The Yoga of Re-Parenting Your Inner Child
The word yoga means to yolk or unite. If you experienced abuse as a child, physical, verbal or sexual, chances are, you didn’t receive the kind of parenting you needed, which have yoked you to living life easily and effortlessly; or to stretch you into a well adjusted, well balanced, adult. One united to the inner voice and wisdom you and your body holds naturally.
As a result, it’s very common to grow up neglecting yourself in areas of food, sleep and exercise. Relationships suffer. You tend to extend yourself beyond pain free limits; or detach from your ability to know, nurture and articulate, your personal wants, needs and desires. You’ve tripped and fallen into the trap of contorting yourself into a human knot, twisting yourself in the ways you were treated as a child.
The childhood lessons learned were to strain, suppress and ignore your needs. You most likely grew up believing what you want is not equally as important as what others want. You bite down on an already bloodied tongue making one compromise after another while the torture of resentment anchors your soul. Rigidity holds you captive from your natural gifts and stops you from breathing in a radiant vibrant dynamic life. Without “the yoga of re-parenting,” your wounded inner child runs the show. You continue to struggle with health, relationships, career, etc. You continue to mistakenly look to others (a partner, sibling, parent or friend) to give you the kind of love, care and attention you crave. It’s crucial to practice “the yoga of re-parenting” to bring your self back to balance and flow.
The “yoga of re-parenting” is to remember and unite with your pure essence, your true self. The great “Inner Guru” wants to serve you, pointing out only that which is in your best interest. Connecting to your constant friend and guide empowers you to receive and accept the lavish abundance of the universe.
The process involves strengthening spiritual muscle mass and improving mental flexibility. Looking at where you came from, pinpointing the wounded places in your past, recognizing how they directly affect the “now” of your experience is aligning with change successfully. Reaching back with one strong hand, touching the pain and sorrow of your childhood then stretching forward with the other transforms future outcomes. Reclaiming the past is putting the weight of one’s finger on the endured injustice, the victimization, without identifying as a victim. Re-parenting becomes pivotal, the point of balance in which you gift yourself with the love, protection and understanding that you never received as a child.
When you take time to breathe and gather awareness into the body, you strengthen the bond between your adult self, your inner child, and the higher perspective of your “Inner Guru.” This integrated three-fold cord, the power packed trinity, develops a sense of security, self-confidence and self-worth. You gain greater flexibility as you become reacquainted with the wholeness, peace, poise and power, alive and well, within you. You will experience creative flow as you learn to lean in to receive unexpected kindness, unexpected love, unexpected generosity, unexpected offers, coming from unexpected places in your life and the life of others.
4 Poses To Better Balance
- Make Time For Yourself
Take time every day to do something for yourself that you love: listen to music, take a nap, go for a walk, read a book, see a movie, get a massage, eat lunch in the sun. Engage in some kind of activity that gives you pleasure. Following the flow of re-parenting is to embody paradise. This kind of self-care is a very loving and nurturing practice.
- Check-In
Three times a day take your emotional temperature. Take a minute to check-in with yourself. Make it a practice first thing in the morning when you wake up, in the middle of the day and at the end of the day before you go to bed. Check-ins help build spiritual muscle mass as you become more aware of your wants, needs, and desires. Gathering awareness increases your natural body wisdom.
Each time you check-in, ask,
- “How are you feeling?” (Mad? Sad? Scared? Glad?)
- “What do you need?” (Food? Exercise? Sleep? Play? Touch?)
- “What would be fun for me to do right now or at a future date?”
At the end of each check-in express gratitude. Give yourself positive affirmation for newfound awareness and insight. For example say, “I appreciate taking time out of my busy schedule to learn how to love myself more completely, thank you for letting me know what I need, thank you for taking such good care of me.”
- Journal
Journaling is a powerful practice of getting your abstract thoughts and feelings out of your body in a concrete way. This helps you develop a conversation with yourself and your “Inner Guru” so you can listen and hear what wants to be expressed.
Most often, your inner child wasn’t listened to. His or her wants needs and feelings, often, if not always, were invalidated and unmet. A daily journaling practice helps heal the pain of being ignored. It also helps to strengthen the awareness of yourself and your body and the power of unification. There is no right or wrong way to journal. Give yourself permission to make a mess on the page. Don’t worry if your thoughts don’t make sense. Allow your hand to automatically write what wants to come to the surface, and learn.
- Get Support
Having a trusted advisor to go to, someone you can share everything with, is a vital aspect of healing. Talking about your issues releases trapped energy stored in your body as pain. As a result past trauma no longer rules you. The cycle of repeating abusive patterns are eradicated and liberated because emotional tension is effortlessly assessed and easily transformed in a new life affirming direction.
Getting support can help you accelerate your alignment process. I can help you with that. I hope you’ll join me on the journey.