Find a comfortable position now,
Allowing your body to be fully supported by whatever is beneath you.
If you're lying down,
Let your legs fall gently wherever they feel comfortable,
Your arms resting a little away from your sides,
Palms open to the sky.
And if you're seated,
Just let your spine feel long and easy,
Your feet flat on the floor,
Your hands soft in your lap.
Begin to just let your eyes close,
Not forcing anything,
Simply allowing the lids to grow heavy and the outer world to gently fade.
Take a slow,
Easy breath in through your nose,
Letting your belly inflate and your chest rise gently,
And then a long,
Soft breath out through your mouth,
Releasing whatever you've been carrying today.
And again,
Breathing in,
Filling yourself with something spacious and kind and loving,
And as you breathe out,
Just letting go.
With each exhale,
I invite you to just feel yourself sinking a little deeper into the surface beneath you,
As though the floor or the bed is rising up to meet you,
Holding you.
You are safe to let go just a little bit more.
Bring your attention now to the soles of your feet and simply notice them.
Notice any warmth there,
Any tingling,
The feeling of fabric or air against the skin.
And slowly,
Very,
Very gently,
Let your awareness now travel up through your legs,
Your calves,
Your knees,
Your thighs,
Just noticing any sensation as you pass through.
You're not looking to change anything at all,
You're simply arriving home.
Travelling gently up through into the hips,
At the base of your spine,
Your belly letting it soften on every out breath,
Your chest,
Your shoulders,
Letting them drop just a little more.
Down through your arms,
All the way to your fingertips,
And up through your throat,
Your jaw,
Making sure that nothing there is clenched,
The tongue is relaxed,
And then you may wish to move around towards your cheeks,
The eyes,
The forehead,
The very top of the head.
Just say a gentle hello to your entire body,
Right here,
Breathing,
Safe.
In a moment,
I'm going to invite you to begin a journey,
A journey not outwards,
But inward,
Into the quiet,
Spacious landscape that lives at the very centre of you.
Before we begin,
Just know that you are safe here,
You are the guide and the guardian of this space,
And nothing can reach you here that you do not choose to welcome,
And we will go gently,
Always gently.
So imagine now that you are standing at the edge of a beautiful forest,
It's early morning and the air is cool and clean,
There is a soft light filtering down through the canopy above,
Golden and dappled,
And so alive.
You hear the faintest sound of birdsong somewhere in the distance,
And beneath your feet,
The ground is soft with moss and fallen leaves.
This forest here somewhere within you is so safe,
It's always been safe.
It exists only here,
In this place,
Between waking and dreaming,
And it belongs entirely to you.
Begin now to walk slowly forward,
Feeling the ground beneath your feet with each step,
The gentle spring,
The coolness and the earthiness rising up through the soles of your feet.
Notice the trees as you walk among them,
Some ancient and wide,
Their roots winding out into the earth like old,
Patient hands,
And some slender and young,
Their leaves trembling in the lightest breeze.
The light shifts as you walk deeper into the forest,
Softening,
Warming,
And somewhere ahead you begin to sense that you're not alone here.
There is a presence in this forest,
A small presence so gentle and quiet,
You follow a path that winds between the trees,
You're feeling almost playful,
Noticing how the forest feels alive around you,
How the birds seem to call a little more softly here,
As though the whole forest is holding its breath in welcome.
And then through the trees in a small clearing where the light falls in a perfect golden circle,
You see them,
It's your inner child,
Standing in that pool of golden light,
Exactly as you once were,
And at whatever age feels right today,
Whatever age comes to you first,
Trust it,
There's no wrong answer here,
Take a moment to simply see them,
To take them in,
Just watch,
Notice what they're wearing,
The expression on their face,
How they're standing or sitting or playing,
And notice whether they seem curious or cautious,
Open or guarded,
And now walk slowly towards them,
Not rushing,
Not startling,
The way you might approach a very small wild creature that you wanted very much not to frighten away,
As you approach this child looks up and sees you,
And in their eyes you can see a flicker of recognition,
Because some part of them has been waiting for this moment,
Some part of them has always known that one day you would come,
And you come to stand before them now,
And you crouch down gently to their level,
Looking eye to eye,
You simply look at each other for a moment,
Perhaps you smile,
Perhaps they do too,
Or perhaps there are tears and that's perfectly fine,
However this meeting feels,
Let it be exactly as it is,
At some point you say quietly,
I see you,
I am here,
The two of you can sit together,
You can hug,
You can walk a little,
Whatever feels right,
The child now reaches into their little bag,
Very,
Very carefully and slowly,
They pull out something that they've clearly been keeping very safe,
You can sense that they've been carrying this with them for a very,
Very long time,
And as they hand it over to you,
You see that it's a scroll,
Old and softly worn at the edges,
Rolled up carefully and tied with a simple piece of ribbon or twine,
As it's placed into your hands,
You understand that this is something very,
Very precious,
This is the scroll of what they learnt,
The rules of life,
Gently you begin to unroll it,
Slowly,
Slightly nervously,
You have no idea what you will find,
And as you do,
The words begin to appear,
Line by line,
A list written in a child's earnest hand,
All the things they learnt to do and not to do,
To stay safe in the world they grew up in,
And perhaps you read things like,
Be small,
Don't take up too much space,
Don't ask for too much,
You might be a burden,
Keep the peace,
Don't show when you're angry,
Be good,
Be easy,
Don't cause trouble,
Don't shine too brightly,
Others get upset,
Hide how you really feel,
It's not important,
Others always come first,
Be perfect,
Then maybe you'll be loved,
Don't need too much,
Needs are dangerous,
It's safer to be invisible,
Allow whatever is written on your scroll to be there,
You don't need to search for anything,
It will rise into your awareness naturally,
These were the rules that your little child,
Your inner child lived by,
These were the strategies they so cleverly crafted,
Because at that time they worked,
They kept this little inner child safe,
They kept them loved or at least a little bit less alone,
And as you read over the scroll again,
Let yourself just feel the weight of it,
The wisdom of that little version of you,
And the heartbreak that they needed so many rules to stay safe,
And the sheer resourcefulness of this little person before you,
Who learnt to navigate a world that wasn't always safe,
Wasn't always calm,
Wasn't always joyful,
And now still holding the scroll,
You turn your gaze to this child,
And you open your arms,
You gather this child close to you,
So gently,
So fully,
So gently,
Wrapping them in the warmth of your arms,
And you hold them the way they've always deserved to be held,
And as you hold them you begin to speak,
And just let these words land somewhere deep inside both of you,
And you say,
You were so brave,
You were so,
So brave,
You learnt everything you needed to learn to survive,
And you did survive,
You got through every single hard day,
You made it here,
And now you're not alone anymore,
You don't have to be small anymore,
There is room for all of you,
You are allowed to take up space,
You're allowed to have needs,
You're allowed to be seen,
You're allowed,
You're allowed,
You don't have to earn love by shrinking yourself,
You don't have to work for the right to be here,
You belong here simply by being you,
All your feelings are now safe,
Your sadness,
Your joy,
Your love,
All of you is allowed,
You did not cause any of the things that happened,
You were a child doing the best you could with the understanding you had,
The rules you wrote on that scroll,
They made perfect sense,
They made perfect sense then,
And now,
Now you get to choose differently,
We get to choose differently together.
