Our Inner Feral Child

A feral child (also called wild child) is a youngster who has lived with little socialization and guidance from adults. A feral child may have been neglected or abandoned, or may have suffered severe abuse or trauma and run away. A feral child may live under the influence of an exploiting adult, even in the home of a parent. Some feral children live with other such children, finding shelter in abandoned buildings, hustling to survive.

Our inner feral child is a part of oneself that is imaginative, expressive and creative, but also unencumbered by social rules. It can be impulsive and defiant, argumentative and disrespectful of authority. It generally doesn't accept guidance, abhors boundaries and can be self-centered and selfish. It takes risks and may be oblivious to danger. An inner feral child develops in an environment that offers little guidance and support. Indeed, it finds little connection with the adults in its environment. It can feel isolated, neglected and even abused. When confronting authority, it may show trauma responses: fight, flight or freeze, even all three.

But children are normally imaginative, creative and expressive. And 'yes,' they need to learn social rules like sharing, participating in group activities and being kind to others. When raised in an authoritative environment with ample freedom to discover and develop competence and confidence, the inner free-range child manifests its true nature, its instinctual intelligence and deep connection with the natural environment. It feels like an old soul within us, animating us on our dharmic and spiritual paths.

The free-range child is the civilized version of the feral child. So, when the feral child grows into the adult world and the energy that makes them fight against authority gets diminished, the result is a transformation into a free-range child.

In our webinar, we’ll be joined by singer/song-writer Tess Posner in exploring what a feral child is and how it develops within us. We will watch her music video of her song "Feral Child." And we will see how a feral child transforms into a free-range child through unconditional love, empathy, trust, opportunity and acceptance.

In the Group Clearing® session, we will find our inner feral child, say 'hello' to it and offer it unconditional love and acceptance so that it can feel supported, learn to trust us and find the space within us to express its creativity and joy. We will also attend to the part within us that fears and suppresses the spontaneity and unboundedness of the inner feral child. 

Please register to join the webinar by videoconferencing or by phone.