The Inner Child – Shaping Our Realities Through the Subconscious

(Listen to these ideas on my Insight timer)

listen

I spent many years working with children and creating art for kids—music and musicals. I’ve always been fascinated by the early years of a child’s life and how much it impacts their lives as adults. The stories they carry with them, the permissions that are unlocked and their sense of belonging.

Our subconscious is formed in our early years. Our subconscious creates our realities and our realities inform what we create in the world. During the first 7-9 years in a child's life, the brain is highly neuroplastic—meaning its neural pathways are especially malleable. In fact our pre-frontal cortex isn't even fully developed until we're 25. Think of it like running a marble through sand. The first time the marble rolls, it leaves a subtle path. Roll the marble through the same spot again, and the path deepens. Over time, the path becomes so deep that it’s challenging to roll the marble anywhere else. This is how neural pathways are formed.

Many of us find that, as adults, we’re still following the same patterns our parents followed and their parents before them. Sometimes these paths serve us and other times, they don't.

Usually we don't care to change these patterns unless they cause enough pain in our lives that we just can't handle it anymore. This is when we start exploring all these different tools on how to reprogram our neuropath ways. Some people go to therapy, manifestation practices, or other subconscious reprogramming techniques. Personally, I’ve found these tools particularly effective:

• Music

• Nighttime mantras (playing affirmations while I sleep)

• Mirror work ( https://www.louisehay.com/what-is-mirror-work/ )

• Play and ecstatic dance ( https://www.coastalvibecollective.ca/ )

• Creative arts (collage, visual art, and writing)

• Time in nature

The idea of forming helping and nourishing neural pathways really informs my work with children. That's why when I create music or stories for children, I aim to plant seeds of self-trust, love, and connection. Narratives like:

• “Listen to your body.”

• “You are loved and safe.”

• “Remember, you are magic.”

These affirmations aren’t about pushing or imposing big political world views on them. It's about giving them gentle reminders of the inherent wisdom, beauty, and belonging we all have.

What’s beautiful about this work is how it benefits me, too. Creating repetitive, affirming content, like music, acts as a mantra for me too—reprogramming my own subconscious as I share it with others.