The journey that a butterfly takes to arrive at beauty and lightness first travels through a very sticky, dark place. I was reminded of that recently when someone suggested to me that guided meditation and inner child meditation can be harmful. I pondered that idea for a while, because I am steered by ethics around doing no harm. It was the first time in decades anyone had suggested such a thing to me.
I came to the conclusion that some people confuse discomfort for harm. And mistake comfort for healing. There are times when comfort is healing, certainly; maybe most of the time. But I know for myself that if I'm stuck in an old pattern which doesn't serve me, I may have to travel back to the source of that pattern to heal it. That travel might include the pain of dredging up old memories.
The difference between guided meditation and other shamanic techniques I employ , and some talk therapies, is that we bring up old memories to heal and release them. Not to repeat them over and over again like mantras. I believe in the transformational nature of this work, and I also believe that people who aren't willing to face their uncomfortable pieces of the past are not going to achieve much in the way of healing.
Certainly, there is a place for focusing on today, on our practices and habits and goals in the present. That can be very healing. But a decision to never look back is not healing; it is a covering up of pain and trauma that will only encourage it to fester. There needs to be balance in these things; celebrating current strengths, looking forward, catching ourselves up from the past.
If part of you is still crying out at being left ignored, alone, and unloved at age 3, that part of you needs attention. It may not be comfortable, but it is infinitely healing.
Feel free to share your thoughts on this.
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