Main Photo Credit - Michael Neville

Friday, August 28, 2015

Healing The Child Inside Through Play

Beautiful Muir Beach where we enjoyed our picnic
Have you ever watched a child run, jump and play without a care in the world and thought 'I wish that was me?' The incredible thing is that sometimes the road to healing involves just that. As adults we live with all these preconceived ideas running though our minds telling us how to behave and what is the 'proper' thing for us to do at any given moment. When we were children we were free of these limiting constraints and only learned how to shut down our true selves from well-meaning adults who were similarly raised when they were young. What does this do to our young minds when we grow to become adults ourselves? It can serve to stifle us. World renown author and self-help guru Louise Hay and author of the book You Can Heal Your Life, has become one of my go-to people on the subject of healing the inner child. "I have found that working with the inner child is most valuable in helping to heal the hurts of the past," says Hay. "At this point in our lives—right now—we need to begin to make ourselves whole and accept every part of who we are. We need to communicate with our inner child and let it know that we accept the part that did all the stupid things, the part that was funny looking, the part that was scared, the part that was very foolish and silly—every single part of ourselves."  This is one of they key things to accepting your inner child and accepting and loving yourself for who you are. In that spirit this past Monday I was invited last minute to a spontaneous birthday picnic for a close friend of mine. I had my whole day mapped out and various obligations that I thought I had to do or the sky would fall. But then a little voice inside said 'play hooky'. For once I listened to the child inside calling me outside to play. The crazy thing was that when I pulled back from my constant busy to-do list and hung out on the beach with my two friends Monica and Ria,



I had a day that was more fulfilling than the adult day of tasks I had planned. I discovered that the tarot reading course I had only been thinking about taking was a thing that I was definitely going to make happen. The tarot readings I gave my friends just for fun on the beach came out so accurately I was shocked. Ria, the birthday girl had brought her hula hoop with her because she is aspiring to teach others the art of hula hoop dancing. As she twirled and spun with joy and wild abandon, showing that she can make a career out of something that is so much fun, she gave me such hope and confidence.


That day at the beach taught me that not only can playing like a child be productive, but it can heal us on the deepest levels - the places where our hopes and dreams live, where we are told we can't.  That day I ended up networking with Monica whose fiance and her are starting an event for artists of various styles, singers, dancers, painters, poets etc to come together in a safe space to showcase and explore their art called The Morph Life. My other hat besides the healing arts is singer and lyricist(Yes I was told I couldn't be a singer as a young girl). So I was thrilled when she offered me an opportunity to perform as I had been working to manifest singing gigs. All that from taking a 'get-out-of-jail-free day' at the beach! I came away from the experience with even more determination to bring this child-like sense of playfulness into everything I do. Why? Because I have discovered that everything I color with that energy has more exuberance and vitality and just plain feels amazing!