I am here now with you,
I will not leave you,
You have me right here always,
Feel now as the little child softens in your arms,
As your words reach them in their heart,
Feel something in them begin to rest,
To release as though a very old,
Very heavy breath is finally being let go,
Now as you hold this child,
You notice the scroll is still in your hand,
You look at it together and as you watch it begins to change,
Very slowly,
Very gently,
The edges begin to soften,
The words become lighter,
Fading before your eyes,
As if the ink was always meant to wash away when the time was right,
The scroll does not magically burn or tear,
It simply dissolves like mist in morning sunlight,
Like salt in warm water and as it does so,
It leaves beautiful sparkles in the air around both of you and as it returns itself to the light it was always made of,
It leaves both of you surrounded by the joyful embrace of sparkling light like fairies all around you,
Your inner child laughs and so do you,
The rules may always be in your memory but they're just part of a story now,
They no longer need to be carried,
They no longer need to be followed,
They serve their purpose and it's done,
You are free to go,
You both watch the last wisps of these sparkling lights as they drift upward and away until your hands are empty and the air between you and your inner child and the trees is beautifully clear and bright,
And light and now you reach into yourself,
Into that place where your adult wisdom and love live and you find something you'd like to give to your inner child,
Something to carry forward,
Something that says you're safe now,
You're allowed,
You can,
You're held,
You're loved,
Perhaps it's something physical,
A small smooth stone that fits perfectly in the palm of their little hand,
Warm and solid and real,
Perhaps a little golden amulet on a thin chain that they can keep close to their heart or perhaps it's a phrase on a piece of paper,
A few quiet words that this child can return to whenever the world feels a bit too big or a bit too chaotic,
Something like,
I am safe now,
I'm enough exactly as I am,
I am loved and I belong or I get to take up space now and enjoy it,
Whatever you want to write on that paper,
Do so or perhaps what arises is something else entirely,
Something that belongs only to you and your inner child,
Trust whatever comes up,
Your inner knowing is far wiser than you think,
Place this gift into the child's hands now,
Or speak it directly to them,
Let it pass from you to them like a gentle current of warmth and watch their little face as they receive it,
Notice how they hold it,
What changes in their expression,
In their body,
This gift is the beginning of something new,
A new agreement between the adult you are now and the child you once were,
A promise that you will return to this clearing,
That you will keep coming back,
You'll keep checking in,
It's now time to start the journey back,
But before you go,
Take one more moment to simply be here with this inner child,
Perhaps there is one more thing you want to say,
Or perhaps there are no more words needed,
Just the warmth of being together in this quiet golden place,
And know that as you say goodbye to this little child,
It's not left behind when you leave the clearing,
They come with you,
They have always been coming with you,
You carry each other,
And so you can return here whenever you choose,
This forest will always be here,
This light will always be here and so will they,
Begin to walk back now through the forest,
Feeling the ground again beneath your feet,
The light shifting around you,
The trees passing gently to let you through,
And notice how you feel as you walk,
Whether there is lightness in your body,
Or perhaps a sweet tender ache,
Whatever is here is welcome,
You emerge now from the forest edge,
Back into this ordinary and extraordinary moment,
This body,
This room,
This breath,
You know something has changed forever,
Something magical,
Begin to bring your awareness gently back now into the physical world,
Feel the weight of your body against the surface beneath you,
Wiggle your fingers very slightly,
And your toes,
And take a slow full deep breath in,
Holding just for a moment as you fill the diaphragm,
And let it go with a long soft sigh,
And when you feel ready,
In your own time with no rush at all,
Allow your eyes to flutter slowly open,
Letting the light in gradually,
Orienting yourself gently to the room around you,
Take as long as you need,
Today you have been on a deeply healing journey,
A journey of reconnection,
And I wish you every joy,
As things start unfolding in your life now,
In a new and light and beautiful way,
And today I invite you to take a few moments before you move,
Perhaps place a hand on your heart,
And simply stay present for a while,
You may want to write a few words in your journal,
Before the images fade,
What you saw,
What you felt,
What the gift was that arose for you,
Whatever you choose be gentle with yourself in the hours that follow,
You have just experienced something very tender,
And very true,
And that thing was you,
