Find a comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down,
Whichever feels right for your body today.
Let your eyes close gently,
Or soften your gaze if you'd prefer to keep them open.
Now take a deep breath in through your nose,
And just let it go.
And again,
Breathing in through the nose,
Feeling the diaphragm,
And just let it go.
And now just let your breath settle into its own rhythm.
You don't need to control it,
Just let your body breathe.
Notice the weight of your body right now,
The places where you're being held by the chair or the floor or the ground beneath you,
And just let yourself be held.
I'd like to invite you now to use your imagination,
Not to analyse or figure anything out,
Just to play,
To be gently,
Lightly curious.
And I'd like you to imagine a tiny version of you now just inside your forehead.
They look exactly like you,
They feel like you,
They have your warmth and your energy and they're full of life.
Take a moment to just notice them,
What are they wearing,
How are they moving,
Maybe they're walking around up there with a light easy step,
Or maybe they want to skip,
Or perhaps they're gliding along on little roller skates,
Arms outstretched for balance.
Just let them move however they want to move inside that head of yours.
Now this little version of you is about to take a journey through your body,
Just to visit and just to say hello,
To let every part of you know,
I'm here and I see you.
And so you begin,
Right at the very top of your head your mini self sets off,
Moving through the landscape of your head,
Light as a feather,
They look around with great curiosity,
Hello head,
Hello busy mind,
We're just passing through.
And they skip slowly down now to the eyes,
Those tired,
Busy,
Beautiful eyes,
They give them a little wave,
Hello eyes,
You're so amazing,
Thank you for all that you take in.
Then they move on to the ears and the cheeks and perhaps your nose,
Maybe even pausing just long enough to wiggle the tip of your nose as they go.
And down to your jaw,
Your mouth,
The places where words are shaped,
Where so much gets held without you even noticing,
The chewing of the mind often ends up here,
Your mini self just taps your jaw lightly and just says,
You can let go just a little.
And down they go,
They keep travelling now,
Down through your throat,
Skating through it almost with ease,
Perhaps sliding down a slide,
The place where your voice lives,
Where truth sometimes gets caught and your little self whispers here,
Your voice is welcome here,
All of it.
And off they go to the next area.
Down now to the shoulders,
Your mini self stops here and looks around with wide eyes because they can feel it,
The weight that lives here,
The things that you carry and always have carried.
They don't try to lift it all,
That's not their job today,
They just climb up onto one of your shoulders,
Sit themselves down and swing their legs and say,
You're doing brilliantly you know.
Then they slide all the way down one arm,
Whoosh,
Past your elbow,
Your wrist,
Right into the palm of your hand,
They walk from fingertip to fingertip counting them out,
These hands,
Everything they've made,
Everyone they've held and hugged,
Your mini self says hello wherever it feels like it.
And then they make their way back up and over the shoulders to the other arm and do exactly the same over there,
Perhaps stopping when they find a scar or an old bruise,
Saying hello as they go.
Now into your chest,
Into your lungs and they breathe with you in and out,
Watching the whole thing rise and fall like the gentlest tide,
They're delighted by this,
By the fact that you just keep breathing without being asked,
They find it fascinating.
And now your heart,
Your mini self slows down here,
They place one hand over it and feel the beat,
Steady,
Faithful,
Yours,
They just listen.
They continue down into your belly,
The place of deep knowing,
Of gut feelings,
Of instinct,
Of so much held quietly and without language.
Your mini self treads gently here,
Respectfully and they sit down briefly in the warmth of your belly and rest for just a moment,
No words,
Just presence.
Down through your hips now,
The base of your pelvis,
The root of you,
Your mini self presses their feet firmly into the ground of this space and they feel how solid it is,
How much you are held from below.
They stamp their little feet once,
Twice,
Just to feel it,
Rooted,
Grounded,
Here.
And then let's not forget the legs,
They run up and down,
Both legs,
Saying hello as they go.
They actually run down through your thighs,
Your knees,
Picking up speed through your calves,
Leaping over your ankles and landing eventually in the sole of one of your feet.
They look around,
Delighted,
The very ground floor of you.
