Chapter 4, Me Myself and Denise

Connecting with my inner child was the first real step in my emotional healing.

See, emotions don’t just happen—they come from thoughts, from our perception of living in this world. And that perception? It starts forming the moment we arrive here (honestly, even before—but that’s for another blog).

Children don’t have the ability to analyze situations like adults do. Their logic isn’t fully developed until around age 25 (yep, twenty-five!). But from the moment they’re born, they’re absorbing everything at lightning speed—every sound, every facial expression, every shift in energy. Their survival depends on it.

A child learns how to navigate the world based on:

👀 How their parents’ eyes flicker with frustration

🤨 A sigh that sounds just a little too heavy

🚶‍♂️ The way someone’s body stiffens in response to them

🤐 The words not spoken

They are masters of reading energy—like tiny emotional ninjas. They don’t need full sentences or explanations. They just know when something feels off.

And at the core of everything, a child wants just one thing:

➡ To feel safe.

They need to know:

✔ What’s expected of them

✔ Where they fit in

✔ What they need to do to be accepted

And the moment they don’t feel safe? Boom—straight into protection mode. Their nervous system records every moment of uncertainty, every feeling of rejection, every silent lesson about what makes them worthy of love. And they carry those lessons—whether true or not—deep inside their subconscious for the rest of their lives.

Unless they go back and rewrite the script.

The reason my inner child avatar technique worked so well?

Simple—I used logic.

And logic is my thing.

I need to understand the why behind things. If I don’t have a solid framework, I can’t buy into it. So instead of trying to “soothe” my younger self with vague affirmations (which, let’s be honest, my logical brain would have dismissed immediately), I took a different approach.

I let mature Denise be the guide. I coached little Denise like I would coach my own students and I reprogrammed her.

And over time, something incredible happened.

Little Denise learned to trust Auntie Del.

She knew I would be there every single time she needed me—without fail. She didn’t have to wonder. She didn’t have to earn my presence. I just showed up.

And because she trusted Auntie Del, I started trusting myself.

A few months in, I noticed a shift.

I wasn’t just connecting with my inner child—I was falling in love with her.

Something inside me switched. The same fierce, protective love I had for my own kids came rushing in. But this time, there was one major difference.

With my children, I had to let them grow up. Let them go. Let them stumble, struggle, learn, and become their own people.

With Little Denise —I didn’t have to let go.

I could go into full-blown protection mode forever.

And I did.

For years, I kept using this technique. Every time I felt triggered, I checked in with her. Every time I felt uncertain, I reassured her. Every time I needed strength, I would program in confidence.

And then…

Something incredible happened.

One day, while I was out on a walk, a voice popped into my head.

"Hey, Denise."

It wasn’t Little Denise.

It wasn’t Auntie Del.

It was… someone else.

I recognized the energy immediately, but it took me a second to understand what was happening.

I was now connected to my Higher Self, and the true birth of my spiritual expansion…..