Inner Child Meditation

Let your inner-child out to play. In this 15-minute guided meditation, we will take a journey inward to access our inner-child and explore the idea of creating space for more playfulness, presence, and lightness in our interactions with children and adults.

Transcript

Hello,

And thank you for joining me.

To begin our meditation,

I'd like you to come into a comfortable position.

This can be either lying down or seated,

Whatever feels best for you right now.

So take your time and make sure that you're able to stay in the position that you're in for the next 15 or 20 minutes.

So make sure that your body is fully supported and that you're comfortable.

Okay,

Great.

So as you settle into your position,

Bring your attention to your breath,

Noticing your inhale and your exhale,

And not changing your breath in any way,

Just simply noticing it.

Perhaps you notice that with every breath you take,

Your body becomes a little more relaxed.

The stress of the day begins to release with every breath you take.

And perhaps your mind is buzzing at the moment,

But don't worry about that for now.

Simply do your best to follow your breath with your attention.

Perhaps even saying,

Inhale as you breathe in and exhale as you breathe out.

And every exhale is a letting go.

Every exhale is a new opportunity to release anything that's no longer serving you.

So as we exhale,

We release tension from the body.

As we exhale,

We release tension from the mind.

So letting go,

Release,

And then coming back to a nice even state of feeling comfortable and happy.

And every inhale allows us to fill that space with something amazing,

Something wonderful that's coming our way,

And allowing that breath cycle to continue always.

Every exhale is a letting go,

A release,

A release of old habits,

Fears,

Stress,

And tension.

And every inhale brings us love and understanding,

Patience and peace.

So as you breathe,

Notice that your body is becoming more relaxed.

Now I'd like you to imagine a time when you were a child that you felt completely free.

You had not a care in the world,

No worries.

You knew that you could do anything you wanted to do.

You felt light and excited,

Full of adventure and wonder.

And perhaps this is difficult for you.

Perhaps you never experienced a time like that.

And that's okay.

We've got imaginations and we can imagine what that might feel like.

So bringing in that sensation,

That feeling of this childlike wonder,

Seeing the world through fresh eyes,

So much excitement for what's to come,

An amazement for what is.

And maybe every inhale is an invitation of this feeling.

And every exhale is a release of anything holding you back from that feeling.

Maybe you've got thoughts or these ideas that you're not allowed to feel that way,

Or that it's wasteful and we've got so much to do as adults,

Or that it's pointless somehow.

But I'd like you to try anyway.

Let go with the exhale of those doubts and breathe in with every inhale the wonder and amazement of childhood.

Allow your inner child that's always there inside of you to come out,

To be freed.

And every breath continues to allow you to do that.

Bringing your attention now to your face,

Relaxing the body as we move down,

Releasing any tension being held in the forehead,

Muscles all around the scalp,

Around the ears.

Release your jaw,

Let your tongue relax inside your mouth.

Notice if you hold tension there,

That every exhale allows you to release that.

And every inhale allows you to feel more rested,

More relaxed.

Moving down into your neck and shoulders,

Upper back.

Every inhale breathes in new life,

New energy,

This bright childlike energy.

And every exhale allows you to let go,

Let your arms sink heavy,

Let your wrists and hands be completely supported by the floor or whatever's beneath you.

Moving down further still through your chest and abdomen,

Letting go in the hips.

Perhaps the next exhale allows you to find some space,

Letting the legs gently roll out to the sides.

Let your legs be heavy,

All the muscles in your legs,

Upper legs,

Around your knees,

Lower legs and feet.

Everything lets go.

Everything is supported.

And you don't have a care in the world.

You're a child.

You are loved.

You've got so much to explore.

The sense of playfulness that allows you to let everything that happens roll right off your back.

Any type of conflict or any fear doesn't affect you because you're so free and full of life that you know that everything's going to be okay.

Continuing to breathe at your own pace and bringing in a real sense of playfulness.

We spend so much time as adults being serious and adulting and taking care of the technical parts of life that I find many of us have a hard time being playful.

We just overall take things too seriously.

What does playfulness feel like?

See if you can bring in a sense of playfulness.

How do you do that?

Do you see something visually in your mind?

Do you feel it somewhere in your body?

Pay attention to what it feels like to be playful.

Perhaps it involves being forgiving.

Being playful in a situation where we might normally judge another person.

Maybe letting go of a sense of always being right.

A sense of knowing best.

If we can just let go,

Be playful,

Maybe tell a joke or two,

And just overall take things a little lighter,

I think maybe we can find a little more happiness.

A little less stress.

So breathing in a sense of playfulness,

Of lightness.

Allowing yourself to connect with the children in your life.

Connect with them on their level.

Meet them where they are.

Play.

Explore.

Have an adventure.

Tell yourself to be present.

So many times we might go through the motions of playing or doing an activity with a child,

But we're not really there.

What would it be like to fully engage in the moment?

To let go of all of the worries and thoughts that we have and just be there in the moment?

Allowing yourself to be creative.

Allowing yourself to fully immerse in the moment.

Being in this state is in itself a meditation.

Being mindful,

Being fully engrossed in what it is that you're doing.

Imagine the connections you can have with the children in your life and with your own inner child as you become fully immersed in the experience of play.

Allowing yourself to breathe this feeling in and perhaps with an idea of how you can put this into action in the next day or so.

Noticing where and how you can access your inner child is important.

Notice what you feel in your body.

Notice the things your mind is telling you about accessing your inner child.

Does it feel silly?

Does it feel good?

Do you feel like maybe you don't have permission for your inner child to come out and play?

Notice the things you tell yourself and notice if it feels true or not.

Giving yourself permission to play,

To be light,

To just let go for a little bit of time at least each day can be so helpful for our mental health and just to let go of the stress of everyday life.

Imagine what it would be like if instead of getting angry or frustrated with somebody when they make a joke or want to play,

You joined in with a sense of lightness,

With a sense of being playful and being present.

Coming back now to your physical body,

Noticing how you feel,

Noticing if you have any tension anywhere and just allowing that to release with each exhale,

Perhaps envisioning what it might look like for that body part to just release tension and let go.

And every breath continues to be a release and a relaxing.

Allowing your breath to gently deepen and once again checking in with your mind,

Noticing what kinds of thoughts you're having,

A reminder that you are not your thoughts and that thoughts are completely normal.

They'll come and they'll go.

It's just what we do with them that's important.

So if you find that you're feeling positive about bringing in more playfulness and lightness into your life,

That's wonderful.

Keep going.

Try it out.

If you're finding that you have some reservations or you're feeling a little bit stuck around this idea,

That's also wonderful that you've realized that and perhaps you can give it some thought.

Remember to take time every day to check in,

Check in with the kinds of thoughts you're having and how they make you feel and to learn the things that help you feel relaxed,

Connected and comfortable and the things that help your inner child come out to play.

Everyone's different.

The more we can learn about ourselves,

The more we'll be able to take care of ourselves and get ourselves back on track when things get a little stressed or heated.

Thank you so much for listening and have a beautiful day.

Reviews

Thank you. I needed this.

I love this meditation!