They sit down,
Leaning against the inside arch of your foot and they take a breath.
You carried me all the way here,
They say,
Thank you feet.
And off they go,
Up the leg and down into the other leg until every part of your body has been greeted.
And now gently,
Your mini self begins to make their way back up through the body,
Just a little exhausted,
All the way back to the heart.
By this time they decide to stop for a rest and find themselves in a beautiful field or woodland,
Choose a beautiful space that you love,
Somewhere open,
Somewhere soft.
You may be lying down on the ground or sitting on a bench,
Or perhaps you find one of two huge wonderful swings,
Wee,
You dangle your feet.
The light is quiet and golden,
The kind of light you only get in late afternoon.
The air is warm and you smell flowers around you.
You feel so happy to be here,
Let your imagination show you the place in all its glory and trust whatever appears.
This is your heart's own landscape,
Safe and warm,
Entirely yours.
Nothing here can ever harm you.
Nothing here needs to be managed or explained.
You can just be here.
And from this place of stillness,
I'd like you now to send out an invitation to your inner child to join you.
And only if they wish,
We can just send out a quiet,
Open invitation.
Because somewhere at the edge of this space is a young version of you,
And they might be very,
Very small,
Or they might be a bit older,
The age you were when things were most uncertain in your life,
When they needed you most to feel safe.
You don't need to go looking now,
Just leave the invitation hanging in the air for them to join you.
And you may wish to simply say out loud or in your heart,
You can come and join me if you want,
There's room for you here,
I'm not going anywhere.
And they may come close,
They may even sit right beside you,
And they may stay at the edges watching,
Or you may simply sense them,
A presence,
A feeling,
A memory rising softly.
Any of this is right,
And any of this is enough.
Whether your inner child is right beside you,
Or somewhere just out of sight,
Know this,
They can hear you,
Wherever they are in there,
Your voice reaches them.
And I'm going to invite you now to speak to them,
Out loud if you can,
Even as a whisper,
Because your inner child needs to hear your voice,
Your actual voice.
And you might start very simply by saying their name,
Or perhaps you have a special nickname for them,
Or perhaps you're just going to say,
I know you're there and I know you can hear me,
I'm sorry I've been away so long.
And then I'd like you to tell them what they needed to hear all that time ago,
What perhaps no one ever said,
What you know now that you didn't know then,
And there are no wrong words here,
There is only your love finding its way home.
Tell them how loved they are and how safe they are,
That they never did anything wrong,
Quite the opposite,
That you're here now,
Tell them whatever you know they need to hear to feel loved,
You've got time here now.
And you might want to tell them,
I'll protect you now,
I won't let the things that hurt you before reach you in the same way again,
I'm here and I've got you.
And even if your inner child is still hiding in the background,
Remember they can hear you.
And perhaps you want to tell them,
You were never too much,
You were never not enough,
Every part of you was always just right,
Every feeling,
Every need,
Every dream,
All of it is welcome now and all of it is loved.
Whatever you're feeling right now,
Let it be here,
There is no right response to this journey,
You may feel warmth or grief or nothing at all,
All of it is allowed,
All of it belongs in you.
And now I'd like you to say goodbye,
But let your inner child know that you'll be back,
And you'll be listening to them when they speak to you through their feelings in your body,
Just say a lovely goodbye in the knowledge that you'll see each other soon.
Now begin to let the images soften,
The meadow or the bench and the light slowly starts to fade,
But this place is yours and you can always return here,
It was built from you and it will always be waiting.
And from the heart I ask you now to gently begin to bring your awareness back to your physical body,
Feel the weight of it,
The warmth of it,
Maybe gently start moving your hands and your feet and notice the breath moving in and out,
Steady as ever,
Take a slow breath in,
And just let it go,
And take another lovely slow breath in,
And just let it go,
And let a stretch come through your body if it wants to,
And take all the time you need,
Ready,
Slowly let your eyes open,
Coming back into the room where you started,
Coming back into the day,
Bringing with you everything from this journey,
The softness,
The warmth,
The playfulness,
And the quiet knowing that some part of you just found its way a little closer to home.
You
