Lesson 5: Create an Inner Child Altar

We hear a lot about inner child work these days and to be honest, when I first heard the phrase, I thought it was a little cheesy. That was, until I began the work myself. That's when I started to find my voice, embody my truth, and integrate so many of the lost puzzle pieces of my life.

What is inner child work? In short, it is about healing your younger self through various tools and techniques to help you connect back to little you.

I believe inner child work is so powerful, because we begin to step into a place of an advocate and healer for all the ages of ourselves. We become the healer and helper we needed when we were young.

How powerful is that? To witness your younger stories and hold space for her healing even today in your present body.

Years ago, when I was deep in my own trauma recovery, I felt the calling to connect with little me. I gathered as many pictures from my childhood as I could find and created an inner child altar with photos spanning from birth to my teenage years. I began going through the age and memory each photo provoked and wrote letters to her. It was such a powerful experience and one I credit to the beginnings of my deeper trauma healing.

This process also brought forth so many stories and poems for my poetry collection. I have no doubt it will for you too.

What is an inner child altar?

This is a sacred space that you create with photos of your childhood in order to reflect, connect, and write to your younger self. If you have journals from when you are younger, then this can be powerful to integrate into this technique as well.

Below I'll be guiding you through a step by step process to creating and engaging with your inner child altar.

Step 1: Gather photos from your childhood from birth to age 18. If you have a ton to choose from, then select the ones that are most speaking to you from each age. If you are struggling to find photos, use what you do have, even one will work if nothing else.

Step 2: Gather some things you loved as a child, maybe it was art, dolls, legos, rocks... whatever it was that brought you joy as a child, add that to this space. If you have journals or artwork from when you were younger, add this to the altar as well.

Step 3: It's time to create the space. Make sure this has a sacred space of its own. Maybe it's in a corner of the room, maybe you have a desk dedicated to it. The point is that this a standalone shrine dedicated to little you.

Step 4: Once you have all the materials and have created a sacred inner child altar space, you can began to create your altar. Put up the pictures, set up candles, young art or journals and the little things you loved. You may also use essential oils and sage to bless the space, along with a journal and pen for you to write with as you reflect.

Step 4: Set aside a couple of hours to spend time with this inner child altar. Think of this as a retreat with your younger self, getting to know her, listening to her, loving her...

Step 6: Do an inner child altar meditation before you begin to clear your mind and open your heart to connect with all the ages of you. Listen to a song to quiet the mind and open your heart. Here is one your are welcome to listen to. 

Step 7: Begin to write letters and poems to different ages of yourself in the pictures, maybe even responses to your younger journal entries like you are sitting with yourself as a friend or caregiver. Also, option to engage with the toys and materials your younger self loved and then write about what the experience brings up for you. There is a lot of freedom here. Choose what feels most aligned and sacred to you in engaging with your inner child altar. I've included pages for you to write letters in this workbook or feel free to write in another sacred space all together.

Step 8: Close with a short inner child altar blessing for all the ages of yourself. On the following page. Read aloud and hear the power of your spoken advocacy.

Step 9: After this powerful technique, take time to rest and take care of yourself. This is deep dive of an exercise. So be kind and let yourself restore.

Step 10: After a day or so, reflect on your experience and write about what you took away from this, what was revealed, what you healed through this journey. Consider the question: What did she want to say?

What did she want me to know? Write this down and keep it somewhere close by that you can return to.