I’m sure that at some point in life, you’ve heard the term “inner child” but what does this term mean to you? For most, it means the childlike, magical, and playful part hiding within our being. For those doing internal healing it means something much more complex. Spiritually speaking the inner child is the aspect of you that still needs to be nurtured, consoled, healed, and disciplined.
Psychology Today explains the inner-child not just as a spiritual piece of ourselves but an actual component of our mentality (metaphorically speaking). It seems that the medical and the metaphysical fields found something they can agree on when it comes to the inner child!
Working with our Inner Child to heal certain pain points and patterns actually allow us to function better as “real adults”.
So many adults have problems with commitment, structure, and emotions. Instead of sitting on the floor and throwing a temper tantrum like our toddlers do the adult side of us may get angry, erratic, or visit the local bar to blow off some steam.
How can we heal ourselves and truly embody our adult lives if we are still subconsciously suffering from the wounds or patterns that we took on as children?
As I mentioned in this article, sometimes healing means that we have to shine a light on what we do not wish to see. Inner Child work is a large part of the soul healing process and spirit has brought to my attention just how important it actually is.
Recently, a long-term coaching client and I had prepared to focus our session on discussing the inner child. As usual, I invited in our spirit teams to help us understand better. I asked them to tell us what we needed to know, show us what we needed to see, and expand upon anything that we were missing.
Neither of us had any idea of what was to come. Their messages left us both shocked, in tears, and speechless – in the best way possible of course. As it turns out, we both had much more inner work to do than we realized.
Below are a few ways to begin working with your inner child
Your inner child is a piece of you but when working with him/her it’s easier to think of her as your own tiny child. Someone that needs to be nurtured, loved, forgiven, and even given boundaries and structure.
There are certain things that we should be saying to our inner child and one of them is I love you. Each day we should be loving and nurturing our inner child by the words we speak. To find out more please check out 7 things your inner child needs to hear you say
When getting into meditation set the intention to work with your inner child. Then ask him/her to guide you through whatever it is that you need to see. Do not try to control the destination or plan out where you will go. Do not set limitations on what you are willing to see. Know that your higher-self has your best interest at heart and you will never be put in a situation that you can not handle. Could you end up uncomfortable? Yes. But again healing isn’t a glamorous process. It’s what is on the other side of the self-work that is most beautiful.
Don’t judge anything or anyone that you are being shown in these moments. Your inner child is taking you back to these situations and showing you these people for a reason. Though you may think you dealt with it, that it’s in the past, and that you’ve accepted it…the reality is that you’re going back there for a reason. Hold your inner child’s hand and trust that whether it is a seemingly small situation or large, it is still an important part of the healing process. Just allow yourself to receive.
Know that repressed memories may show up and they way be painful. In my own practice, I have been shown repressed memories and it isn’t an easy thing to deal with. What I came to understand from spirit recently, however, was that some repressed memories we can feel but we are not meant to see.
What this means is though you may see a location in your vision or you may see a specific person you’re not necessarily meant to see everything about that time. Trust the feelings and vibes that you’re getting. Trust what your inner child is showing you.
During this time you may start to feel anxious, sad, or even scared. This is validation that though you can not see what happened your inner child is portraying it to you as something that needs to be healed.
We repress memories as a defense mechanism and sometimes those memories are meant to stay unseen. Sometimes it is better that we don’t relive those experiences again and other times it is imperative that we do. Trust your higher guidance system, they know what they are doing.
Each time you journey to a place, situation, or season with your higher-self/inner child look around. Put yourself back there along with the emotions that want to push forward. You don’t have to be a strong adult in these moments, you’re there to heal.
Feel anything that comes up!
Cry, scream, yell, just get it out!
Then hold your inner child and let her know that you’re both safe now.
Let your inner child know that she is loved.
Tell her it’s ok that she stayed there but now it’s time to come back to you.
Assure her that she will feel much better once the two of you are joined again.
Then, you get to be the guide for your inner child and lead her back home with you.
This will not be a one-time venture or even a two-time type of thing. It will be a process extended over time. Allow things to come up and don’t judge their sequence.
Through this type of healing, you will notice that you become more accepting, feel more complete, and handle situations with much more grace.
Healing your inner child doesn’t mean you have to lose that sense of childlike wonder and connection to the beauty all around you. If anything I think it brings all of that closer to you in a more constructive manner!
Stay light, my friends!
If you would like help journeying through your inner child work I would love to be your guide! To book a coaching session please click here!