Do you long to be more creative, playful and carefree?

This is something that comes up often with my clients (and myself too).

They will say things like...

'I want to be able to relax and let go a bit more'

'Life feels heavy and serious, I just want to have fun again'

'I wish I was more creative. I would love to do more.... baking, dancing, singing, writing.....'

So many of us are desperate to get back in touch with our creative, playful, carefree side.

The thing is, there are reasons why this is so hard to reach.

We think this part of us is located back in our childhood. For some of us it is.

AND - for many of us we have never truly experienced what it feels like to be 'carefree'.

Not all childhoods are 'carefree'. For so many of us there was a lot to 'care' about - illness, conflict, stress, money problems, divorce, bullying....... I would say a 'carefree' childhood is a bloody miracle.

We can't be 'carefree' when there is a lot to 'care' about.

So no wonder it's hard to find this now. Our bodies might never have experienced it before.

So how do we reclaim this part of us?

Allowing ourselves to grieve what we didn't get - I know this is a tough one to swallow (just remember this is a common loss). If you can't remember a time when you felt carefree because there was a lot to care about, give yourself lots of compassion for that. Know that you can learn how to experience that now.

Connecting back to safety in our bodies - We can't feel playful and carefree if we don't feel safe. Practicing meditation, yoga, walking in nature, slowing down and comforting our body allows us to come back to ourselves and makes space for us to be creative.

Set time aside to do something that feels creative/playful/carefree to you - From that place of safety, have a think about what would being carefree look like to you? Try something out, test it, experience it. Give yourself permission to know it's safe for you to have this.

I'm not pretending that the 3 points above are easy. This stuff takes time. But I see how possible it is for us to learn and experience things that we have either forgotten or never experienced before.