Embracing your inner child, what exactly does that mean?

Does it mean allow yourself to be excited like a child, often being mistaken for being childish?

Does it mean honouring your childhood dreams?

Does it mean wanting or needing a hug in times of sadness; or ‘crying like a baby’?

Does it mean kicking up leaves in autumn or making snowmen in the snow?

Does it mean being silly and giggling like a child, never taking yourself too seriously?

Does it mean allowing the hurt and the pain from when you were a child to rise up and give clarity to what is holding you back?

Does it mean jumping in puddles and giggling like a child?

Does it mean looking at each new experience with childlike wonder and saying “WOW!” either out loud or from deep within your soul?

For me it means all of the above and more; and over the last few weeks embracing my inner child has never been more prominent or necessary.  She has come to the surface laughing, kicking and screaming.

I have giggled, seen the underwater world through my snorkel lens like never before.  I have been transfixed and captivated by the beautiful sunrises and sunsets, the moon rises and moon sets, the ocean in all her colours, and felt so incredibly blessed to be alive.

I’ve had some deeply sad moments mainly relating to being away from my boys, my partner, my parents and my dogs.  I’ve had frustrations around my business results and a huge sense of relief due to the release of my latest book Crossing The Line.

As with all frustrations, sad moments and breakdowns, there is always a breakthrough just around the corner; if you are willing to do the work and understand why the breakdown happened in the first place.

Two days before arriving into Darwin, whilst studying Celestial Navigation with Thomas the owner of Adrienne, I cried my eyes out.  Like a little girl, like a child, and I couldn’t understand why.  Yes, I kept getting parts of it wrong, and yes learning a subject with someone whose first language isn’t English was going to be a challenge for us both, but why the tears? Why was I crying like a child?

I was struggling to understand some of the basics of trigonometry, I kept confusing the GHA (Greenwich Hour Angle) with the declination corrections and I didn’t understand some of the terms he was using, in part because English is not his first language and his Austrian mother tongue and accent was confusing me.

Thomas was patient.  Incredibly so, for which I am truly grateful.  He told me he wasn’t going to quit, which made me like him all the more.  I am no quitter, so I had clearly met the perfect teacher for me.  He asked me why I kept doing it wrong, and I just couldn’t explain; so I looked out to the horizon and started reflecting.

My inner child was stamping her feet, wanting to be heard.  She wanted to make Thomas proud of her.  She didn’t want to let him or me down.  She wanted so badly to get this right because she wanted her dreams to come true.  She wanted to make her mummy proud, and she wanted to understand the stars in the sky which mesmerised her every night before falling asleep.  She wanted to make sense of a world she knew nothing about, because her future depended on it.

When I explained this to Thomas, how important it was for me to understand sailing and celestial navigation, my why, my future dream, he got it.  I explained my dream was to live at sea since I was eight years old, not to become a sailor, sailing was just the means to the end.

I didn’t want to become an astronomer, become a planetary geek or calculate angles and distances, I just wanted to understand and interpret the stars, see their beauty and power, understand why they have such an energetic power over us and our daily lives.  Not many people would get it, but he did.  Thankfully!

Getting present to all of the above, embracing my inner child, acknowledging myself as an eight year old girl was a powerful shift.  I got truly present to what was going on for me, not just in the sailing and celestial navigational studies, but in all the other areas of my life too.  It was powerful, and yes there is still work to be done, but I am now more present than ever to what I need to do, be and have to accomplish all I need to in life to enable my dreams to come true.

I may not have my coach with me when out at sea, but knowing how to coach myself in these moments, knowing how to dig deep and get out of my own way, how to release all my mental, emotional and energetic blocks is so powerful; and one of the reasons I love coaching my own clients.  Seeing them shift, seeing them embrace their inner child and expand in so many ways is a truly magical experience.  It can be awe inspiring, and is one of the reasons I love what I do so much.

So here’s to embracing our inner child, letting them run wild and free, as well as going after our dreams!

With love, as always,

Dawn x

If you would like to sail with Tanja and Thomas, then you can reach them by visiting their website www.adrienne.at