What is inner child healing and where should you start? Sometimes we know we need to do inner work, but it can be overwhelming even knowing where to start. Inner child healing a therapeutic approach that focuses on addressing and resolving emotional wounds and traumas experienced during childhood.
These wounds bleed into your adult life and show up in various ways. Some examples being limiting beliefs, triggers, your behavioral patterns, the way you talk to and view yourself, view the world as a whole, self-worth, the way you show up in relationships with others, the way you parent your own children, and more are all connected to your childhood. Inner child healing is the process of reparenting yourself.
There are so many different things that need to be addressed with inner work that it can feel overwhelming to know where to start. In my experience, things that need addressing will come up one by one once you start the journey. It’s more intuitively lead that you might think. So just start somewhere.
The easiest place to start is usually by journaling. You can write freely and just journal what comes to mind. Or you can use journal prompts with inner child themes. You can look some up online to start, or I’ll also have prompts in other posts as well. I plan to release many of them.
Taking a look at your limiting beliefs and examining where they first started is a great idea. Get to the root of why you believe them. If you struggle with feeling good enough, what events first lead to you feeling that way? Can you remember your first memory where you felt like you weren’t good enough? Self- reflect and journal what comes up for you.
In addition to this, we all have faulty patterns in adulthood that are byproducts of our childhood. For example, pushing people away when relationships are good, lashing out at people when you feel out of control, repeating the same bad decisions, etc.
Another great place to begin is by doing things you liked to do as a child. Drawing, being in nature, collecting stickers, roller skating, riding a bike, crafting, listening to music you liked as a kid, watching cartoons, etc. Doing these activities with your inner child is more healing than you might think! When I first started doing inner child work, I bought gel pens and Lisa Frank stickers to use in my journal!
Meditation is one of the most effective tools you can utilize for self-actualization. Put on some calming music (frequency or binaural music works great) to help quiet your busy mind or doing a guided meditation (inner child themed). Invite your inner child to connect with you during this meditation. Pay attention to their age, how they're dressed, how they're feeling, and what they tell you. You can do this meditation often to connect with them.
Examining your core wounds and their roots can be painful, but as you bring them to the surface and look at them under a light, you begin to heal them. Soon you will find that these wounds don't sting as much as they did before. You don't react as strongly when triggered and can control your words and actions. You don't respond from such a reactive place. Your core wounds will never fully close up, but they do heal to a place where you are in control of them. There's a very beautiful feeling a of freedom that comes with this shift that makes the pain of facing your trauma worth it.