Honoring the Child Within

  I have often heard the expression, 'honoring the inner child', but one of the interesting things about spiritual practice is that it can often evoke feelings of helplessness, similar to what I have often felt when I was a very young child. Without the symbolic patterning of beliefs and thought systems to buffer us, meditative and spiritual practices might have a tendency to bring out the vulnerable aspects of one's being, often in a way that might even leave a person feeling unprepared. While some spiritual traditions might say that this vulnerability to suffering is a healthy part of spirituality, I sometimes wonder if it doesn't throw us back from time to time to the feelings of childhood, where  a lack of control or sense of control can be quite terrifying.
  Having alone time to understand one's feelings and to tap into the evoked sense of childhood seems an essential part of spiritual practice. Without the ability to self-soothe or reassure the child parts of oneself that things are okay, there can be times when the going is quite rough. I suppose that the general rule of thumb is to know that there are a great many aspects to one's being and personality, and meditative practice might have a tendency to stir up a great deal of emotions and mental states that are unexpected or unexplainable. It's also important to have a personal space and narrative, and not to get overwhelmed.
   For sure, I am definitely afraid of being swallowed up and not having the ability to be by myself to reflect on what I truly think and feel about things. I think that part of this comes from the childhood fear of not having one's own unique needs and wishes fulfilled or acknowledged by others, and not really being heard in any significant way. But if I myself have the time and space on my own to recognize my wishes or needs, I can at least provide myself the psychic space to acknowledge unmet needs and wishes, as well as to soothe the anxieties that I have around not being acknowledged for what I need in life.