Nebulustrix
Silver Member
Since coming to this site, I've seen many references to the "inner child" and other's relationship with their inner child or uses relating to him/her during therapeutic sessions. As I thought about this, I started wondering if I was personally lacking something somewhere, as I don't feel any connection whatsoever to an inner child. So, I started doing some research, following a trail starting with a basic explanation on the concept of the inner child, stepping into Jungian psychology, and ending with something I found very interesting - Ancient Huna.
Ancient Huna is the psychological studies, teachings, and beliefs of the ancient Hawaiians. According to Huna, we each develop three selves or minds within four bodies. First is our physical body, which houses the other bodies and selves, and which - I think - can be related to the inner child, as this must develop first through puberty before the selves can begin developing and maturing. This also explains my apparent lack of connection to an inner child - because my development to this point was healthy.
Next, the unconscious mind begins maturing within the development of the emotional body. This is the basic instinctive mind which manages all our subconscious actions like heart rate, digestion, etc, and our instinctive emotional responses to things - our fight or flight instinct. Those who do not fully develop this mind/body will often experience dissociation and have difficulty expressing their emotions.
The second mind is the conscious, housed within the mental body. This is where abstract reasoning and thought takes place and decisions are made. Many never fully mature in this area, focusing more on their physical urges and desires from the unconscious mind and the emotional body. And there are others who tend to develop their mental body at a faster rate than the emotional, causing an imbalance that can result in social awkwardness.
The third mind is the higher conscious, housed within the spiritual body. This is not directly connected to the conscious and communicates only through it's direct link with the subconscious or a sort of "seeping" that is related to feelings of goose-bumps or inspiration. Typically, people do not begin developing the higher conscious without first achieving some level of maturity with the unconscious and conscious minds, and a desire and focus on this development is often characterized by a "spiritual awakening", sometimes attributed to a crisis or trauma.
I relate to this SO MUCH! Everything I've read and keep reading about this Huna concept just seems to make so much sense, especially in relation to my own personal development and the halt my trauma brought to my unconscious/emotional self. My emotional body already had an abnormally slow development, while my mental body went through an accelerated growth. This led to me dealing with bouts of depression, lack of self-worth, and social awkwardness with my peers. Then, my emotional body started getting some real development with the friendships and relationships I developed I college, but was damaged, hurt, and stunted by the abusive relationship that caused my PTSD.
The same trauma that stunted my emotional development also awoke my desire to pursue the development of my higher conscious, and I have since been very involved in religious studies and discussions, and more active and committed to my church. Developing my higher conscious has helped me cope with my PTSD and put it into remission, but I cannot overcome/heal it without returning to the development of my emotional self. There will always be an imbalance to my selves if I cannot revisit my emotional body, my unconscious self/mind and heal it with healthy development.
Ancient Huna is the psychological studies, teachings, and beliefs of the ancient Hawaiians. According to Huna, we each develop three selves or minds within four bodies. First is our physical body, which houses the other bodies and selves, and which - I think - can be related to the inner child, as this must develop first through puberty before the selves can begin developing and maturing. This also explains my apparent lack of connection to an inner child - because my development to this point was healthy.
Next, the unconscious mind begins maturing within the development of the emotional body. This is the basic instinctive mind which manages all our subconscious actions like heart rate, digestion, etc, and our instinctive emotional responses to things - our fight or flight instinct. Those who do not fully develop this mind/body will often experience dissociation and have difficulty expressing their emotions.
The second mind is the conscious, housed within the mental body. This is where abstract reasoning and thought takes place and decisions are made. Many never fully mature in this area, focusing more on their physical urges and desires from the unconscious mind and the emotional body. And there are others who tend to develop their mental body at a faster rate than the emotional, causing an imbalance that can result in social awkwardness.
The third mind is the higher conscious, housed within the spiritual body. This is not directly connected to the conscious and communicates only through it's direct link with the subconscious or a sort of "seeping" that is related to feelings of goose-bumps or inspiration. Typically, people do not begin developing the higher conscious without first achieving some level of maturity with the unconscious and conscious minds, and a desire and focus on this development is often characterized by a "spiritual awakening", sometimes attributed to a crisis or trauma.
I relate to this SO MUCH! Everything I've read and keep reading about this Huna concept just seems to make so much sense, especially in relation to my own personal development and the halt my trauma brought to my unconscious/emotional self. My emotional body already had an abnormally slow development, while my mental body went through an accelerated growth. This led to me dealing with bouts of depression, lack of self-worth, and social awkwardness with my peers. Then, my emotional body started getting some real development with the friendships and relationships I developed I college, but was damaged, hurt, and stunted by the abusive relationship that caused my PTSD.
The same trauma that stunted my emotional development also awoke my desire to pursue the development of my higher conscious, and I have since been very involved in religious studies and discussions, and more active and committed to my church. Developing my higher conscious has helped me cope with my PTSD and put it into remission, but I cannot overcome/heal it without returning to the development of my emotional self. There will always be an imbalance to my selves if I cannot revisit my emotional body, my unconscious self/mind and heal it with healthy development.
