All of us have an aspect of ourselves called the 'inner child'. This part of us is like a child; it feels, acts, and thinks as a child does. When we feel emotions such as anxiety, fear, insecurity, silliness, playfulness, and mischief, we are in touch with our child. Symptoms of illness, whether that be mental, physical or spiritual, are the inner child's way of communicating with us and encouraging us to take good care of ourselves and get our needs met.
Some people don't recognise or are aware they have an inner child and, therefore, neglect this aspect of themselves. For others, they may not want to acknowledge this part of self, maybe because childhood was a painful and traumatic time, and reject it.
We tend to relate to our inner child the way our own parents related to us as children. If that relationship is nurturing and loving, we are likely to have a healthy relationship with our inner child. If our parents were abusive or neglectful, we would mirror this pattern of relating to ourselves.
Through inner child work, you learn to recognise and connect with this wonderful aspect of yourself. You will learn to love and re-parent yourself in a way that’s nurturing and unconditional. You will encounter your inner parent(s) and explore how helpful or harmful they are to you.
The inner child is an integral part of self, and neglecting it can have severe consequences for us. Some of the benefits of doing inner child work are increased self-worth, love and esteem, improved health, increased creativity, feeling more relaxed and less pressured, improvement in personal relationships, including with your own children, better quality of life, increased self-awareness, and a general sense of wellbeing.