Discover Your True Essence With A Childhood Picture

Using a childhood picture and a mirror, in this interactive visualization you will discover and reconnect with your true essence, embracing unconditional self-love and acceptance. Through visualization and reflection, you will tap into your original spirit and reclaim your authentic self. This exercise builds on highly effective approaches to healing through Parts and Inner Child work such as Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Positive Intelligence. This track invites you to embrace self-discovery, healing, and the power of unconditional love.

It is best to have a childhood picture ready, either digital or print, and a mirror or a selfie camera on your phone. Don’t worry if you do not have a childhood picture, the exercise will still work.

Transcript

For this exercise,

You need to have a childhood picture ready.

It could be digital,

Or it could be print.

If you don't have a childhood picture,

That's okay.

There is a part where we're going to need the childhood picture,

And I'm going to tell you what to do if you don't have a childhood picture,

So don't worry about it.

Also,

It would be great if you have a mirror,

Because during part of this,

We're going to have you look at yourself in the mirror.

If you don't have a mirror,

That's okay too,

And we'll have you look at maybe this selfie camera on your phone.

So either way,

Make that available to yourself,

And once you do,

Then we're going to start with this visualization.

Let's have fun with this.

So start by finding a comfortable position,

Sitting down,

Either on a chair or a cushion on the floor,

And have your eyes closed if you wish,

If that feels right for you.

Have your head be straight,

Have your feet be flat on the floor,

Unless you're seated already on the floor.

Have your spine be relatively straight and relaxed.

Have your chest be open,

And bring your attention to your feet.

Feel the weight of your feet on the floor,

And try to find as many of your toes as you can.

Wiggle your toes if you need to,

So find as many of your toes as you can.

Let go of any thoughts you might be having,

And now bring your attention to your sense of touch.

Gently rub two fingertips against each other,

With such attention that you can feel the fingertip ridges on both fingers.

Now gently rub all the fingertips of one hand against the fingertips of the other,

And your palm of the other hand,

And feel all those sensations of touch.

Let go of any thoughts you might be having.

Your mind will keep wondering.

That's totally normal.

Keep gently commanding your mind back.

Just gently catch yourself and say,

Oops,

There you go again,

Come back here.

Now notice your breath,

The rising and falling of your chest or stomach with each breath.

Notice the temperature of air as it enters your nostrils,

And the temperature of air as it exits your nostrils.

Now,

Visualize yourself in a scene where you were a happy child.

And if you didn't have any happy childhood memories at all,

That's totally okay.

Just make up a scene.

Make up a scene in which you were actually a happy child.

And in this scene,

We want you to be just your original true self.

Your original true self.

Who you were meant to be.

You are that in this scene.

The original,

True,

Beautiful being you were intended to be.

Happy being yourself.

Make up a scene where that's who you were as a child in this particular scene.

And just let your mind select the scene.

Make something up.

Unless you actually remember something.

Now,

Notice what kind of setting this is.

If it's indoor or outdoor.

Anything about the setting you want to notice.

Now notice if there's anybody else in this scene.

Notice something about their face,

Something about their eyes,

Something about their expressions or their physicality.

Anything you want to notice about anybody else in the scene.

And now notice yourself in the scene.

Notice yourself in the scene.

You are just radiating with your original true spirit.

You're happily the person you were meant to be in the scene.

Just notice the expression of your eyes.

Notice the expression of your face.

Notice your hair.

Notice how you're moving or holding your arms and hands.

Notice how you're moving your whole body or holding your posture.

Just the whole attitude.

Your original true self.

The attitude of that being all over your body.

It's a beautiful being that you were meant to be.

What are a few words or adjectives that describe this beautiful being that you are in this scene?

And now enter the scene as the adult that you are.

So have the adult version of you enter the scene as the adult that you are.

And interact with this child version of you in whatever way feels natural.

The adult version,

Interact with the child version of you in whatever way that feels right and natural in the scene.

This child version of you wants to tell you something.

Listen to what the child version of you wants to tell you.

And as the adult version,

What do you want to tell this child?

As the adult version of yourself,

What do you want to tell this beautiful child?

Now this child version of you wants to show you how to be more like that again.

Be more like that child again.

This being wants to teach you how to be a little bit more like that.

More like that kid again.

So let this child version of you show you how to be more like that again.

How to reclaim some of your original true spirit.

And this child has a gift for you that embodies the essence of what this being is about.

Or what you need to remember about the essence of that being that you are.

This child version of you has a gift that symbolizes the essence of who you are and who this being is.

Let this child version of you give you that gift.

That gift that symbolizes your essence,

Who you really are,

So you can remember it.

Receive that gift.

See what it is.

And thank your child version.

And now embrace your child.

Embrace your child being as a way of bringing closure to the scene.

And as you do,

As you embrace,

This beautiful being begins to become absorbed into you.

Begins to become one with you.

Because this being is you.

This being is always a part of you.

Inside of you.

So feel this being become one with you and be inside of you.

Feel the presence inside of you.

And as you do,

Notice how it affects the way that your body feels right now.

Notice this original true spirit right now in your head and face.

Feel that beautiful original spirit in your head and face and eyes right now.

And allow your head and face and eyes and expression to shift,

If it needs to,

To feel this original essence in you again.

How it affects the way you're holding your head right now.

Hold your head with this essence present in you again.

Feel this attitude,

This essence in the way you're holding your head right now.

Feel it in the way you're holding or moving your arms and hands.

Feel this original true spirit alive in you again.

Perhaps in the way you're holding or moving your arms and hands.

Feel it in your chest and stomach.

