Embrace Your Inner Child

Many of our lives’ problems, including physical illness, emotional and mental trauma, and spiritual imbalance are because we’ve neglected our inner child. Jamuna Rangachari explores how to accept, love and heal this most fragile part of ourselves.

- Jamuna Rangachari

I lost my mother when I was two. Though this may seem tragic, it was not such a big deal for me. I was too young to remember her and grew up in a joint family (my mother’s family), pampered by everyone around me. But just before my teens, things changed. When I was 12, my grandfather left home and disappeared from our lives. The situation was extremely grim. People started talking about how my grandfather’s depression began after my mother _ who was extremely dear to him _ suffered in her marriage and passed away before her time. I had heard this story earlier too but now it was being repeated more than ever, which affected me. Mentally, I began blaming my father without knowing his side of the story. Ironically, at the same time, I started living with him and his new wife. Though things were not so bad in my new home, I continued to hold a grudge against my father. Life continued but the wound remained.

Many of us have suffered childhood trauma and continue to suffer long after we’ve stepped into adulthood. We must understand that how we felt as children was based on our perception of life then and we do not need to continue suffering; for if the seed of suffering is within us, so is the seed of happiness, joy and awakening. It is by learning how to heal the grief of the inner child within us that we can all lead complete, wholesome lives.

Our inner child 

‘We all have a child in us’ is an oft, lightly made statement. However, it has deeper implications than we realise. The child in us, who we call our inner child, is a fundamental part of our psyche. Our intuitive intelligence, joy, natural self-expression and an overall sense of well-being dwells in our inner child. When our experiences are happy, it results in security, self-esteem and joy. Conversely, when there is a set-back that wounds the inner child, the repercussions can be grave.