Honoring the Inner Child During the Holidays

The holidays are the highlight of the year for kids; the only problem is that I don’t have any. I am not alone in this reality. According to a 2010 Pew Research statistic, one in five American women end their childbearing years without bearing a child. Another large percentage of baby boomers are now empty nesters.

So what to do during the holidays when your kids have grown up and left the house or you, like me, never bothered to have any? Besides spoiling your nieces, nephews and grandchildren, how about taking your inner child for a spin around the proverbial block to see the neighbor’s Christmas lights?

Try doing what your inner child wants to do:

Build a snowman or a sandcastle
Blow Bubbles
Draw with crayons
Run down the beach or through a park, back and forth, for no reason
Finger paint
Skip
Swing
Sing
Dance
Jump rope
Play with Hotwheels or Barbies
Go to the beach
Go Sledding or snowmobiling or jet-skiing
Get in a row boat
Do cartwheels or a summersaults
Camp out in your back yard
Plant tomatoes and eat them allll up
Put olives on your finger tips...
Play in the mud or the snow
Collect worms
Hang Christmas lights in your bedroom
Pop popcorn the old fashioned way
Learn something new
Play an instrument
Roll around with the dog or take a nap with the cats
Ride a bike
Go fishing
Play catch
Play FrisbeeRead a good short book with lots of pictures
Watch cartoons
Build a fairy house
Go swimming
Build a Fort
Play Make Believe
Write a poem
Hug a tree
Speak in Pig Latin
Make up a code and write a secret letter
Write in your diary
Look for shapes in the clouds
Watch for shooting stars
Go caroling
Get in the car and go for a drive with no agenda or destination.

The child within us is intimately aware of his or her senses and loves to discover new sights, sounds, scents and adventurous ways of engaging with the world.

When we take a moment to honor our inner child we tap into the qualities of our highest self. Our child-like essence is joyful, creative, loving, energetic, funny, honest, present, accepting, imaginative, curious and active. When we honor those aspects of our being, we jump into our joyful spirits.

Children are acutely aware of the messages their bodies send. When they are concerned or fearful, they feel a retraction. When they are excited and happy, they feel an expansion. By paying close attention to what our bodies are saying, we begin to speak the intuitive language of our inner child.

If you really want to know what your inner child is saying try writing with the non-dominant hand. Lucia Capacchione, author of “The Power of Your Other Hand” and “Recovery of Your Inner Child” (among several other books) teaches this simple, yet powerful technique. Simply begin the dialog with your dominant hand as your adult self and say hello, or ask to speak with your child-self (or teen-self). Then put the pen (or crayon) in your non-dominant hand and allow your child self to answer. You will soon discover that he or she is alive and well and anxious to have a healthy relationship with you.

Celebrating your inner child will make the holidays a highlight of the year for you