Have you ever paid attention to the little voice inside of you?
The one that might remind you of your younger self?
No matter how old we grow, we carry our younger selves within us day-to-day.
Caring for this younger version of ourselves is what inner child work is all about.
and are able to fully accept and integrate our subconscious into consciousness.
This means they’re essentially repeating patterns of childhood trauma.
“you’ve got the option to even physically feel how they felt.”
To heal the shame that comes with just having feelings."
By doing so, the positive traits of our inner child have room to shine.
We unlock our natural gifts, our inner curiosity, and our limitless capacity to love.
“When we heal the inner child, we heal generations.
We heal the world.
We literally affect one another; that’s what coregulation is,” Phillips says.
In these present moments, we can create a new relationship with our inner child.
Use all five senses to check in with our body.
We can do this by taking three conscious deep breaths.
It can help to place one hand on your belly and chest.
As you settle in, note one thing you see.
One thing you smell.
One thing you hear.
One thing you taste.
One thing you feel.
Collect something
Remember how it felt like to collect things as a child?
This isn’t for any practical reason, but we do this for the pure experience.
Not sure what to collect?
Many of us as adults collect books.
Good news is, you don’t have to read them to find joy in having them!
Practice visualization
The process ofvisualizationis a great way to connect to your inner child.
Visualizations help us tap into our imagination and senses.
When first starting out, guided visualizations can be most helpful.
it’s possible for you to start with the one provided by Berrymanhere.
It can look like sitting down and simply asking your inner child how they’re feeling today.
The key is honoring your inner child’s perception of their own experiences without filtering or correcting them.
If you’d like guidance in creating that safe space, here are self-parentingjournaling promptsto start you off.
When you’re ready to go deeper, here are moreinner child healing exercisesto explore.
