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Emotions and the Inner Child Meditation

macro image of a dandelion

 

I've only found a few meditations on healing the inner child on Insight Timer. None of them really got me where I needed to be, so I made my own.

Ever have a dream or nightmare that was so real that you woke up feeling like the events actually transpired? Emotions are very powerful and completely disconnected from that part of our mind that keeps time. So, I wake up angry from a dream argument. I am afraid of the nightmare and cannot return to sleep. I am on edge, stressed about money because I dreamed that I made a bad investment. In our day-to-day lives we can tap into emotions from the past and not even know it. Every time you meet someone with cancer you may start to replay the emotions from the loss of a loved one with cancer.

Imagine one side of your brain handles logic and rational thought-- math and time. The other side is the emotions. What you feel is happening right now, not in the past. A memory from the past may have triggered the emotions, but they are happening in that moment of meeting another person with cancer. I believe this is an important distinction because we spend so much time avoiding emotions. It's easy to think, "I shouldn't be so upset right now, my father passed away years ago." A thought like that is bottling the emotions up. It is telling myself, "I should not feel this way. It is wrong." However, we cannot bottle emotions away. Eventually they return. Instead, we need to sit with them. We need to feel them. Processing emotions is nothing more than being with them. They are a part of being human.

Our rules for living in this world are developed as a child. You touch a hot stove at age three, you know to never ever do that again. If your mother sent your brothers outside to play while you did housework and helped her with meals so you could learn to be a good housewife, how does that affect you as a child? Perhaps, you think it is bullshit today, but still feel guilt or shame at the thought of asking for help with the housework? Maybe helping your mom was a pleasure. Maybe it didn't affect you adversely. We're all individuals.

While that time of child development is important, we can also experience things as an adult that leave a lasting affect. The example of loss I used above is one such event that can produce lasting emotions that we relive subconsciously. Despite the title, my hope is that the following meditation allows myself and you to explore whatever comes up, whether it is from childhood or adulthood. Do the best that you can. This is difficult work. Be kind to yourself.

As always, you can listen above, download, or subscribe.

Download here-- Sitting with the Emotions of the Inner Child

To subscribe to my meditations in your favorite podcast app, use this link:

https://savethis.space/content/audio/?_t=rss

If you have any interest in supporting me, try the support link above, or the store. By the way, there's a Mantra Mutt, our lovable mascot, t-shirt in my store now. Thanks!

Much <3

Morning Mantra Seies

 

The last two recordings were a soft reset. Previously doing each mantra daily for a month felt somewhat rote. I was missing the piece of feeling what I was actually telling myself. After hitting the basics of meditation and mindfulness, it's time to start again.

I'm starting with forgiveness. This month's mantra is an effort to heal the wounds I've inflicted on myself through guilt and shame. I cannot move forward finding self-worth if I don't like myself.

As always, you can listen above, download, or subscribe.

Download here-- Morning Mantra Seis

To subscribe in your favorite podcast app, use this link:

https://savethis.space/content/audio/?_t=rss

If you have any interest in supporting me, try the support link above, or the store. By the way, there's a Mantra Mutt, our lovable mascot, t-shirt in my store now. Thanks!

Much <3

Morning Mantra Cinco

A watercolor painting of a small brown dog walking, It's Mantra Mutt.

 

The last Mantra was a re-introduction to meditation because I was finding my daily practice becoming rote. I was simply repeating the phrases, not feeling them. Meditation helps me find the space to absorb my affirmations. Morning Mantra Cinco is another method that I find useful for finding emotional balance, mindfulness.

Like meditation, mindfulness is about observing. What's different is that it's an eyes open practice. While you may need to set aside time for meditation, like you would a workout or yoga, mindfulness is a state of being that you can strive for as you go about your day.

The following audio file contains 2 quick practices for you to take with you into your daily routine. There's some explanation in the file for those not coming to this web page, and the first exercise is a very simple breathing technique. The Mindful Walking exercise starts around 6:20 if you want to skip ahead or if this isn't your first time using Morning Mantra Cinco.

