The practice of Inner-Child work is a gift to ourselves. In essence it’s a beautiful healing tool which we can use at any time, for self-empowerment on the most profound of levels.
Our Inner Child workshop consists of approximately 6 hours of explanation with guided meditation, regression and exercises (such as writing letters and short stories) to allow you to establish a relationship with your inner child that you can carry on nurturing for long after the workshop.
The workshop is a personal development program which will assist you to master your emotions so that you can regain your power and put an end to non-serving or sabotaging behaviours and patterns that are causing pain and suffering within you and reflecting outwardly into your life.
The concept of the Inner-Child as the wounded soul that we harbour inside us is recognised by western psychologists, present in Eastern philosophies and talked about in Andean interpretations of our primary development during medicine healing. It is a very simple concept to understand and to work with and for these reasons we incorporate the workshop in our retreat integration to provide a tangible ongoing support for your personal spiritual development.
We believe that anyone who is open to the healing experienced within our ceremonies would feel supported from the information that we transfer within our Inner Child workshop. Please read our article about what can be experienced with an ongoing Inner Child Practice.
How is the course structured?
Day 1
On the first day we will provide an introduction to the content of the workshop and the concept of the Inner Child and Inner Child work, the basic needs of our Inner-Child. We then present the first of three separate developmental stages, that being infant (birth to 18 months) where we are first introduced to our Inner-Child.
Day 2
On the second day we will continue onto the second and third developmental stages, the toddler (18 months to 3 years of age), and then pre-schooler (3 to 7 / 8 years of age) and finish with a review of what we have covered and the fundamental steps for continuing the Inner-Child work.
During the workshop we make breaks before or after exercises and follow the rhythm of our participants, providing many examples and giving our participants time to express their own stories and experiences.
The workshop is given in an intimate and cosy environment with cushions and light refreshments.
We can provide the workshop in 2 days or we can integrate the workshop in 3 parts of +/- 2 hours during your retreat with us. We are flexible. This course is integrated in the 7 days program, however, you can also choose to integrate in your 3 day or 5 day program too.
The cost of the Inner Child workshop onsite is $211 per participant.
Who will be giving the Inner Child workshop?
One of our 3 certified Inner-Child facilitators will be matched to the participant or the group of participants.
Can I do the Inner Child Workshop online?
Yes, certainly! We have decided to introduce our Inner Child workshop to an online platform as we see a great advantage in preparation before your visit. That said however, it is also advantageous to integrate this work at any time you feel called to work deeper in your commitment to engage the past in order to heal the present. You’ll need a comfortable and private space, a mobile phone/tablet/laptop, headphones and notebook and pen. Click below for options and prices.
Online Integration Sessions
We love to keep in contact and support our previous participants through their journey and the amazing insights that their child is sharing with them. We’re always here for questions and support, and where further guidance or interpretation is required, we offer structured follow-up sessions.
We believe 3 individual lessons to be scheduled at your convenience are often the most valuable, as we can work alongside your practice and provide supporting feedback, suggesting new techniques and helping you to continue integrate the Inner Child more profoundly in your daily practice.
These sessions are led intuitively upon what’s required or what’s coming up for you. We will take you through Inner Child regressions, shamanic practices, intuitive coaching and elements of your personal history. Sessions are scheduled at your convenience and at your pace and rhythm.
Please contact us for details.
Feedback from a participant
In March 2020 I spent some time in Willkamayu Spirit and had the chance to do the inner child workshop with Janneke. It helped me a lot to understand better myself and the processes I’m going through. Janneke is a very compassionate, caring, honest and loving person who has to share a lot of her wisdom. You feel that she is really living what she is teaching – which gives a strong inspiration to follow her. She is very clear about the theoretical background of the inner child work and uses creative and beautiful tools to experience and feel it.
After I did the workshop I stayed at Willkamayu and went on to work with Janneke as a coach. She helped me to deepen the connection with my inner child and to integrate the tools to work with. She creates a safe and trustful space and asks the right questions on a very creative way to bring you forward, to grow and to connect deeper with yourself. It was very easy to open up to her and I didn’t feel any shame to tell her my inner thoughts and feelings because you feel that she is not judging you.
Now that I’m back in Germany I still go on to work with her via internet. Beside the coaching I’m gonna do the Reiki 1 with her and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m very grateful that I met Janneke, for her input and teachings. If you want to grow, to get a better connection to yourself and to learn important tools for your life I definitely can recommend from my heart doing the workshops with Janneke.
Benita
Feeback from our Inner Child participants
I had no idea just how powerful of a process I would be getting into when I set foot into the Inner-Child workshop. I was scattered, carrying a long lasting anxiety in my heart, and in need of support. Having tried various techniques and workshops, something resonated deeply when I connected with these workshops. Through working with her I began exploring with childlike curiosity what was the reason for the anxiety and I began to recognize the unmet needs that I’ve been conditioned to ignore.
