Connecting With & Healing Your Wounded Inner Child

Re-Parenting To Heal Your Inner Child

Do you ever feel like a part of you has been hurt, neglected or forgotten? That part of you is your inner child, and it's high time to heal and reconnect with it. In this article, you will discover how our inner child gets wounded, the ways it manifests in our adult life, and simple yet powerful practices to start healing and connecting with your wounded inner child.

Who Is The Inner Child?

Your inner child is a part of your unconscious, which still carries the essence of your childhood. This includes your playful, curious excitable, imaginative aspects that are full of life and wonder, and also includes aspects that are afraid, reactive, suppressed or wounded, where the child self has become stuck or frozen at a certain age and has not grown up over time into adult emotional maturity and consciousness. 

The way you were parented, your conditioning and education system play a huge role in the way your child self grows, respond, reacts and matures into adulthood. 

What Is The “Wounded” Child?

The wounded child is a shadow that is deeply related to your most pressing challenges related to survival and holds the memories of your childhood, where you may have experiences abuse, neglect, control, abandonment, enmeshment or other hard and soft traumas. 

As with all shadows, you can identity it, acknowledge it, validate it, and use it to become aware of self-absorbed attitudes and hidden motives, which are basically centered around wanting mummy and daddy’s love and approval.

What Causes A Wounded Inner Child? 

Inner child wounds stem from a variety of childhood experiences, and are often associated with attachment and relationships to caregivers; therefore, they tend to manifest the most strongly in relationships, especially more intense and vulnerable relationships such as romantic partnerships. The most prominent forms of inner child wounds are abandonment, guilt, neglect, and trust.

Whether you experienced neglect, abuse, or other forms of trauma, it is essential to recognize that these events shape your beliefs, behaviors, and relationships as an adult. 

Cultivating Your Inner Family: Re-Parenting Your Inner Child 

Re-parenting your inner child requires cultivating your Inner Family — creating safety in your body, compassionately expressing your emotions, listening to your inner child and setting healthy boundaries. 

The more you do this, the more your inner child is going to trust you, feel seen and important, be able to fully express, grow up and mature into an adult who knows what he/she wants, knows how to honor him/herself fully and knows his/her worth. 

Conscious Father energy holds space, remains present and witnesses without judgment. Conscious Mother energy is unconditionally loving, forgiving nurturing and compassionate.

You can consciously bring in healthy Father & Mother energy to yourself, to your inner child during these following practices.

Practice #1: Creating Safety In Your Body (Listen, Witness, Feel)

Creating safety comes from our ability to sit with uncomfortable feelings and sensations in our body, to witness ourselves with compassion and curiosity.

You can also learn to listen to your inner child by dialoguing with this part of you, moving back and forth between your inner child and adult self to uncover how you feel and what you need.

Ask your inner child what they think/feel about something before making decisions and begin setting boundaries that reflect this new level of love, protection and honor for yourself. 

Practice #2: Setting Healthy Boundaries (Honoring Your Needs)

Boundaries can be described as imaginary lines we draw around ourselves to protect our physical, sexual and emotional energy from people’s imposing or unwanted behavior. 

When we know what our boundaries are and how to assert them, we teach others how to interact with us during communication, at work, dealing with our children, interacting with family members, and when we are engaging sexually. 

Ask yourself: What do I need right now to completely love, honor and look after myself? 

Practice #3: Play And Have Fun (Freedom To Let Loose)

Your inner child has a lot to teach you, not only from the growing pains but also through the aliveness and wonder that your wise, divine child holds, where you’re able to enjoy the present moment, freely express yourself, trust love and savor the simple things in life.

Ask yourself: What activity makes me feel most alive and joyful? What did I love as a child? How can I make space in my day to day to add more of that/those activity(ies) into my life?

Conclusion

Healing your inner child is not for the faint hearted. It’s a form of deep shadow work that requires commitment & consistency as well as vulnerability and grace. If you’re interested in reconnecting with your inner child, I offer support and guidance through 1:1 and/or group programs. Feel free to send me and email at sophia@alkimiahealingarts.ca to see how we can work together!