Have you let your inner child out to play?

“Okay I believe you,” rings in my ears as a faint reggae tune from an eighties movie, I think Beetlejuice. Anyway, the playful tune is reminding me to play with my inner youngin’.

Have you heard of Imaginal Nurturing? Basically this concept is to parent or re-parent the inner child that resides within each of us. Now for many, this can be a difficult concept to grasp as we are quite frankly forced to resist the inner being. The one who wants to play with bubbles, or dare I say, color outside of the lines. Perhaps even play with chalk or clay. Without becoming too clinical, if an inner child is ignored anxiety, depression, dissociation, detachment, and a host of other unpleasant moods and conditions can befall you.

Yesterday, I woke up, from another dream, whew! So glad for my feet to hit the ground. I know I keep mentioning my dream, part in jest and part to illustrate my point, I was startled. You know, unsettled. This feeling is cue number one that something is a little “off.” It’s that feeling of restlessness, anxiety, ever so slight. So, I continue on through the day and I was given the glorious opportunity to play with a little girl. This little one was outside of my body and wanted to play make believe. Laughing and smiling, looking so free. Telling jokes and giving great big bear hugs. Now the best part was when we colored! I loved it. I used funky colors that “just don’t go together.” That’s what an old teacher of mine used to say. Humph! Well, before I knew it, her mommy said it was time to go. On the inside, I screamed “just one more minute.”

As I packed up my belongings and left, my little girl inside me said “see, all I wanted was a little time. Can we play?” I immediately felt calm and relieved. Then, it linked in my mind, body, and spirit.

Don’t go too long without playing…

~Until next time