In this meditation,
We'll be practicing checking in with your inner child through a somatic approach to see what needs are there and how they can be felt and met throughout the nervous system.
So allow yourself to find your way into a comfortable meditative posture,
Sitting or lying down.
Make any adjustments that you need and once you get there you can allow yourself to softly yield back into the surfaces supporting you.
Notice what that's like to undo some effort and just let those surfaces rise up to meet you.
Know that you're supported.
On each inhale now drawing in something good,
A resource here.
On each exhale releasing pockets of tension or anything that's not serving you right now.
And as you continue to connect with this resource state of being,
Let yourself orient from here to your inner child.
So just check in to see how your inner child might appear to you today.
And this could look a lot of different ways.
Could be an image that you have of yourself as a child or maybe any kind of childlike image,
Anything at all animal,
Cartoon,
Shape,
Color.
So just really open yourself to however this emerges and comes through to you.
Inner child can also manifest as a physical sensation in the body,
Maybe a tension or tingling,
Expansion,
Contraction.
It can also show up in the form of language,
A name for your inner child,
A word,
Phrase.
So as you start to tune in,
See what's there.
Just let yourself fully connect and witness the inner child and see how they're doing.
What's the emotion that they're carrying?
And it may be that there's positive emotion or there could be difficult emotion there.
In thinking from a parts framework,
Thinking that there are many parts of us,
The inner child can actually have different parts.
There can be different inner child parts,
Those that might carry pain or burdens of some kind,
And those that might carry joy,
Contentment,
Playfulness.
So you can just see what's here today.
And then check in to see,
Does the inner child have some kind of need?
Your inner child,
Is there a need for compassion,
Nurturing,
Comfort,
Or playfulness,
Expression,
Creativity?
Is there a need to simply just be witnessed or be accompanied in some way?
Just kind of like sitting alongside the inner child,
Just being present.
Whatever the need may be,
See what you feel in your body now,
Just scanning from head to toe,
Noticing any sensations at all in the body.
See if the need might somehow be showing up this way.
Could be a tightness in the heart,
Sinking feeling in the belly,
Show up many different ways and sensation.
Just noticing and then seeing how is it that the need can be responded to?
If there's a need for comfort,
Can there be a sense of somebody stepping in to provide some sense of comfort?
Whether it might be a blanket or a hug,
I'm not somebody could be yourself,
Adult self or supportive figure in your life or imagined spiritual figure.
If the need is to play,
Then noticing impulse to move in the body,
Maybe following the beginnings of that impulse into slow mindful movement.
If the need is to create,
Noticing the beginnings of creation,
If there's inspiration there or what can be provided to start to feel that.
Handing a paintbrush or an instrument over to the inner child.
If there's a need to be witnessed or simply accompanied,
See what that's like to simply witness,
Simply accompany.
Just have some kind of acknowledgement sitting beside the inner child being together.
And if you notice that the need can be responded to,
Can be met in some way here,
See what it's like for the inner child to fully receive,
Fully receive the providing.
See if the inner child can do that.
And if so,
What does it feel like in the body once again,
To have the need be met or at least be acknowledged in some way.
See if there was a particular body part that was feeling the need and now tracking that body part,
Or just feel that fully globally in the nervous system throughout the body.
And know that this can be accessed.
Feel that.
And if you're not able to access that today,
Know that that's okay too.
Holding space and patience for the process.
And as we start to transition out here,
Thanking the inner child for showing up today.
Acknowledgement of yourself and your inner child for being in relationship with one another.
Starting to wiggle the fingers,
Wiggle the toes,
Take a stretch,
Movement of any kind that the body would like to take.
Slowly blinking the eyes open and orienting back with the eyes,
Head,
Neck,
Looking back to your physical space again,
Coming back to the here and now.
Knowing that you can check in with the inner child any day,
Any time,
See what needs are there and see how they can be met.
Take care and enjoy.
