Tender Revolution Ep. 4: A Mirror Of Love

"If the mission is to break into a thousand pieces, then what is brokenness, but fulfillment? To become so worn from experience that God shines through your skin, and you become a mirror of Love itself." This episode leads you into a heartbreakingly intimate healing journey- an encounter with an aspect of yourself that believes that there is something wrong with you- and brings that aspect into beautiful integration.

Transcript

Welcome to The Tender Revolution.

I'm Katherine Liggett.

This episode is about how our brokenness opens us to love.

I'll begin by reading a poem I wrote just a couple nights ago.

To think she was convinced she was broken.

If the mission is to break into a thousand pieces,

Then what is brokenness but fulfillment?

To be put back together,

Each piece with great love.

What is being human besides this?

To become so worn from experience that God shines through your skin and you become a mirror of love itself.

To think she was convinced she was broken.

If the mission is to break into a thousand pieces,

Then what is brokenness but fulfillment?

To be put back together,

Each piece with great love.

What is being human besides this?

To become so worn from experience that God shines through your skin and you become a mirror of love itself.

I wrote this poem very late in the middle of the night,

One night,

When I was feeling very broken.

And yet I received insight that this is exactly what it means to be human,

To expand our capacity for love.

And in order to do that,

We must not be whole.

We must have pieces to put back together.

And we must need other people to help us with that.

And in so doing,

We experience belonging.

We experience this messy human love.

And that's what we're here to do,

To realize that love is who we are.

In fact,

It's all that we need and all that we are.

We're born one with divine love.

And yet our incarnate experience is about this human messy love,

To love ourselves even when it's hard and especially when it's hard.

My journey of this past postpartum year has revealed to me that that's exactly what we're here to discover more than anything else,

To love ourselves precisely when it's the hardest to,

To embrace our own tender hearts without any conditions.

And there in the lowest and darkest places to hold this aching heart with both hands and say,

I'm here for you.

I'm not going anywhere.

I care about your pain.

For when we can do that,

Even if we're writhing in pain,

We find freedom.

We become safe to ourselves.

And when we are safe with ourselves,

We have nothing to fear.

When we can do that,

We become a precious resource to others as well.

By holding space for our own hearts in times of suffering,

We dig our well of compassion deep and find that we have a new capacity to see and honor the pain of others.

It no longer triggers us to run away,

To distract,

Or to bypass with false positivity.

We can be still and truly listen.

The quality of our attention becomes healing,

For it is empty of any desire to fix or interpret what we hear.

When we can hold our hearts in our brokenness,

We come to know what true intimacy means.

When we commit to seeing and feeling exactly what's here,

We experience the very definition of intimacy.

Into,

Me,

See.

It means looking inside ourselves,

No matter what,

And holding all that we find there with kindness.

So in today's exploration,

I'd like to lead you into an encounter with a part of yourself that you feel is broken,

The part of yourself that you feel there's something wrong with.

And then experience how that part can open to love,

To your own love,

And to the love of the world.

And to the love of those around you who can hold you there.

So when you're ready,

Find a place where you can sit or lie down very comfortably.

Close your eyes and begin to notice your breath here.

An easy deepening breath in and out,

With every exhale releasing into the surface you're on.

Allowing the breath to draw your attention inwards,

Into the realm of body sensation,

Into the realm of feeling,

Making a mental note of what's right here.

And then,

As you're feeling,

You're going to notice your breath and your breath,

And your breath,

And your breath.

And now,

Open your inner eye to find yourself on a beautiful forest path.

And you notice what kind of forest this is,

The plants and trees that are here.

Look down and notice what the path is made of.

And begin to walk on this path.

Very soon,

You come to a clearing where the sun is shining onto an entrance into the earth.

Maybe it's a cave,

Or a hole in the ground,

Or something else.

Approach this entrance.

Approach this entrance,

Knowing that it is a portal into a very deep part of yourself.

I'd like you to visualize now at the entrance of this portal that you are not alone.

You have several divine guides with you.

So notice who's there.

These are very,

Very nurturing guides who are here to guide you,

Support you,

And love you on this journey.

And I want you to notice who you are.

So go ahead,

Follow the lead of this guide,

And walk into this portal.

And I want you to notice that you are right behind them.

So go ahead,

Follow the lead of this guide,

And walk into this portal.

And I want you to notice that you are right behind them.

So go ahead,

Follow the lead of this guide,

And walk into the portal.

You feel your other guides right behind you.

You find yourself now in a very dark tunnel,

But you know that you are right behind them.

You feel your lead guide in front of you,

And your other guides behind you,

Holding you there as you walk.

And now you notice that you're coming upon a door.

You are now in a very deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep,

Deep.

Notice what this door looks like.

Your lead guide beckons you to open the door.

You open it,

And before going into the room,

You notice what's inside.

You see a child in the corner,

Curled up and rocking themselves,

Obviously very distraught and haggard.

They have been there for a very long time by themselves.

