Exiting a stressful state through independent work with the inner child It is known that when in an acute stressful state, any person is characterized by one of three reactions: “hit”, “flight”, “ freeze." Evolutionarily based, these reactions have helped humanity survive in dangerous situations. Due to the events of recent weeks, we are now all under stress and our reactions are still the same. Some consider the best way out of the current situation to “escape” (fly/leave to another country, expecting better prospects, trying to return to the previous level of quality of life), others “hit” (this manifests itself, for example, in aggressive behavior through social networks or when personal communication), and someone freezes. Freezing, stunnedness is a shock reaction coming from the structure of the inner traumatized child. With such a reaction, a person falls into a passive position, he temporarily falls out of life, losing contact with himself and with the world around him. Any of these strategies comes from fear, strong anxiety for yourself and your loved ones. What is happening around us now is a powerful trigger for exacerbating all our untreated traumas. Our inner children are terrified. They may cry, become hysterical, experience fear and anxiety, feel unsafe, and freeze. You can feel all this through your body (tension, stiffness, constriction, numbness), through your experiences, behavioral reactions. How to help yourself? How to get out of this state and restore contact with yourself? Thanks to emotional-imaginative therapy, sometimes in acute stressful situations we can help ourselves. Try the following exercise. Close your eyes, take a few slow and deep breaths and exhalations, feel the support under your feet , feel your body, relax. Trust your unconscious and ask yourself the question: “Who in me is so afraid (anxious, angry or in pain) right now?” Try to imagine an image of that part of your personality that has fallen into this state of shock, that feels helpless and experiences negative emotions. Visualize this image right in front of you or somewhere nearby in the space of your imagination. In the vast majority of cases, we will see our inner scared child (he can be of any age). Despite the fact that deep work with the inner child should take place during therapy with a specialist, in emergency moments you can help yourself by restoring contact with your inner child. Ask what your inner child fears most. Watch him, take your time, hear him. Tell him that now you will always be by his side, that he is now safe, and you will protect him no matter what happens. Reassure him, give him support, communicate with him. You can hug him, hold hands. Don't rush it, watch, listen to your feelings while communicating with your inner child. As your child calms down, you will also feel better, anxiety and fear will decrease, and contact with yourself will be restored. Stay with him, give him love and support, say nice words. When you see positive changes in the image, you can call him back to you. If he agrees, take him inside of you. Feel through your body how, as you inhale, already healed and calm, it returns to your inner space; as you exhale, let it connect with you. Breathe slowly and deeply. Give yourself time. Stay a little longer in this pleasant state. As much as you need.