“One of the things that people can do - at the most basic level - to start helping to forge that relationship with their inner child is talk to your inner child. Talk to this little person like you would talk to your own child, or a niece, or a nephew, or some other little being.
One of the things that I think can be really helpful is pull out a picture of yourself when you were a little girl and ask yourself - when you are beating yourself up, or punishing yourself, or being hard on yourself - look at that picture of that little person and be like, ‘Would you ever speak to that little person the way you’re talking to your adult self?’
I know when I did that, the answer was a resounding no. I would never talk to a little person, like a little girl, the way I talk to myself. And that was really helpful for me in starting to shift my own self-talk. Because I was like, ‘Wow, you know, your inner child is hearing every thought you think.’
And so if we wouldn’t allow someone to abuse a child that way, why are we allowing ourselves to abuse ourselves in that way?”
