Lillian Murray on Intuitive Parenting, Play, and Trusting Your Gut
- The Human Array
- Nov 14
- 4 min read
Today’s blog post was inspired by a recent episode of The Great Connect podcast, where The Human Array founder Carrie Allen sat down with life and health coach Lillian Murray to talk about what it really means to parent from intuition—not instruction.
In this heartfelt and honest conversation, Lillian shares her journey from “do what the doctor says” parenting to trusting her own inner knowing—first as a young mother navigating survival mode, and now as a grandmother learning to listen more deeply than ever.
Her story is one of reclamation: of the body’s wisdom, the child’s voice, and the simple truth that presence beats perfection every time.
From Survival Mode to Self-Trust
Like many parents, Lillian’s early years were a blur of exhaustion and doing her best to follow the rules.
But something in her body kept whispering that the rules didn’t always make sense.
I was in survival mode a lot of the time with my boys—and they're six years apart. So many lessons in between. —Lillian Murray
When her doctor pushed for an early induction, she felt the deep, intuitive “no”—but didn’t yet know how to trust it. That experience planted a seed that would grow into her life’s work: helping others reclaim the right to listen to their own wisdom.
Parenting, she says, is the ultimate initiation into intuition.
It teaches you that no expert can know your body—or your child—better than you can.
The Art of Deep Listening
If there’s one practice Lillian returns to again and again, it’s listening.
Not just to words, but to energy, emotion, and what often goes unsaid.
Really listening to these kids is what I feel like I'm learning to do a lot more of—especially with my grandchildren. I feel like I have a little bit of a second chance. —Lillian Murray
She reminds us that kids are constantly communicating through play, behavior, and subtle cues—but most adults are too overstimulated to notice.
Deep listening, she says, isn’t about fixing. It’s about presence.
When we slow down enough to hear, children teach us how to return to curiosity—and how to heal our own inner child in the process.
Rebellion as Healing
Often described as a “rebel,” Lillian once saw her resistance to authority as something to fix.
Now she sees it as one of her greatest gifts.
I was always called rebellious—and now, I totally embrace it. It's how so many things are being birthed in my life in my 50s. —Lillian Murray
In a culture that glorifies compliance, especially for women and mothers, advocating for your body, your family, or your intuition can feel radical.
But rebellion, in Lillian’s view, is really just another word for self-advocacy.
It’s saying, “This doesn’t feel right,” and giving yourself permission to choose differently.
That’s not defiance—it’s discernment.
Play as Medicine
Lillian’s coaching work—and her personal philosophy—centers on one simple, powerful truth: play is not optional.
Play, play, play. Modeling playing with kids and taking time off from, not just the phone—but not bringing so much work home in general. I don't think we were meant to work so hard... that we don't remember anything light and lovely and playful. —Lillian Murray
Play restores nervous system balance.
It reconnects us to joy, creativity, and each other. And in a world that praises productivity, play might just be the most rebellious act of all.
For Lillian, play is a pathway to presence.
It helps both adults and children regulate, communicate, and remember that life isn’t meant to be endured—it’s meant to be lived.
Intuitive Parenting, Grandparenting, and the Next Generation
Now, watching her son parent his own children, Lillian feels a deep shift.
The lessons she once struggled to learn are coming full circle.
Watching my son be a father has completely shifted, changed, and rocked my world. —Lillian Murray
She sees today’s parents navigating a new kind of chaos—screens, schedules, overstimulation—but also a new opportunity: to break cycles of disconnection.
Her message to them is simple:
You don’t need to know everything. You just need to stay curious, stay grounded, and remember that kids often know what they need better than we do.
This, she says, is the essence of intuitive parenting—trusting your gut, trusting your child, and trusting the process.
Coming Home to Yourself
For Lillian, holistic parenting isn’t about perfection. It’s about presence.
It’s about remembering that intuition is our birthright—and that it’s never too late to rebuild that relationship with ourselves.
We shouldn’t be burning out and have caregiver fatigue in our 30s, 40s, and 50s. —Lillian Murray
Her story reminds us that healing doesn’t just happen in clinics or coaching sessions—it happens at the kitchen table, in the playroom, in the quiet moments when we choose connection over control.
Connect with Lillian
Lillian Murray is a holistic life and wellness coach, sound alchemist, and Human Array Catalyst. Through her work at Respite Play, she guides individuals and groups in nervous system regulation, creative restoration, and community-centered healing.
As midwife to transformation and keeper of joyful community, Lillian helps you pause, play, and rise into your radiant self.
Her approach weaves science, spirit, and soul—helping you slow down, soften, and return to the harmony that fuels true abundance.
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