Is Your Inner Child Pulling You To The Playground?

“Approach the day with childlike wonder and you’ll see the world a bit differently” ~ Emerge Positive

As we have grown up into adulthood, we have lost connection with our inner child for various reasons such as social conditioning, limiting beliefs, bullying, etc. Being adults, we have so many responsibilities and live such a busy life that we have forgotten our inner child.

Take a few moments and reminisce back to when you were a small child. As you do this, try to recall your childlike innocence. When you were a child you had no fears; no judgements; no trust issues, etc. We were pure unconditional love and had the sense of wonderment everyday to explore and feed our innocent curiosities.

Perhaps you remember walking and balancing yourself on train tracks, the feeling of having no fear; the freedom of walking the rails. The tracks seemed to go on infinitely, which in a child’s eyes would spark a daydream of wonder that life was endless.

Jumping off the tracks as you heard the train from behind you blowing its whistle was such an exciting thriller. As the train was whizzing by, you would stand far away, motioning with your arm for the conductor to sound the whistle. When he did, you would jump up and down laughing with excitement.

Everyday experiences were fun days whether we were exploring in the backyard with our friends, playing with our toys, playing with our friends or walking the train tracks.

So while you are sitting here reminiscing, what childhood memory triggered that wonderment?

As we reminisce about some of our happiest childhood memories, we can bring forth those triggered memories by bridging our inner child to our adult selves. Once again, we can have that sense of wonderment and fun every day. The keyword here is FUN!

You see, we have always had the inner child within us. We had allowed things like social conditioning, limiting beliefs and bullying to take the power of our inner child. Now it is time to reclaim your inner child and our power.

Initiate and reclaim the power of your inner child

Write a letter to your Inner Child…

If you feel that you have neglected your inner child, write a letter of apology to repair the connection with your youthful self. It can also be a simple letter expressing the desire to strengthen your relationship.

Depending on the type of inner child you have, tailor your letter to reassure your little one whether they are fearful or playful. If he or she is fearful of being abandoned, let them know that you will do your best to be there. If they are playful, let them know that you honor that playfulness. You can write in your letter that you will try to balance walking on the curb of the sidewalk the next time you go to the store.

What will you do to honor your inner child in that playful space?

Create and nurture an open and safe space…

You have to understand that your inner child is vulnerable and may need a safe space in order to show itself. For various reasons you have hidden or denied the inner child in you. To allow your inner child come through, nurture and affirm him or her in order to gain their trust.

Tell your inner child that you would like to know more about them; that you will always be available to talk and that you want them to feel safe.

What you are doing is consciously accessing another part of yourself and your subconscious mind. Creating a dialog is an important initiation of having a fun relationship with your inner child.

Tips for nurturing your Inner child…

Developing a sense of fun in and around your environment will nurture the relationship between you and your inner child. Here are a few ideas of how to do this:

• Put a few stuffed animals on your bed after you make it.

• Buy crayons and coloring books and take time to color.

• Buy a personal trampoline. The physical activity will not only reduce your stress level; it will also remind you of how much you enjoyed bouncing around as a child.

• Have a dance party. Dancing will also ward off stress. It is a creative avenue of expression that spans across different age groups. People of all age groups love to dance. Use dancing as a way to connect with your inner child that also honors your adult desires and interests.

• Creative writing, journaling or drawing can be a powerful source of expressing your creativity for you and your inner child. Together, you can have fun creating in this way that nurtures that connection.

• If you have kids of your own, nieces or nephews, try to see the world through their eyes. Do fun things together with them and adopt their carefree attitude.

• When you are doing chores around the house, enlist the help of your inner child and make it into a game for more fun.

• Go to the park and swing on the swing set. Swing as high as you dare, just like you did when you were a child. Laugh while you are doing it!

I’ll bet reading the above tips have brought back a flood of memories from when you were a child. Implementing these tips, it will not only help you rekindle the relationship between you and your inner child, it will bring that sense of wonderment and fun back into your life. Let your inner child guide you to have a carefree attitude in life by allowing yourself to see it through his or her eyes.

Give some or all of these tips a try and reclaim your inner child. Have fun doing these exercises and introduce that sense of wonder and fun back in your life every day.

If you are interested in learning even more tips, you can sign up for Sheila Applegate’s 20-ish Make Adulting Great Again life hacks where will receive one tip per day. These tips are excellent doable exercises that will help you bring more fun into your life! Get your Adulting Hacks Here!

Which tips resonates the most with you?

Feel free to share in the comments section which ones stimulated your memories.
Relate a particular activity of your own that brings out your inner child!

Give yourself permission to act childlike; to view the world with wonder; to let your mind be free.

Let’s go jump on that trampoline and get into our happy inner child attitude!

Is your inner child pulling you to the playground?

“If we could see the world through the eyes of a child, we could see the magic in everything.”

~Chee Vai Tang