Nourishing Our Inner Child

-The Golden Lion Tamarins, aren’t they cute?

I spent a fun day at the zoo last weekend. It was fun walking around the zoo, seeing the vast diversity of the animals. So many different creatures in different sizes, shapes, and colors. Some were so cute and some were scary. One thing that struck me was the unity amongst them all. They all were living beings striving to live their lives; from the giant elephant to the tiny leaf-cutter ants.

It’s very important to nourish our Inner Child and do playful activities that we once did as children, like going to the zoo. The term Inner Child simply refers to our sense of spontaneity, liveliness, playfulness, and creativity. So in that sense, we all have an Inner Child. But some of us are disconnected from that part of our Self for various reasons; for example, not having had the opportunity to be playful as children because we were expected to “behave” at all times and act like a grown up, or maybe because at some level we have numbed ourselves to emotional pain and in doing so we live a dull life, or we are concerned about being judged by others if we are playful.

One easy step in helping us to reconnect with our Inner Child is to incorporate time for play in our “super busy” schedules. Play gives us an opportunity to be spontaneous, energetic, and lively. Ultimately, reconnecting with our Inner Child helps us live a more joyful life- and isn’t that what we all want?