Cradling The Discomfort Within

The storyteller in your head that talks all day long says things like “I like this, I don’t like that” and “I did this right, I did this wrong.” This is your fear-based, dualistic mind and it tries to make you think that you are not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, or skinny enough. When you feel that you are not good enough or right enough or worthy of love, it is a beacon for self-love. 

A friend of mine recently attended Jeff Foster’s 5-day retreat in Boulder, Colorado and she told me that Jeff said to the group, “Whatever is arriving is not here to be healed. It is here to be held.” Can you feel how nurturing this is? I like to use the word cradle rather than held because it feels even more nurturing to me. Cradling whatever it is that is showing up in your life is all about softening your body, giving it space, and then touching it with your heart. Can you cradle the thing you most don’t like about yourself right now inside of you? If you don’t know how to do this, simply say “Life, show me how to cradle whatever it is that is causing me pain (or whatever your challenge is at the moment) and show me how to bring it into my heart.”   

If you are like most people, you try to find love and acceptance outside of yourself, especially your immediate family members. Maybe you just had a conversation with you mother, husband, sister or daughter and you are angry or sad because you feel like this important person in your life doesn’t understand you or can’t give you what you need. It is heartbreaking when you constantly try to get the people in your life to see and hear you. Why? Because it is a never-ending game of struggle. You are the person that needs to cradle the wounded child inside of you. You are the person that can give yourself the love and attention you so desperately need.  

I invite you to begin to notice what is going on in your mind and in your body when you feel like you are not getting what you need emotionally from someone. Ask yourself, “Can I give to myself what I am wanting from this person?” Then put your hand on your heart and ask Life to show you to cradle the one inside of you who so desperately needs your love.

Image – Oil Painting by Sheila Dunn  http://sheiladunnart.com/