Shakti Gawain is a pioneer in the field of personal development. For over twenty-five years, she has been a best-selling author and internationally renowned teacher of consciousness. Shakti has facilitated thousands of individuals in developing greater awareness, balance and wholeness in their lives.
Shakti has written numerous books considered classics in her field. Her distinguished publishing history includes best sellers Creative Visualization, Living in the Light, The Path of Transformation, Four Levels of Healing, Creating True Prosperity, and Developing Intuition. Her books have sold over 10 million copies and have been translated into more than thirty languages. She is the co-founder, with Marc Allen, of New World Library Publishing Company. More...
——— Daily Reading • July 5 ———
from Awakening: A Daily Guide To Conscious Living by Shakti Gawain
Addiction equals need for love
The child in us has certain basic needs – for love, emotional and physical contact, respect, and self-expression. If these needs weren‘t fully met in childhood (as they seldom were), we develop certain behaviors to try to nurture our inner child. Our addictive patterns are actually unconscious and misguided attempts to care for our child. Through overeating, drinking alcohol, smoking, or taking drugs, we try to nourish the child, numb its pain, and make it feel better for a little while, or through overworking ourselves or caretaking others we try to gain validation from others and a feeling of security.
Of course if doesn‘t work very well because it’s not taking care of the child’s real needs and it’s terribly destructive to our bodies and psyches. What works is to stop the addictive behavior so we can get in touch with what the child really needs, then take steps to begin providing it.
Am I using any addictive ways to nurture my inner child?