Mental health: How you can heal your inner child
"I am weak. I have to achieve to be loved. I am not enough." Do these thoughts sound familiar to you? Many people are guided by negative beliefs. But where do they come from? All experiences - both positive and negative - that we have in our childhood shape us and our view of the world. Every person carries parts of their child self with them throughout their life. For a harmonious, confident life, it is essential that your inner child and you are in harmony.
What is the inner child?
Your inner child is the part of you that was shaped by your experiences in childhood. Depending on what you experienced, this inner child often appears to you in emotional situations in adulthood. For example, if you feel unseen by your partner after a tiring day. Or if you fail to stand up for yourself again during a salary negotiation because you think you haven't done enough.
However, our inner child is not only shaped by negative experiences. The beautiful moments remain too. Therefore, the inner child is often divided into the shadow child and the sun child. Depending on which part predominates, we either go through life strengthened, or our shadow child prevents us from realizing our full potential.
So, when psychology talks about healing the inner child, it is not about integrating childish behaviors into the adult world. Rather, recognizing and confronting this part of your personality can help you release negative beliefs and assumptions about yourself and live the best version of yourself.
Connect with your inner child
To confront your inner child and the beliefs associated with it, you must first connect with it. Find out what desires and fears your inner child has, and what it needs to be happy. There are various methods for this:
Look at childhood photos: This method is a simple way to approach your inner child. Look at photos from your childhood and try to remember how you felt at that time. What happened before or after the photo was taken? Can you rejoice with your inner child or offer it comfort? Do the pictures evoke memories of other situations? Allow all the thoughts that come now.
Meditate: If you are already familiar with meditation, this practice can also help you work with the inner child. Listen to yourself and try to explore your feelings. Perhaps you can imagine your inner child. Do you understand how it feels? Establish a connection between you by extending your hand to your inner child or even giving it a hug. This way, your inner child feels seen and secure.
Write to your inner child: To capture your thoughts and experiences, write them down. Maybe you want to try writing a letter to your inner child? Alternatively or additionally, you can also draw a picture of the meeting with your inner child. Choose the method you feel most comfortable with.
Healing the inner child
Healing the inner child is a process that requires time and patience. After all, beliefs have often been etched into your subconscious over years. Until these are completely resolved, you will likely experience setbacks repeatedly. That's part of it. Stay committed and don't doubt yourself. Accept the process and the time it takes.
A helpful tool in working with the inner child is journaling. To strengthen the positive relationship with your inner child, regularly write down your thoughts and feelings. Especially if you had a bad day, positive lines and all the progress you have made can help you continue to work on and with yourself.
Support in the here and now
To some extent, we can work on healing our inner child ourselves. However, if you want to confront your beliefs more intensively and with professional guidance to unleash your full potential, we recommend coaching at the European Ayurveda Resort Sonnhof. Here, guided by our expert team, you can learn to heal your inner child.
Together we explore your negative emotions and uncover deep-seated beliefs. Where do your values, your convictions come from? Are they helpful for a positive attitude towards life? With guided meditations and mindfulness exercises, you can lovingly meet your inner child and thus rediscover yourself. This enables you to blossom in a whole new positive self-esteem. Because when you bring peace to your biography, energy for your ideas and creativity is simultaneously released.