Mindfulness and the Inner Child
It is a beauty of mindfulness, practised over time, that you get to create a space sometimes between your thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and YOU, the observer. You can then start to notice patterns that are worth investigating.
I think most people accept that your early experiences set the course for your habits, how you view relationships, develop your values. Much of this process is deep-rooted and unconscious, so that, when it emerges into consciousness sometimes, it can sideswipe you.
Many of the things that trigger different emotions in you are perfectly understandable: physical danger, abuse, disrespect are appropriately responded to with feelings of anger, aversion. Beauty, kindness and love prompt feelings of contentment, pleasure, joy.
However, you may find yourself reacting to a situation, another person, an event, with a powerful feeling that swamps you like a tidal wave, out of proportion to the actual cause. Chances are, your wounded inner child has been triggered, and this can be an opportunity to explore what exactly she is trying to tell you.
I will be writing more about Inner Child work…