Download here-- Morning Mantra Cinco

If you add the following URL into your favorite podcast app, you should get the Morning Mantras directly to your device without the need to come here and download them.

https://savethis.space/content/audio/?_t=rss

If you have any interest in supporting me, try the support link above, or the store. Thanks!

Much <3

Morning Mantra Cuatro

Mantra Mutt is cross-legged on the ground as a yellow light beams from behind her head

"Meditation doesn't work for me. I don't get it."

Hmm. Did you know that there's no right or wrong way to meditate? Have a listen.

It's been 3 months of Mantras and I felt like the last one was a bit sloppy and rushed. In truth, I was rushing through the mantras as I listened daily. It's time to take a break and remind myself that there's more to it than repetition.

This particular audio file is a bit longer than the previous ones as I discuss the importance of finding space to perform these mantras. Again, this is a personal project and Morning Mantra Cuatro serves as a reminder to myself. In DBT, Linehan talks about the rational mind and the emotional mind. A diagram and explanation can be found here, but imagine one side of your brain is logic and the other is emotion. Now, if I listen to and participate in a Morning Mantra in the rational mind am I going to make progress? So much of my previous mantras have focused my emotional responses to myself and the world around me. It only makes sense that I need to involve that emotional brain. So, how do I do that? This is where meditation and mindfulness come in.

In the beginning of each Morning Mantra, I've attempted to give myself some space. I've tried to breath and meditate my way to that emotional mind. It doesn't work all the time. So, this latest Morning Mantra is a refresher for myself. The audio file starts with my thoughts on why finding this open state of mind is important to my future work with Morning Mantras. Once you've listened, and if you choose to continue doing the exercise, skip to 6:20 in the file to practice. This is what I plan to do.

Morning Mantra Cuatro

If you add the following URL into your favorite podcast app, you should get the Morning Mantras directly to your device without the need to come here and download them.

https://savethis.space/content/audio/?_t=rss

If you have any interest in supporting me, try the support link above, or the store. Thanks!

Much <3.

Morning Mantra Tres

Mantra Mutt hovering and wearing a Santa hat

Change is hard. It takes time. A lot of time.

For Forty-some years, I've punished myself to grow. That is, I put myself down. I called myself names in hopes to create a better me. Some could call it tough love, but that's a misnomer. There's no love here after participating in this pattern of behavior for forty plus years. I may have started out being critical of myself to protect young Chris from ridicule or public failure with a loving intention, but now it's an expectation. So in my mind, I'm a pathetic creature no longer worthy of my own love.

Therefore, it comes at no surprise that these Mantras aren't working. I've failed. Why bother? Once again, my pattern of self-degradation continues. The mantras haven't changed me in two months, so I must be hopeless? Well, forty plus years is greater than two months. Lasting change will take time.

Forgetting my current behavior, if we look at other examples we see that nothing happens as quickly as we think it will. Were you in band? Can you play the guitar? So a week of lessons and you were ready to play during the high school football game or joining a group making platinum records, right? Look at our jobs or parenting, compare today to the first day ever in the role? You know a lot more now. You're experienced, but that didn't happen overnight.

Now, more than ever, I need a reminder that I need patience. Thus, Morning Mantra Tres is a reminder to keep going. Everything that has led me to today was required. It was not good or bad, it just was. That's the acceptance I was working on last month. This isn't easy work. It will take time. I need to stay in the moment, and not get lost in a future where it hasn't worked. I also need to avoid getting lost in the past, wishing I had done things differently. Let's remind ourselves why we're doing this and live with intent.

Remember if this guided meditation-style thing doesn't work, you can try writing out the mantra in a journal. Dr. Nathaniel Branden found that sentence completion exercises worked well at changing behavior for his patients.

If you'd like to download the Morning Mantra instead of coming to this page each morning, right click the following and save it to your device:

Morning Mantra Tres

If you add the following URL into your favorite podcast app, you should get the Morning Mantras directly to your device without the need to come here and download them.

https://savethis.space/content/audio/?_t=rss

If you have any interest in supporting me, try the support link above, or the store. Thanks!

Much <3.