Hey, love,
At the intersection of two different triggers last week, I let myself sink into my darkened bedroom and cloudy thoughts.
I pulled the curtains across the brightness of the afternoon and climbed into my bed.
I wrapped the sheet and blankets around me tight.
I cried and slipped away into an exhausted nap.
I surrendered to anxious stories carrying me off into a future of fear.
The day before my therapist had said,
"You're doing amazing."
I beamed...even as I'd already self-acknowledged the changes I've been making, the growth I've been fostering.
Some days I feel strong and secure and resilient.
Other days I feel vulnerable and afraid and fragile.
And when I'd soothed myself and regulated my body enough, I glimpsed the image of a ladybug-sized inner child piece of me whipped up into a Tasmanian Devil storm reaction that needed my love and compassion.
Photo by Dustin Humes
Photo by Caseen Kyle Registos
Here are five steps you can take to offer your inner child love and compassion:
STEP 1: Project
Place two pillows on the floor about a foot or thirty centimeters apart from one another.
Sit on the first pillow and face the other one.
Close your eyes and project your inner child or a piece of you that feels young and vulnerable out onto the pillow in front of you.
STEP 2: Describe
Notice what you see.
It may be a color or a shape or an image or a younger version of yourself.
Perhaps it's a caricature, a deity, or a movie, TV, or book character.
You might have a sense of flipping or swiping through different images until one stays a little longer.
This image doesn't have to make sense.
Then witness what you feel as you see your inner child.
STEP 3: Connect
Ask this part of you on the pillow what they need.
If it feels like a different question, ask this inner child or young piece what they want.
Finally, ask what they're feeling.
Leave these questions in the air and extended to the pillow out in front of you.
STEP 4: Embody
Stand up and sit on the pillow with the inner child. Face where you were just sitting.
Embody and become your inner child.
Feel yourself as the inner child.
Let your thoughts and emotions and body become this piece.
See the adult piece sitting in front of you on the pillow you were just on.
Speak as your inner child to yourself as an adult sitting across from you.
Feel and express everything that arises.
STEP 5: Offer
You might go back and forth between the adult and child pieces asking questions, listening, and responding.
When that feels complete, hold your inner child by picking up the pillow and hugging it to you.
Offer your inner child what they most need to thrive by asking where in your body your inner child would experience the most safety and love.
Create a space inside of you visually and emotionally where your inner child is safe, loved, and completely accepted and where they can play and explore.
Invite your inner child into this safe space inside of you.
Watch your inner child for a few moments in this new safe space of love and play.
Taking this time with your inner child is an act of love and compassion, an opportunity to re-parent yourself, and to heal.
Experience the joy and tenderness in this process. :)
Offering you so much love,
Daniela
P.S. I have individual and couples sessions available here with a free 20-minute consultation beforehand.