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In speaking about how to be more compassionate with yourself and your sadness,grief, or anger, Thich Nhat Hanh often speaks about holding yourself as if you were a baby, with that degree of gentleness and tenderness.
“When your child, your baby suffers and cries you as the mother [or father] go
to the room of your baby and the first thing you do is to pick your baby up
and you hold your baby tenderly in your two arms. You do not know what
is the cause of the suffering of your baby, but the fact that you pick up
your baby and hold him or her tenderly in your arms, can already bring a
relief. Your anger, your fear, your violence, you don’t know yet what is the
nature of it, the roots of it, but if you know how to generate the energy of
mindfulness and concentration and recognize it and embrace it tenderly
with the practice of mindful breathing mindful walking you can bring relief
to your yowling baby which is your anger, your fear or your despair.”
http://www.awakeningheartsangha.org/dharma08_22_03.pdf
Related to this idea, I was recently at a training where one of the members shared that he keeps a childhood photo of himself on his meditation alter. This seems like a wonderful reminder to us all that we carry that younger part of ourselves with us into to each day. It is perhaps a reminder that we may heal the wounds of that younger self, to offer now to meet the needs of that younger part of ourselves that might not have been met as a child. It is a reminder to practice forgiveness with those people in our early lives who might have been unable or unwilling, for whatever reasons, to meet those needs. It is an opportunity to reclaim, to remember, or to for the first time invite playfulness, creativity, and spontenaiety into our lives.
How do you invite your child part into your life? What are challenges you face? How do you feel both alive and safe in the world?
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