When we experience childhood difficulties without adequate support, our nervous system can become programmed with patterns of stress and protection. Recent neuroscience research shows that imaginal experiences can create new neural pathways similar to actual experiences. Through practices like today’s, you’re literally rewiring your brain’s emotional processing centers by creating new experiences of safety, validation, and care.

This process activates neuroplasticity—your brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. As you offer your inner child what they needed but didn’t receive, you create new associations that update old emotional patterns.