when we learn how to speak with kindness and compassion with our own inner child,

We learn to speak with kindness and compassion with the inner child of all those we love and care about.

And so I invite you to explore this.

I invite you to go back and take care of your inner child.

Take care of the body of your inner child,

The perceptions of your inner child,

The suffering,

The woundedness,

The needs that your inner child has.

Go home and be there for all of these things.

Be there for her.

Offer compassion.

Offer reminders of truth so that you can return to the innocence.

So that you can return to the truthfulness of your being worthy.

Of your place in the miracle of the divine,

Of the universe.

So that is all we're going to be speaking about for the inner child this week.

But I will absolutely be bringing in more meditations and more conversation around this inner child work.

I have been doing this very consistently for the last few months and it has made a huge difference in my experience.

In my ability to be in compassion with self,

With holding self-love,

Self-care and not judging my actions,

Not judging my experience or my memories.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me.

I invite you to share this with a friend who could use a little bit of help,

Who could use some support in this inner child work,

This exploration of our inner self,

Of remembering truth.

And as a request it would mean so much to me for you to pop on over to wherever you listen to this.

So if it's Apple or Spotify or whatever,

Wherever you listen to this podcast and give it a five-star rating and a written review,

You have no idea how much that simple action supports the podcast.

It helps spread the message and get the podcast out to more people.

I wish you such a beautiful week ahead.

I hope that you bring your inner child along for the journey and really offer a space of remembering,

A space of safety,

A space of support and love and compassion for yourself,

For yourself as you are and yourself as you were.

Reviews

This is a new area of my journey that I’m starting to understand and open my heart and mind to. This was explained so beautifully and ignited an even deeper desire to heal and connect with my inner child. Thank you!

Wonderful listening to this. Thank you for touching on the topic of our inner child.

Just what I needed when I needed it. Thank you!
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I love this message! Thank you

Caroline I absolutely LOVE your material! Thank you! 💕🙏🏻

Simple, easy to understand yet very profound.