Learn To Become The Person Your Inner Child Needed
Embrace your Inner Child on your Journey to Self-Healing and Empowerment
Most likely you're someone who can often be too critical of yourself and where you are in life.
Not only are you criticizing the present version of you, but you’re talking to that younger one. This younger version of yourself needs the utmost care and respect, especially if you grew up in a household that didn't practice self-compassion and self-acceptance regularly.
Luckily, you have The Internal Guide to help open the doors on what it truly means to nurture your inner child and be the person they need most. Regardless of your age, we all are still walking around with the younger version of ourselves.
Environments, relationships, and actions will always impact us. Many of us walk around with the same beliefs and assumptions our inner child holds about ourselves and the world. And more often than not, it isn't even our voice!
It's the voices of people who took our power away at a young age, and it's time to take it back and use it to get whatever we want out of life.
IN TODAY’S GUIDE, YOU’LL LEARN:
What your inner child is
How your inner child develops throughout time
Parental influence over your inner child
Actionable steps you can take on working to becoming friends with your inner child
We hope that from reading today's post, you will feel more empowered and inspired to navigate life through a different lens that requires self-compassion, self-acceptance, and belief that you can live life the way you want, regardless of how you were raised growing up.
As we journey through life, many of us may carry wounds from our past—experiences that shape how we view ourselves and the world around us. A concept you've probably heard multiple times in self-improvement circles is that of the "inner child." But what exactly is the inner child, and why is it important to nurture and befriend this part of ourselves? Let's find out.
What is the Inner Child?
Imagine a younger version of yourself—innocent, imaginative, and full of wonder. That's your inner child. It represents the part of you that experienced childhood, with all its joys, hurts, and formative moments. Psychologically, the inner child encompasses our early experiences, emotions, and beliefs that still influence us as adults. Think of your earliest memories growing up.
What were you like?
How would people have described you?
This is more than likely the time you expressed the most authentic version of yourself. This was before you had social/environmental conditioning telling you what was wrong/right about who you were and your place in the world. As kids, we are not yet aware of “real life” and its complications.
Development of the Inner Child
During childhood, our experiences shape our inner child. Positive experiences, such as love, encouragement, and security, help nurture a healthy inner child. Conversely, experiences like neglect, criticism, or trauma can create wounds that affect our self-esteem and emotional well-being.
Let's look at some early childhood experiences that impact who we are today:
Emotional Environment: The emotional environment created by caregivers—usually parents—plays a crucial role. If you grew up in a loving, nurturing environment you tend to develop a healthy inner child. You will feel more secure, loved, and valued, which helps promote positive self-esteem and emotional resilience.
Validation of Emotions: When your parents validate your emotions—whether it's joy, sadness, anger, or fear—it helps you learn to recognize and express your feelings appropriately. This validation supports emotional intelligence and the development of healthy coping mechanisms.
Emotional Neglect or Rejection: If you experienced emotional neglect or rejection you may internalize feelings of unworthiness or inadequacy. This can lead to a wounded inner child who struggles with low self-esteem, fear of rejection, or difficulty trusting others.
Criticism and Harsh Discipline: If you're someone who had constant criticism or harsh discipline throughout childhood, this can stifle your inner child’s natural expression and creativity. This may lead to feelings of shame, self-doubt, or perfectionism as you get older.
Trauma and Abuse: Traumatic experiences, such as abuse or significant loss, can deeply wound the inner child. Unresolved trauma may manifest in adulthood as anxiety, depression, or difficulties in forming healthy relationships.
Because of all these experiences having a strong foundation of who we later become, we can form core beliefs that can either positively impact or negatively impact how we see ourselves, the world and others about us.
Learn more about how impactful these subconscious beliefs can be here.
How Your Inner Child Shapes Beliefs and Behaviors
Core Beliefs: The beliefs formed during childhood—about oneself, others, and the world—stem from experiences with the inner child. Positive experiences promote beliefs in one’s worthiness, capability, and the trustworthiness of others. Negative experiences may create beliefs of unworthiness, distrust, or the expectation of harm.