Feel it in your breath.

Breathe with the attitude of this original true spirit that you are.

And feel it all over your body.

Feel the presence of this being,

This original true spirit that you are,

All over your body.

Now notice where in your body this essence,

This beautiful being lives the most.

And if you wish,

Put your hand on that part of your body so that you can anchor that sensation.

Put your hand on the part of your body that this beautiful essence lives the strongest in you.

And have that anchor your connection with that essence being that you are,

So that you can have a little bit more muscle memory of bringing it back.

And feel how that feels to be back in touch with the beautiful essence that you are,

And beginning to remember who you are.

And now,

If you have the childhood picture,

Please gently open your eyes and look at your childhood picture.

And if you don't have a childhood picture,

Keep your eyes closed and just imagine what you might have been seeing if you had a childhood picture.

Now if you have a childhood picture,

Please open your eyes and look at your childhood picture.

And as you do,

Look at this beautiful essence that you are.

Notice how this being that you are is worthy of all the unconditional love in the world.

Notice that this being does not need to earn love,

Does not need to work for love,

Does not need to prove anything.

This being is worthy of all the unconditional love in the world.

Beautiful essence.

And you get to give this being the love that it deserves.

Nobody else can,

No one else can,

Only you.

As the adult that you are,

You can bring that kind of unconditional love to yourself,

To this being who has always deserved it and very likely not necessarily received it.

You're the one who can ever do that.

And you get to begin to do that now.

This is how beautiful this being is.

Notice how worthy of unconditional love this being is.

Notice the joy of giving this being that love.

Maybe for the first time in your life.

Really,

In a deep way,

Truly unconditional.

Just noticing the magnificent beauty of who you are.

This is the unchanging you.

This is the true you.

You were born as unique as your fingerprint.

You are a special being.

You are the golden one.

You're a special being.

And you get to revel in that.

You get to remember who you are.

And the childhood picture can help you remember.

Notice again what are some words or adjectives that describe this beautiful essence.

What are a few words or adjectives that describe this beautiful essence of this being?

Now,

Open your eyes if your eyes are closed.

And please gently look at yourself in the mirror.

And if you don't have a mirror,

Use a selfie camera to look at yourself.

So gently open your eyes if they're closed and please look at the mirror.

If you don't have a mirror,

Look at yourself in a selfie camera.

And find the same unchanging beautiful essence in yourself now.

So as you look at yourself,

Find that same beautiful unchanging essence in yourself now.

There's a good chance that there are some parts of you that are trying to stop you from seeing this.

There's a good chance that your protector parts are distracting you with Oh,

Look at those wrinkles.

Oh,

Look at that gray hair.

Oh,

Look at this imperfect face.

Oh,

Look at what's not right.

And they're just trying to help you forget.

They don't know that there's another way.

See if you can become aware if this is happening.

And just ask those parts of you if they would give us some space right now.

Because if they could give us some space,

Then we can make their life a little easier as well.

And really look inside your own eyes.

Focus on the soul and the essence,

Not the superficial stuff.

Notice the unchanging true self.

Can you see the unchanging essence of you looking back at you?

Look into your eyes and see if you can see that unchanging beautiful essence.

The same thing you saw in the child.

Who you truly are,

That beautiful being worthy of all the love in the world.

Can you see that one?

The true one?

Your true self,

Can you see that being?

If you do,

Feel the love that this being deserves.

Unconditional love,

Not conditioned on performance or being good or anything.

Unconditional.

And if you can't,

That's totally okay.

It just means the parts of you that don't allow this yet need more time to trust you.

They're making it hard for you to go to self-love.

They're insisting on conditions that are not met for that unconditional love.

Because they don't know better.

And so that's okay,

But just notice it.

Just notice there may be more work for you to do in getting to know these parts of you,

In building trust with them,

So that you can fall back in love with yourself again.

Because you do deserve that.

This being deserves it.

That child that you met deserves it.

We want you to remember who you really are.

From self-brutality to self-love.

Unconditional self-love.

And that's not selfish.

That will actually enable you to give even more to the world than to others.

It's like putting the oxygen mask on yourself first.

Take care of you and love you.

Now again,

Notice what are some words or adjectives that describe this being.

What are some words or adjectives that describe this beautiful being that you are?

And now put an I am in front of it.

Put an I am in front of these words and create an I am statement.

Who are you really?

Who are you truly?

What's your essence about?

Who are you?

I am what?

What are some qualities that describe your essence?

For the next couple of minutes I'm going to be silent.

During this time feel free to keep your eyes open,

Looking at yourself in the mirror,

Or go back to looking at your child picture,

Or feel free to close your eyes or feel free to take notes.

But whatever you do,

Make sure you have an I am statement that you can remember.

Okay,

When you're ready just please gently open your eyes if they're closed.

So thank you for doing this with me.

It's a very important step of remembering who you are.

And for some people it takes a while.

For some people they have parts that have been working so hard to shield them that they don't allow you to celebrate yourself.

They don't allow you to let go of the pain and the hurt and the anger against others or against yourself.

Because they're young and scared and they don't know any better yet.

So give yourself and these parts of you some time and be gentle.

Please be compassionate with yourself.

If you weren't able to go there,

If you weren't able to begin to feel the love for yourself,

That's okay.

It just takes a little bit longer.

I encourage you to look at that childhood picture again and again until these parts of you that are not letting you see that begin to trust you.

What I'd love for you to do is share your I am statement in the comments if you can so that we can all see the beautiful beings in our community and we can celebrate with you.

So thank you for doing this work with me and for continuing to show up for yourself.

Be well.