Loving Kindness Meditation - Inner Child Healing Meditation #mettameditation #metta #ptsd

Love is a powerful energy that can transform ourselves and others. However, many of us struggle to direct that love inward due to feelings like shame and self-criticism. Vich Nathan talked about healing the inner child within each of us as a key way to give ourselves the love and compassion we need. First, take a moment to subscribe to our channel, acknowledging our efforts, and ensuring you don't miss out on future videos designed to support your well-being. Children need to feel understood, loved, and connected. However, if our fears were ignored or if we were made to feel unworthy, we might continue to disconnect from parts of ourselves as adults. This disconnection often buries painful emotions, keeping us from true healing. The inner child may hold memories of abuse, neglect, and other traumas we endured during childhood. Adverse childhood experiences are traumatic events in a child's life that can have lasting negative effects on our health and well-being. Over time, these experiences lead to post-traumatic stress, migraines, chronic muscle tension, fatigue, and chronic illnesses such as autoimmune diseases and skin conditions. These childhood traumas can impact our capacity for self-love as a result of stress trapped in the body. This is one of the reasons that the following meditation begins by strengthening our heart and mind with the somatic sensations of love and compassion. Healing the inner child within us is the first and most important expression of love and kindness toward ourselves. Then the invitation is to silently offer these words of guided meditation to yourself. Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in. Breathing out, I know that I am breathing out. I bring my kind attention to the in-breath. I bring my kind attention to the out-breath. When we experience our own suffering, the first invitation is to name this experience. In Thich Nhat Hanh's words, we call it by its true name. Whatever arises, you can name it and send it the energy of loving-kindness. You can say, I am experiencing the energy of shame and self-criticism. I put my arms of love around these feelings. Although you are not trying to fix or change anything, the practice of holding your suffering in arms of love will help it to shrink and your self-love to grow. Sometimes though, you may experience that the suffering child is afraid to appear. Sometimes it seems this child is in a lost place. Sometimes the child does not trust you. This is to be expected. You will have to move slowly. You have observed that with children and animals, you shouldn't approach them too quickly. The best method is to let them come to you in their own time. There are several practices from Thich Nhat Hanh's tradition that have helped people build a loving and trusting relationship with the suffering child within. One practice is to have a family altar. On this altar, Thich Nhat Hanh encouraged us to have photographs of ourselves as young children. This practice helps us build a relationship that honors our inner child. The following meditation has helped many people heal from early childhood experiences. Regularly practice this meditation because it provides a kind space for the body, heart, and mind to gently remember. It offers a living space of inclusivity and compassion for childhood memories and all previous experience as you continue to deepen and grow in self-love. Step one, tap your resources of love and support. Thich Nhat Hanh once spoke about cooking up love. He reminded us of how we can use pieces of straw or paper to start a good fire. Our resources for love are the pieces of straw that help us generate the energy of loving kindness. Resources that help us develop self-love include people, places, pets, activities, and beautiful memories that soften our hearts and nourish our gratitude, love, and compassion. In your practice, take a few minutes to recall such a resource deeply. Make it come alive by activating your senses. It is very important to take the time to savor your own resources of love so they are committed to long-term memory. Use all of your senses and anchor these sensations of goodness in your body and mind as you direct the energy of loving kindness toward yourself. Step two, attend to your body. Once we are able to experience the positive sensations of being in touch with our resource, we attend to our body. The first foundation of mindfulness is the body. We love ourself by being connected with our body and recognizing the miracle of our body. Find a place where you can slow down without distraction so that you can be aware of the body and the breath with some degree of comfort. Be thorough in your practice of establishing your posture so that your breath is easeful and you can truly be present. Scan your body, feet to crown, bringing your mindful attention to your entire body with kindness. Invite your body to relax and soften, settling the body, sinking into your cushion or chair. Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us that this is how we keep our appointment with life. He said we stop, we calm, we rest, we heal, and we transform. Sending this mindful energy of kindness to your body is an act of self-love. Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body right here. Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body right here. Aware of body here and now. Breathing in, I see myself as a five-year-old child, fragile and vulnerable. Breathing out, I smile to myself as a five-year-old child. Breathing in, I am aware that the five-year-old child is in me. Breathing out, I hold this child tenderly. Allow as much time as you would like to experience holding this child that is you. When you first practice with the little one inside of you, it takes patience and persistence to connect to the child within. Find your own way that helps you to feel solid and at ease. This meditation will help you to see yourself as a child and experience the very real vulnerability of human beings. We frequently underestimate our resilience and strength as well as our fragility and vulnerability. They are not separate. There is great power and strength in our vulnerability and fragility. Being in touch with vulnerability, while it may not be easy at first, is a powerful opportunity to be in touch with life and our own goodness. In doing so, the hidden divine child within can be healed and strengthened. Honoring the inner child with these lines from a poem. I am here now, waking up in the changing room of my soul's department store. I am becoming what my young self once knew, gazing at stars from the attic window following a yellow and green caterpillar on the sidewalks of Cleveland to new worlds. Blessings on your practice of love.