Healing Our Inner Child: Pathways to Embrace Our Suffering (Episode #10)

Welcome to episode ten of The Way Out Is In: The Zen Art of Living, a podcast series mirroring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s deep teachings of Buddhist philosophy: a simple yet profound methodology for dealing with our suffering, and for creating more happiness and joy in our lives.
In this episode, presenters Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and lay Buddhist practitioner and journalist Jo Confino are joined by special guest Zen Buddhist nun Sister Sinh Nghiem (Adornment with Liveliness). Together, they look deeply into healing childhood wounds.

All three further discuss: inner healing, from healing the child within to collective healing and how to face our challenges, traumas and suffering to find a way through; the possibility of transformation and healing past relationships; the original fear.

Brother Phap Huu expands upon: the importance of understanding the source of inner wounds in order to start healing them; Thich Nhat Hanh’s teachings on childhood traumas; the Four Noble Truths; his own experience of being bullied as a child and its consequences; understanding and compassion for those we think are responsible for our suffering; apologizing and forgiveness; stopping the cycle of hate.
Sister Sinh Nghiem shares insights about: her journey to becoming a nun, from escaping Vietnam on a boat with her family after the war, to her career as a psychologist, and finding Thay through another teacher in the Theravada tradition; how the practice of mindfulness helped her deal with abuse suffered as a child; healing her inner child after she became a monastic. She also discusses specific spiritual practices that helped her healing process, like reconnecting with the body, and mindful movement.
Jo recollects a workshop by John Bradshaw on healing the inner child and the deep experience of transformation. He further muses on childhood and creative visualization, defense mechanisms, and the importance of understanding the context of our parents’ lives.

Finally, Brother Phap Huu ends the episode with a guided meditation on generating love for our own selves.

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Co-produced by the Plum Village App:
https://plumvillage.app/

And Global Optimism:
https://globaloptimism.com/

With support from the Thich Nhat Hanh Foundation:
https://thichnhathanhfoundation.org/

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List of resources

Plum Village Community
https://plumvillage.org/
The Inner Child (short guided meditation)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zauJYihF2fQ

Stream Entering Monastery
https://plumvillage.org/practice-centre/stream-entering-monastery/

John Bradshaw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bradshaw_(author)

Theravada tradition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theravada

Understanding Our Father
https://plumvillage.org/articles/understanding-our-father/

The Four Noble Truths
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy-RI3FrdGA

‘The 16 Exercises of Mindful Breathing’
https://plumvillage.org/library/songs/the-16-exercises-of-mindful-breathing/

Qigong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qigong

Tai chi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_chi

Engaged Buddhism
https://plumvillage.org/series/engaged-buddhism/

Quotes

“I’ve always been very impressed with Thich Nhat Hanh because he has integrated the very depths of Buddhist teachings with Western psychology. And he focuses a lot of his teachings on healing our childhood wounds, and that the wounds we receive as children tend to stick with us throughout our lives.”

“In Buddhism, we always practice in order to have liberation – but liberation has to be the liberation of something. Much of the time, as an adult, we want to understand our suffering. And in Buddhism, we have to shine light into the reality of what is hap...