Codependency Support Group
Codependency is defined as someone who exhibits too much, and often inappropriate, caring for another person's struggles. A codependent person may try to change, or feel shame about their most private thoughts and feelings if they conflict with the other person's struggles. If you are on a journey towards self-love, this support group is for you. Join us and find others...
can someone please tell me how to nurture my inner child.. It's driving me mad...I can look after everyone, my family, my kid, my friends...but in therapy I brought my inner child home and for months cant do anything with her...
Activity 1: Learning How to Enjoy the Small Things in Life
Open yourself to experience joy at being alive by taking the following steps:
Step A: Open your eyes to the beauty and majesty of nature about you, e.g., paint photographs or simply observe sunrises or sunsets, a body of water, listen for bird calls, try to distinguish the different sounds, plant a garden and watch it grow.
Step B: Expand your sensory vocabulary. Try to experience life through all of your senses, use sight, sound, smell and touch to explore and describe the experiences in your life.
Step C: Explore the natural environment, e.g., take a walk on the beach, relish natures wonders, take a walk on a wooded trail, enjoy the moonlight, the stars and search out natures' magic.
Step D: Begin to slow down and let go. Enjoy children, pets and the aroma of food. Listen to music, enroll in a fun class, enjoy the human side of those in your life, develop a sense of humor or a new hobby.
Activity 2: Learning How to Feel and to Share Feelings
Step A: Keep a journal in which you record your daily range of feelings.
Step B: Identify in your journal one new feeling a day to increase your feelings vocabulary. The Tools for Communication in the Tools for Coping Series provides lists of "feeling" words to help you.
Step C: Watch a sentimental movie and have a good cry, but pay attention to your feelings. Describe in your journal how you felt watching the movie and how you felt once you began to cry.
Step D: Begin an activity to generate positive feelings each day. Explore the world or your life in general. Recognize one good thing about it daily. Come up with a positive feeling generated by this "good thing," add it to your feelings vocabulary in your journal.
Step E: Write a fantasy story in your journal describing you experiencing at least 10 positive feelings.
Step F: Relax and visualize yourself experiencing a positive feeling. Enjoy that visualized feeling. Once you have mastered the visualized feeling, plan an activity to make that feeling real for you. Record the experience in your journal.
Activity 3: Learning How to Play
The following tips can help you learn to play:
Step A. Let go of any guilt feelings you might have about indulging yourself in play activity. Redefine the role of play in your life. Restructure your life activities, and include some play time.
Step B. Define some "acceptable" play activities you would be willing to experiment with over the next year.
Step C. Be spontaneous and let go of the need for "rigidity" in the ways you play. Let your "child" out and freewheel through your playtime.
Step D. Don't stifle your "child-like" responses to a play activity. Loosen up and let go of the need to be "mature."
Step E. Don't worry about your public image, as long as what you are doing harms no one. Vent gut-level frolic responses to your play activity.
Step F. Learn to be your own best friend.
Step G. Frolic and have fun without the use of artificial stimulants (drugs, alcohol, etc.).
Step H. Let your responsible adult mindset have a vacation. Practice looking at life with a child's perspective. Imagine how a child would view play. Let the sense of wonderment, excitement, imagination, make believe and creativity reign.
Step I. Laughter is therapeutic and essential if playing is to be fun. Learn to let go of a good belly laugh.
Step J. Playing requires the use of fantasy. Let your fantasy life emerge and grow. Use imagination and visual imagery to broaden the scope and expand the boundaries of your play.
Step K. Take a risk and set up "playtime" for your "inner child" in a family-like situation where you can play outdoors with children, e.g., have a food fight, a water sprinkling war, play Rover Red Rover, dodge ball, etc.
Step L. Give yourself a child's party. Invite your friends to bring their "inner child" to a party in which you indulge in children's games, e.g., pin the tail on the donkey, musical chairs, bobbing for apples, hopscotch, jacks, etc.
For complete Inner child healing - http://www.livestrong.com/article/14692-inner-child/