Your lead guide walks into the room and invites you and the other guides in as well.

You go in,

And from a respectful distance,

You all watch this child.

You start to feel in your heart what it must be like to be them,

To be so stuck,

Stuck in this idea that there's something wrong with them.

You see this child rocking back and forth,

Not even looking up,

Repeating over and over again their feelings,

Their brokenness,

The thing that is most they believe wrong with them.

You feel in your heart just how painful this must be for them,

To be so stuck in that belief.

And it's so very clear that it's just a false belief,

That they at any time could look up and see that there's so much more.

They're actually loving beings,

You and the guides looking at them.

The lead guide looks at you with a knowingness that it's now your job to say something to this child.

So you look at this child and you say what's on your heart.

Maybe you say,

I see how much pain you're in,

And I care about you.

Notice what this child does now in response to your words.

No matter how they respond,

Feel your heart opening in tenderness toward this abandoned part of yourself,

The part that has believed there's something terribly wrong with them.

Feel your heart expanding as you look at this child haggard and alone for so many years.

And notice that there is a place in your heart for them.

Telepathically communicate this to them now,

There is a place for you in my heart.

I am here for you.

I'm not going anywhere.

I care about your pain.

As you continue to open your heart to this child,

Notice how they respond.

Notice if they want to come with you,

Or if they'd rather stay right there,

Or perhaps go somewhere else.

No matter what they desire,

Feel,

Sense and see yourself meeting that need of theirs.

And now feel your guides healing and holding you.

And if this child part of you would like to be with you,

Feel them healing them as well.

All of you together.

Sense if this child part of you would like to come up to the surface now with you and the guides.

If not,

That's okay too.

You can send love to them,

Knowing that their time is the right time.

They are exactly where they need to be right now.

If the child self would like to come with all of you to the surface,

Imagine that you go again through the tunnel together now,

All the way back through the portal to the clearing in the forest.

And regardless of whether your child self is with you or not,

You feel now that the guides are holding you.

Imagine that there are others who appear now on this scene with all of you.

They are people in your life who love you,

Perhaps your family,

Or dear friends.

Held by the guides,

Imagine now that you are right there by them,

That these loved ones are looking right at you.

Maybe right at the child self too.

That you are so held.

Feel yourself now as you breathe,

Releasing into their embrace,

Support of their loving arms for you.

Breathing,

Exhaling,

Deeper release into these loving arms.

If that child self is there with you,

See,

Sense,

And feel that they are so held.

Imagine what they look like now.

Held,

Seen,

And so loved.

Continuing to breathe with every exhale,

Releasing even more into these loving arms.

What if I were to now release completely into the loving support of those who love me so dearly?

What if I were now to allow me in all of my beliefs about my brokenness to be so held and supported?

Look into your loved ones eyes and see how it is precisely that which is imperfect about you,

That you feel is wrong with you,

That makes you so very lovable to them.

Feel,

Sense how it is exactly this imperfection that gives them the opportunity to help you,

To hold you.

Just as if a puzzle were already complete,

There'd be nothing to do with it.

And it would be separate.

Because you are made up of puzzle pieces that are incomplete,

You can let others in to complete those parts that need it.

Looking into those eyes,

Breathing in that loving support precisely because of your imperfection.

Can you rest here and allow yourself to be helped?

When this feels complete,

Feeling so much gratitude for this aspect of you that you discovered in those tunnels,

So much gratitude for them.

So much gratitude for the guides and for your loved ones who've shown up for you,

That you may have this experience.

With all this gratitude begin now to imagine the room that you're in and to begin to bring your awareness back into your body at this place and time.

Breathing yourself into the present moment.

Whenever you're ready,

Go ahead and open your eyes and come back.

Knowing that you will be integrating this experience for a little while.

And that you have a new understanding and love in your heart,

A new acceptance,

That it is exactly what is broken about you,

What you most believe is wrong with you,

That gives others the opportunity to love you.

And you the opportunity to be so worn by experience that God shines through your skin,

And you become a mirror of love itself.

Thank you all so much.

Bye bye.

Reviews

So many ancestries of mine showed up as my support group.

Catherine’s work is so supportive, caring, and genuine—tracks like this are a true gift. This track has a short message about our brokenness not being a flaw or failure, but rather the condition that allows the work of love to commence in our lives. This is followed by a guided imagery meditation where Catherine leads us into and through a specific encounter with our inner child in a context where we are resourced with as much support as we can conceptualize for ourselves.

For me, even though I have done inner child work and shadow work in my past practice, I found this track to be especially effective.

Thank you Catherine for your work, your voice, and your ability to articulate.

Beautiful

💖yes yes yes yes thank you, may I hold her little hand in mine💖

Love these podcasts,can feel the healing happening 💖🙏💖 thank you catherine💖

Absolutely, exceptionally beautiful. ❤️ I felt so much love for me and my inner child that I began crying pretty hard-- I needed this more than I knew. Thank you ❤️