What does it mean to heal your inner child?

I talk a lot about doing inner child work with my 1:1 clients, and I wanted to take the time to expand on why we go there and how it’s related to the physical health goals that they’re working towards.

What does your inner child have to do with it??

Have you ever said "I know what to do, I just need to do it" ? 

Have you ever self-sabotaged, whether through behaviors like bingeing or thoughts like "I just can't do it" ?

My belief is that we can't build habits on top of dysregulation. That's the key, in my opinion, to sustainable and long-term health. Self-regulation is the missing piece in the diet, exercise, mindset, and life-coaching industries.

And that comes from a deep sense of inner connection.

In my experience, it's often not the adult version of YOU running the show when it comes to building healthy habits (or any habit for that matter). So when you "do really good all day and then snack all night" or "go hard for a month and then fall off the wagon", it's often the little person inside of you screaming for attention. There's something deep within you that still needs to be healed.

This is where inner child work comes into play. This is one way we can learn how to self-regulate.

Someone told me a few weeks ago that when a storm is coming, most animals will run away from it, but buffalo will go right towards it. (I'm not sure how true this is, but I love the meaning it represents.) The thought behind this is that by going into the storm, they will come out of the other side a lot quicker than the other animals who will run and run but the storm will eventually catch up.

By facing our own storms, or hard emotions and self-sabotaging behaviors, we too, are able to come out on the other side.

By meeting your inner child and hearing what they have to say, you can learn things about your adult self that will explain why things have not stuck for you in the past.

I had a client tell me once during an inner child healing session that "It wasn't me self-sabotaging, it was her trying to get my attention, and by listening to her, I could take care of her in ways that she really needed, rather then stuffing my face with pizza until the feelings go away."

THIS is the magic of inner child healing and THIS is exactly how it relates to our health and physical wellbeing.

It's deeper work than just habit change. And it's well worth facing the storm and digging into it.

I’m not even sure “healing” is the right word to use. In my opinion, it’s more like befriending, listening, and caring for that little version of you. You probably wouldn’t talk to them the same way you speak when you’re being hard on yourself. You probably would want to model different behaviors, the behaviors that you’re working so hard on right now, so that they can see what’s possible for themself. You might have more compassion and understanding. Being able to integrate those parts of you is where the real healing takes place. This is what it means to heal your inner child.

I offer Inner Child Healing Sessions on their own, and as part of my 3-month 1:1 program, Healthy & Confident. Click the links below if you’re interested in more information.

Happy healing!

Healthy & Confident - 3-Month 1:1 Program Information

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