Relationship Patterns: Our relationships as adults often mirror early caregiving experiences. Those with a healthy inner child tend to form secure attachments and maintain fulfilling relationships. Conversely, those with unresolved inner child wounds may struggle with intimacy, vulnerability, or maintaining boundaries.
Emotional Responses: The inner child influences how we respond emotionally to various situations. Emotional triggers often originate from past experiences that wounded the inner child.
Your inner child doesn’t disappear as you grow older; instead, it continues to influence your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors throughout your life.
Awareness of the inner child allows you to heal past wounds, reframe limiting beliefs, and cultivate self-compassion and self-care. By nurturing your inner child, you can unlock greater emotional resilience, creativity, and authenticity in your adult life.
Understanding how the inner child develops and shapes you provides insight into your emotional landscape, behavior patterns, and internal world. By healing and nurturing your inner child, you can help with greater well-being, self-acceptance, and the capacity for meaningful relationships and personal growth.
Importance of becoming friends with your inner child
Becoming best friends with your inner child is about healing past wounds and reclaiming your authentic self. When you nurture your inner child, you strengthen your self-esteem, increase your emotional resilience, and cultivate a deeper sense of compassion—for yourself and others.
Think of those times when you were younger and you needed someone to be there emotionally and physically to help you through difficult times.
After you reflect on what the person looks like. Show up as them every day!
Tell your inner child what they need to hear. By doing this you create more space for self-acceptance and self-compassion.
If you struggled with self-esteem as a kid and carried it later on into adulthood, imagine yourself as your cheerleader telling yourself that you can achieve anything no matter what. This is you talking to your inner child who didn't get to have this cheerleader cheering them on when they needed it most. The good news is that you can start becoming this person and showing up as them every day, regardless of your childhood.
Let's look at some actionable steps for learning to befriend your inner child.
How to Befriend Your Inner Child:
Acknowledge Your Inner Child: Start by recognizing when your inner child is speaking—often through emotions like fear, joy, or sadness.
Validate Emotions: Allow yourself to feel and express your emotions without judgment. Journaling or talking to a trusted friend can help.
The Internal team has created a spiritual digital workbook that includes 50 prompts to complete to get to know yourself better and help figure out what you want out of life. This could aid in helping you cultivate a positive environment for your inner child and help you set clear goals on how you want to navigate this journey.
Heal Wounds: Identify past experiences that may have wounded your inner child. Seek therapy or self-help resources to work through these issues.
The Internal Guide has plenty of resources you can read up on!
Reconnect with Joy: Engage in activities that bring you joy and tap into your creativity—whether it's art, music, nature walks, or playful hobbies. Think of what you enjoyed as a kid. What was your favorite movie, book, or song? Tap into them by doing activities that you loved as a kid.
Practice Self-Compassion: Treat yourself with kindness and understanding. Speak to yourself as you would to a cherished friend.
Internal CALL TO ACTION
If you want to dive deeper into your psyche, download Internal’s Inner-Child exercise prompt below!
Embracing your inner child is a powerful step towards self-discovery and healing. By nurturing this part of yourself, you can cultivate resilience, deepen your relationships, and create a more authentic and fulfilling life.
Remember, the journey to becoming the person your inner child needs begins with compassion, understanding, and a willingness to embrace all aspects of who you are.
By cultivating a positive internal world you will not only be given what every child needs growing up but you'll be able to practice better self-compassion that your younger version needs all these years, be the person you didn't have to help create the life you deserve.
If you want to learn more about becoming more internal, join our free course and learn what it truly means to be a friend to yourself. You can also sign up for our newsletter and gain instant access to “The Beginners Guide to Becoming More Internal PDF Ebook” for free as well!
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Let's reflect on what you learned. In the comment section below answer some of these questions from today’s post.
How do you feel when you visualize or think about your younger self?
What did you need most as a child that you feel you didn't receive?
What activities or hobbies brought you joy and happiness as a child?
