An Introduction to Somatic Inner Child Healing

Your inner children are vulnerable, younger parts of you that might be wounded, hurt or shut down from past trauma and overwhelm. 

It takes courage to start a conversation with your inner children. To slowly build trust with them and slowly create a deeper connection with them and create inner safety for them. It is a journey of deepening your connection to and understanding of yourself. A journey of learning to navigate your inner world and those younger parts of you that might be frozen in time because you at that age had insufficient or no support from the adults around you and you grew up experiencing childhood trauma of neglect, abandonment or abuse.

If you are reading this, you have already taken the first step of that journey, dipping your toes into the healing waters. I see your courage and I celebrate it with you. And your inner children will thank you for it.

Somatic inner child healing is about understanding, connecting deeper with and supporting the parts of you that:
– feel scared, alone, intimidated or insecure 
– feel like they don’t belong
– shut down in conflict and confrontation
– feel unsafe in relationships
– run from challenges
– fear or avoid intimacy (for example by disconnecting or numbing)
– make you scared of going after what you want (for example in your work life or in relationships) 
– feel anxious or overwhelmed

Connecting deeper with those vulnerable younger parts of yourself and learning to relate differently to them, can help you understand and heal deep core wounds within and create more awareness around your unsupportive patterns, so  you in time can transform them. From that place of more insight, groundedness and inner peace and safety you can learn to make different choices in your life and support yourself in those choices. Choices that can help you create a better life for yourself, in all the big things and all the little things. All the things that really matter for you and for your inner littles ones ♥

Why do I talk about your “inner children” and not “inner child”?

I do that because I specialize in helping you connect with younger parts of yourself at different ages. Connecting with your inner child at age 2 is very different from connecting with them at age 13. Their perception of life is very different. Their language skills are very different. Their needs, fears, and trauma responses are very different. Therefore you need to meet them in different ways for them to feel seen, heard and acknowledged. 

I like to say that words are not my first language. Because for me the body comes first. The body and all that it remembers. The words land much later for me. After the body has spoken. After energy and sensations have have emerged. After intuition have whispered gently. Then the words land. And sometimes not with a lot of clarity. Because words are not my first language.

I navigate energies and inner worlds with a lot more clarity than I navigate words. Therefore inner child healing has been a journey of intuitive guidance for me. A journey of learning to lean into trust and learning to understand the language of the body. Learning what the body memory of decades’ old fear and anxiety feel like. What trust and an open heart feel like. What a strong call from intuition fells like. And how to navigate it all in a way that does not overwhelm the system.

Your inner children at different ages will try and grab your attention in different ways. Their ways of expressing themselves look different, depending on their age. And how they need you to meet them to feel safe will also look different. And for them the body comes first. Feelings, sensations, energies. Images and imagination. The magic of connection. The words land much later. Learning to understand and navigate this is starts in the body. 

A conversation with the body

Somatic inner child healing is about slowing down and tuning in; to your body and what it is holding, to your inner world, to your needs and your longings, to your intuition and your inner knowing, to a deep sense of belonging that may feel foreign to you at first because of all that your body remembers. It is about practicing relating gently to your inner children and helping them feel safe. Slowly, gently, completely at your pace and respecting your needs and boundaries. 

In sessions I gently guide you to listen deeply to younger parts of yourself and understand what they are trying to communicate to you. Together we gently teach your inner children to feel safe; in your body, in relationships, and in the world in general. We do that by tapping into the body somatically. I call it “having a conversation with the body”. We ask and we listen. We give the body space to answer in its own way. We learn its language. Sometimes we use creativity or play in sessions to support your inner children. Sometimes we move gently. It is a journey of exploration, deep connection and meaning, magic moments, ups and downs, celebrations and challenges, breakthroughs, patience, commitment and recommitment.

It is NOT about:
– Fixing you. You are not broken.
– Fixing, changing or deleting your past. It is about learning to relate to it in a new way.
– Making discomfort go away. It is about learning to be with it.
– Always being happy. It is about building capacity to be with all the emotions in your system.

And most importantly:
It is NOT about getting your inner children to behave or trying to control them.

It is about sitting down next to them, in your inner world, and be there for them.
Be calm. Listen. See them. Validate them.
Be the supportive and trustworthy adult they never had growing up.
Consistently.

It sounds simple. And it is. But it can also be extremely challenging because it brings up very old and very deep core wounds from your subconscious and your body memory. It can feel overwhelming and lonely.
So please remember that you don’t have to do it alone. Lean into that courage and allow yourself to reach out for support. We humans can do so much more together than alone. And you deserve that support.

I am here, if you want that support to come from me. You can read more about my 1:1 sessions here if you are curious. 

Let me be real ♥

Healing is not shiny and pretty. It is not repeating positive affirmations, while bypassing deep wounds underneath the surface, even though that is what Instagram would sometimes like you to believe.

Healing is real and raw. 
It takes courage.
It takes learning to tap into deep self compassion.
It takes effort and commitment.
But it is also powerful and meaningful. And it can change your life in profound ways.

It starts with saying yes
– to meeting yourself in a new way
– to listening deeply to yourself and your needs
– to allowing yourself to connect deeper with your body and its memory and with younger versions of yourself
– to showing up for yourself and being the trustworthy adult that your inner children never knew 

If you feel called to take those next steps in your healing journey and you want my gentle guidance and support along the way,
you can book a 30 minute Free Connection Call with me to see if we are a match ♥