conversations with myself exercise

Living From the Heart A journey into

authentic relationship

with self, others and God.

Exercises Workbook

Living from the Heart Misa Leonessa Garavaglia Copyright- all rights reserved

Instructions for Letter to Myself and Conversations with Myself Exercises

It is not unusual for us to have hidden, inner children that need love and attention as a result of child-

hood trauma. As we are able to welcome these parts of ourselves into the open and develop relationship

with them they can heal and learn to thrive. The purpose of these two exercises is to create a safe place for

your inner child to express feelings and make a healthy connection with your adult, good parent.

In the Letter to Myself exercise, it is important to let that little part know that you know what they

have suffered and recognize the effects of that abuse on them. Naming the abuse gives them permission to

talk about it. Next, consider what impact your own attitude and behavior has had upon this inner child. Did

you ignore him/her? Did you deny or disbelieve the memories that this part has been carrying all these

years? Did you even reject or abandon this little part? Take the time to admit your previous response to the

little one and ask for forgiveness. This sets the stage for building trust between your good parent and your

inner child. Then welcome the child to come and share whatever he/she has to share with you, promising

not to judge or condemn, but to listen, receive his/her truth, and love the child. I have included a sample Let-

ter to Myself to give you an idea of how it can be used, but let your intuition and heart guide your own

unique invitation to your wounded one.

Now it’s time to begin your Conversations with Myself journal. You’ll notice on the sample journal I

have included that I have written mine by hand. I encourage you to try this as hand writing connects with

places in the brain differently than typing. Some people even like to write the child responses with their non-

dominant hand. I have purposely left the child’s column wider so as to encourage the majority of the conver-

sation to come from him/her. The parent may have occasion to reframe or do some teaching, as I have in my

example, but our first job is to listen, receive, and love the little one. Creating that space to hold their

thoughts, feelings and memories with respect, honor, and compassion gives our wounded inner children the

opportunity to build trust and communicate authentically without worry of rejection or condemnation- often

the opposite of his/her previous experience.

In my journal provided here, I addressed the issue of trust in an everyday, “teachable” moment. This

has been quite a challenging healing issue for me and I have had to readdress in many times in many differ-

ent situations. Don’t be discouraged if you have done healing work in a particular area but find that it didn’t

“take” in all parts of your brain. It is quite common for parts of a traumatized brain to not be able to access

what other parts of your brain know. Be patient and kind, as you would be with your own child. What is

most important is that you create a time and space for your inner child to share whatever he/she needs to

share and be able to build a healing partnership with your healthy adult self.

You may consider making these conversations a weekly, or even daily habit as you create a secure

shelter for your inner little one to thrive in. If the exercise isn’t working for you, let it go and perhaps come

back to it at another time when you feel ready. I hope this is a blessing!

Misa Leonessa Life Coaching Email: [email protected] Website: www.misacoach.com

831.335.1265

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.misacoach.com

A Letter to Myself Dear_____________,

I know that you have suffered during the last________ years, more than I was ever aware of.

You suffered___________________ at the hands of_____________________

and ____________________________________________ from________________________

and _____________________ from_______________________ (you can add more on the back)

You have been treated ________________________and then you have been ______________

and ______________________________________and _______________________________.

Worst of all, I (ignored you, rejected you, didn’t believe you…)

________________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

I have failed to be the good inner parent that you needed. I am asking for your forgiveness now.

Now, I am learning (how to be a good parent and a good friend, etc…) ____________________

______________________________________________________________________________

I commit myself to be the parent you have always needed.

I invite you to come and talk to me.

I make the commitment to listen, without judgment. I will not reject you.

I invite you to speak and be heard, to become fully known and know that you are fully loved.

From,

_______________________

Dated

_________________


831.335.1265




The Good Parent The Wounded Child

Conversations with Myself



831.335.1265





831.335.1265



These exercises have been provided free of charge

for the benefit of Beyond Abuse Radio listeners.

I ask that you use them with wisdom and compassion f

or your inner child and that you

give credit to the author if you choose to share them with others.

If you would like guidance with these

and other exercises in trauma healing,

feel free to contact me about

becoming part of the

Living from the Heart journey

or entering into one on one coaching

or spiritual direction.

I work with people by skype,

phone, or in person.

Misa Leonessa Life Coaching Email: [email protected]

Website: www.misacoach.com

Phone: 831.335.1265

