The 30 Day Inner Child Challenge
Inner child drawings are a profound way to access aspects of your psyche that you may not normally pay attention to.
Inner child drawings are a profound way to access aspects of your psyche that you may not normally pay attention to.
Inner child drawings are typically done with your non-dominant hand. Buy yourself a box of kid's crayons to support your process.
Artist Heather Williams, author of Drawing as a Sacred Activity has an excellent exercise to help access your inner child that I will share with you here. I invite you to try this process for 30 days.
Daily Inner Child Exercise
1.Relax and breathe with your paper and crayons in front of you.
2. Close your eyes and see or feel a child near you. Notice the color or her/his hair, notice the height, posture, clothing. Open your heart and feel yourself accepting this child exactly as she/he is, even if the chid is angry sad or frightened.
3. Ask the child to play a game with you. The adult in you will ask the child these questions: What is your name? How old are you? What are you feeling right now? What can I do to help you feel really good? Write the questions on the top or bottom of your drawing in your dominant hand.
4. Let the child draw a picture of itself for you and answer the questions using crayons. Draw and answer the questions with your non-dominant hand.
5. Thank the child for sharing with you.
Be aware that as you draw for 30 days in a row, many inner children may want to come up into your adult, witnessing attention. Some inner children will be happy, some will be sad, some will be angry. Some may have even died, or have been buried, or are just barely alive for lack of attention. All will need to be kindly allowed to have their full expression no matter how immature they may seem.
Be prepared for fear and buried feelings to come up in this process, as well as a great sense of inner excitement and enjoyment. The younger, more irrational, exiled parts of our personality long to speak, and will gladly share the uncensored awkwardness of your non-dominant hand.
For more 30 day drawing challenges visit Expressive Art Workshops.
