A lot of who I am today is as a direct result of my childhood experinces. I find myself going into protective mode when I am in the presence of someone I don’t ultimately trust. On this episode of What I Wish My Mother Taught Me, my guest Jana Wilson, author of Wise Little One: Learning to Love and Listen to My Inner Child . As an emotional healing educator, meditation teacher, retreat leader, public speaker, hypnotherapist, and the founder of the Emotional Healing System, Jana Wilson has helped thousands heal from the pain of their past.
The Inner Child Living Inside All of Us
Our inner child is a part of ourselves that’s been present with us from birth; the inner child is with us through all of our development years, baby, infant, toddler, young child and middle school year.
The inner child holds emotions, memories and beliefs from the past as well as hopes and dreams for the future. It can often recall good experiences as well as childhood fears, traumas, abandonment or significant loss. Exploration of the inner child can help us to notice patterns in our lives and the gensis of what makes us who we are and how our daily lives are impacted by past experiences.
Meet Jana Wilson
A victim of childhood abuse and trauma, Jana Wilson could have wound up another statistic. Yet, at the age of twelve, she had a mystical experience that catapulted her on a life-long journey of learning to listen and love herself. In her breakout prescriptive memoir Wise Little One, we follow Jana as she develops a connection to her inner child.
How to connect with Your Inner Child
When we’re in a state of chaos and you’ve got this busy household and you know, you don’t have your free time. So what you would want to do is find a spot where you could have, you know, five or 10 minutes and you would go within closing your eyes and you would envision yourself as a little girl, you’ll see yourself as a little girl and you’ll see her and she’s i expressing what you are feeling in this moment.
- Step one, you’re leaning into the feeling, identifying the feeling.
- Step two, you see the little girl and you start dialogue with the child. So you say to the little child “is this reminding you something maybe from childhood or, you know, is something coming up that you want to share with me”? Maybe she tells you, you’re just putting my feelings last and putting everybody else first. Right. Being a caretaker for everybody else and not taking care of me. And I don’t like it. And she’s wanting to like communicate that to you.
- Step three, you ask spiritual guidance to resolve the expereinces being expressed by your inner child. Ask yourself, what is the false belief that’s having me treat myself this way?
How Meditation Helps with Childhood Trauma
Jana highlights the significance of meditation in helping individuals become more aware of their thoughts. The purpose of meditation is not to completely stop thinking, but rather to cultivate mindfulness and the ability to recognize when the mind becomes overwhelmed by thoughts. The Jana uses the analogy of thoughts being like a group of monkeys jumping around in one’s head, illustrating the chaotic and distracting nature of our thoughts.
Listeners are encouraged to start practicing meditation, emphasizing that some people may find it challenging to quiet their minds; but Jana shares a personal experience where she was advised that meditation is about finding stillness and silence within oneself. This suggests that even amidst the chaos of daily life, taking a few minutes of quiet time and turning inward can be highly beneficial.
By regularly practicing meditation, we can develop the ability to observe our thoughts without becoming entangled in them. This awareness allows for a moment of pause, where one can choose to return to the present moment and regain focus. The emphasis on meditation during our conversation as a foundational practice implies that meditation can serve as a powerful tool for self-awareness and personal growth.
Finding Stillness in Silence
The Jana recommends meditation as a starting point for listeners, emphasizing its importance and dispelling the notion that it is overly difficult. Drawing from her own experience as a teacher, Jana highlights the significance of meditation in finding stillness and silence. She reminds us that the purpose of meditation is not to stop thinking, but rather to become aware when one becomes lost in thought. By strengthening the muscle of awareness, we can recognize when our thoughts are overpowering and bring ourselves back to the present moment.
Wild Little One
The Whild Little One aims to inspire individuals to create a life they love by taking self-responsibility. Having been engaged in this work for 19 years and conducting emotional healing retreats since 2004, Jana initially intended the book to be a memoir but realized its purpose was to inspire others.
Jana hopes that regardless of their childhood experiences, people can create a fulfilling life by taking responsibility for their own actions. Jana emphasizes that blaming others, such as parents, exes, or the government, is unproductive, and individuals need to take charge of their own lives. The book seeks to share Jana’s personal story and vulnerability to inspire others to attend her retreats and undergo life-changing transformations. Overall Jana aims to empower individuals to take control of their lives and cultivate a joyful and fulfilling existence.
Thanks for exploring this topic with me
Idara
