The Child within Remembers: An Inner Child Healing Poem

After a recent session focusing on inner child healing, a client of mine wrote this beautiful poem. I received permission from her to share it, because I think it so powerfully captures the process of working with old imprints, shining light on how they are affecting us today, and treating them with the healing balm of understanding, attention, and love.

THE CHILD WITHIN REMEMBERS

Hiding as a form of protection

Protection from a current threat or

From an experience once lived.

The body remembers

Sending one back to that time, that place, and

That response.

Not fully knowing that the threat

No longer exists.

A response, behavior is learned

As a young child

Who is trying to survive.

She’s protecting herself from what she

Once knew to be harmful,

Unsafe, and unwanted.

The child within remembers.

She remembers the pain, the suffering and

At times returns to that state.

Shutting down, disconnecting, scared, and

All she is trying to do now is

Protect herself from reliving that trauma.

She remembers the threat and what it felt like

As a young girl, so she goes

Into hiding.

Silencing her voice.

Freezing, numbing out, and releasing thy

Self from an unimaginable past.

Triggered by the slightest

Tone, eye contact, and phrase,

Or worse yet . . . by love and attention.

Which is what she has longed for,

For so long . . .

Love, connection, and being seen

Sending her into hiding, uncovering

What she has hidden from herself and others

For protection.

She goes inward

To the little girl that survived.

A little girl who is scared, angry,

Resentful, and uncertain of how to love and

How to trust.

The little girl who has held onto so much

To protect herself and others.

Is now given the freedom to release,

Express, and begin to know the

Little girl who blesses life with joy,

Happiness, laughter, and love.

Who speaks clearly, is heard, and seen.

Who no longer hides and instead

Shines brightly and radiantly.

This little girl is beginning to come out

Of hiding in darkness,

entering and filling with light.

Surrounded by love allows her to practice

Receiving and offering love.

She feels a sense of relief, less tension

Held in her body.

Beginning to speak her truth where before

She was scared and frozen

To speak her words.

This little girl who was once trapped in hiding

Allows herself to emerge and be seen.

Learning how to connect, love, and speak

Her truth.

She ebbs and flows through this

Journey as she discovers her triggers,

Moves through the uncomfortable,

And acknowledges the hurt, pain, and

Suffering she once experienced.

Discovering that she no longer to

Feel and be a victim.

She begins to believe she too gets to be

Safe, free, and loved.

—Kelly Raynes Joy

Your Inner Child Healing Poem

How is your inner child doing? What do you know about them -- how they look, how they feel, what they've been through, what they are becoming? Leave your own poem in the comments.

Listen to a free audio meditation to connect with your inner child, or learn more about our approach to healing trauma.

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Emma Sartwell, MDiv, CYT | Emma holds a Master of Divinity from Naropa University and is a registered psychotherapist. She combines Somatic Experiencing, parts work, holistic healing, and mindfulness into her sessions, which focus on nervous system regulation, trauma integration, attachment patterning, inner critics and inner children, and ancestral healing. Her deepest joy is helping people feel more integrated, authentic, and connected.