How To Rediscover Your Inner Child

Growing up  does not just mean getting old and accumulating years. That you see a wrinkle on the face or become active. Growing up is learning how to mature over time. And to keep the good from all stages of life.

However, it is not always easy to mature harmoniously or happily. There are times in our lives when the adult person we have become is frustrated and filled with unresolved, internal conflicts. It catches and drowns us. We can lose our enthusiasm for things and people around us and, even worse, ourselves.

When we talk about our “inner child”, many people reject it. This is because they do not understand the meaning of it. Sometimes it is associated with a literal childhood. By that is meant a period of life with ‘pure innocence’. A period where one does not understand what the so-called world or life really is. Because of this inevitable innocence, or rather naivety, we allow children a certain amount of madness and spontaneity. Because  ” they have to learn it”.

However, it is still difficult for us adults to believe that children may know much more than we do. They still have certain values ​​that we have long since lost. It is also said that we all go through life with an inner child. It is hidden away in the depths of our psychology. It is our inner child that allows us a certain balance between rational thinking and another more free, pure and hopeful form of thinking. The latter still demands our love and attention.

The voice of our inner child

Believe it or not,  our inner child has not disappeared to make room for the more serious adult you are now. It still exists deep inside you, though hidden and suppressed most of the time. We feel we can not afford to let it come out because of what it was and what it represents in the present.  

The inner child demands a number of things from us, but we do not always know how to listen:

• It asks you  not to put so much emphasis  on things, to underplay the importance of the problems, and to remove the shell of sadness and replace it with a cheerful expression so that you can go out into the world freely.
• Your inner child asks you to love it and take care of it. It requires love ,  and that you are able to give it love. It wants to be embraced, cuddled, taken over and be the focus of your life.
• Sometimes your inner child also demands that you are not so hard on yourself. It asks you to relax a bit. About focusing on the simple things in life that are around you. It wants you to appreciate the little things, the little joys and victories. And it wants you to play and experiment! It begs you most  not to lose your enthusiasm for life and for yourself. It wants you to be spontaneous – that you  dare to be. 

However, there is one important aspect that we can not ignore when talking about the inner child. It is quite possible that your childhood was not exactly happy and that you have many inner wounds, voids and sorrows – in this case you may never have really been a child.

Your circumstances may have forced you to grow up with violence, without the privilege of enjoying the many dimensions that nurture any existence: love, recognition, emotional bonds, support.

All of this causes us to grow up with insecurities, with general mistrust and with fear. So what do we do in those cases?

To rediscover and save our inner child

It is often said that those who live by creating art know how to live minimally. Understands the value of sending smiles in the direction of others for no particular reason, and has never had the misfortune to break the bond with his inner child.

It is possible that such people are categorized as ‘crazy’ for their spontaneity. Or because their peculiarity pops up from time to time. Believe it or not, an intact umbilical cord for the healthy and happy inner child can  be an enriching experience. It can heal many of our emotional wounds and strengthen our self-confidence.

How can we unite and heal our so-called “inner child”?

• Visualize yourself as a child. And look at an old picture if you need it. This is a simple exercise to make you reflect. You are trying to find a moment with an inward focus on your essence and story, where the child you were is hiding.

• Think about that image in your mind. And bring your memory to a time when you were 7 or 8 years old. What do you see ? Are you a carefree existence, loud, wild and outgoing? Ask yourself if you have any similarities with what you see. Were you a child who liked to hug your parents? Hold on to that love.  Do you perhaps see some grief from the past or a painful wound? Accept it and forgive. Then you will feel much more free and light. You need to bring calm to the memory – a balance. So do not feel hatred towards what has pulled you down. It will let you live in peace.
• Continue in your personal visualization and work towards establishing a dialogue with the child, with your younger self. You will need to establish a strong bond with it. And ask what it takes for you both to be happy again. Take its word for it, its prayers. You will need to convince it that you will be better able to meet its needs from now on. That you will love it more, take better care of it, and that together you will continue towards a new enthusiasm: to reduce the weight of the problems you face, to laugh, to contain more purity and not to suppress your most basic needs.

Hold your inner child by the hand and do not lose him or her again.