Your inner child is the personification of the feelings you had in childhood. Your inner child is the aspect of you who carries your innocence and faith. When a child experiences a traumatic event, the imprint of that event remains stored in that child’s emotional blueprint. As the child matures he or she will re-experience that traumatic event every time the original wound is triggered. For example, a young boy gets knocked down by an over-excited dog. As he matures, he has a fear of dogs. Every time he sees a dog, his inner child is triggered. He collapses into the same coping mechanisms that were available to him at the time of the traumatic experience. Your child within carries with him or her the wounds of your past. And just like the little boy who was knocked down by the dog, your inner child carries the emotional residue of those traumatic experiences of your past. And just like that little boy, you collapse into the coping mechanisms that were available to you at the time of your original wound.
It is the fears of your wounded child within which holds you apart from that which you want. In response to your childhood experiences, that wounded part of you developed belief systems and knee-jerk reactions to expansion. Expansion (getting bigger; being seen; attracting attention) became equated with pain! Each reaction has a voice. Each voice has a face. These faces express the emotional response you have to your world and assist you in determining what part of you is reacting and what he or she needs. We are a society full of wounded inner children. It is the wounded child within that fears for his or her safety, feels jealous, wants more, blames, etc. As we attend to the emotions of the Self in the present, we become an empowered adult. We can then teach that empowered adult how to tend to the emotional needs of the inner child.
Cathryn Taylor
www.JoinCathrynTaylor.com