What began as a workshop has become a lasting practice of joyfully tuning into my true needs and discovering the acceptance and joy that was waiting for me. The confusion and doubts I had around my needs during the anxiety were replaced with a grounded process of checking in with myself and honoring the process, step-by-step, and with acceptance. Now I feel relieved and happy that I have a stable toolset for clarity around what I need vs external expectations I and others have set for me. Using this toolset has led me to feel more functional and allows me to discover how I choose to shine on any given day, and fully go for it, free of previous shyness and anxiety.
I was also pleasantly surprised to discover the connection with my intuition increase along with the reawakening of a rich inner world that I’ve explored as a child. I was further surprised to discover how this new joy fed into being more functional in my day-to-day.
Alex, Canada
When I first heard about this, I was concerned that really I didn’t have anything to contribute to this, I had a relatively good childhood, and I didn’t have any violence, I didn’t suffer any bad consequences as a child, but now I realise that some of the things that I’ve held as ideas for me, thought about myself, negative thoughts about myself have come from my childhood. For example, I feel like I’m always to blame, I feel like I’ve always got to say sorry to people and I feel guilty, I also feel misunderstood and sometimes I feel very angry that people I can’t vocalise what I want to say. I can remember feeling exactly the same as this when I was a child and I’ve now seem to have carried that forward to adulthood. I’m still going over the same issues as I was when I was a child. So being able to talk about this with Amy was a revelation really, because it wasn’t something that I’d have imagined had made a difference to my life, but I think it clearly has.
So, Amy and I talked about listening to our Inner Child, and going into ourselves, listening to what the Inner Child, what anxieties of the Inner Child has, being able to talk about that, being able to ensure the Inner Child that everything is ok. So through a structure of mediation and talking I can now return to that feeling, I can reassure my Inner Child that everything is safe and everything is OK and I can be assured that those feelings aren’t true and that’s not what makes me the way I am, it’s just something that I’ve believed in for all these years, so I now have a structure and a meditation to go forward and for the rest of my life be able to return to that, and to reassure myself when I’m anxious, when I’m misunderstood, I’m angry, that things will be OK and I don’t have to feel like that for any longer.
Alison England
From the bottom of my heart, I thank each of you beautiful souls for welcoming me with open arms and sharing this safe haven with me. I am so grateful for the love exchanged and the opening of my heart since being here. There is magic in the air, under these sacred roaming hills. Aho, I love you all!
Liz Pennsylvania, USA
After doing some self guided inner child exploration through online resources, I thought my journey with inner child work was complete, but this workshop showed me that I had only just touched the surface. It allowed me to fully surrender and deepen the connection with my inner child, to really open myself up to this inner communication. Throughout the workshop I felt that it was really about my own unique self-expression, Janneke allowed things to flow where they needed to rather than sticking to a certain structure of how things “should” look. I felt truly seen and heard by Janneke, she has a beautiful gift for holding space and truly showing up for you. I am profoundly grateful for this experience and the tools I have been given. I am excited to continue this journey and to show up for my inner child each and every day, with pure love and acceptance.
Kate, Australia
More on the Inner-Child
Charles Whitfield – Healing the Child Within
The child within refers to that part of each of us which is ultimately alive, energetic, creative and fulfilled; it is our Real Self—who we truly are. With our parents’ unknowing help and society’s assistance, most of us deny our Inner Child. When this Child Within is not nurtured or allowed freedom of expression, a false or co-dependent self emerges. We begin to live our lives from a victim stance, and experience difficulties in resolving emotional traumas. The gradual accumulation of unfinished mental and emotional business can lead to chronic anxiety, fear, confusion, emptiness and unhappiness. Denial of the Child Within and the subsequent emergence of a false self or negative ego are particularly common among children and adults who grew up in troubled families. Yet, there is a way out. There is a way to discover and to heal our Child Within and to break free of the bondage and suffering from relying on our false self.
Thich Nhat Hanh – Reconciliation: Healing the Inner Child
As children, we were very vulnerable. We got hurt very easily. A stern look from our father could make us unhappy. A strong word from our mother could cause a wound in our heart. As a young child, we have a lot of feelings but it’s difficult to express ourself. We try and try. Sometimes, even if we can find the words, the adults around us can’t hear us, don’t listen, or won’t allow us to talk. We can go home to ourselves and talk to our little child, listen to our child, and respond directly to him. I myself have done this, even though I received love and care from my parents. This practice has helped me tremendously. The child is still there and may be deeply wounded. We have neglected the child in us for a longtime. We have to come back and comfort, love, and care for the child within us.
Lissa Rankin – The Anatomy of A Calling
I now spend a lot of time practicing various versions of an Inner Child Meditation. Rather than judging or resisting the meltdowns of my Small Self, I finally realised she calms down much more quickly if I just treat her like a beloved child who needs my help. I ask her what she needs, listen patiently to what she wants me to hear, and promise her that she doesn’t have to worry about any of it anymore, reassuring her that I am an adult and can handle it for her, so she can relax and go play. I let her express whatever emotions she might feel-sadness, fear, anger-and I sit with her emotions without belittling her or making her wrong for feeling what she feels. Then I comfort her until she feels better, holding her in my arms like I would my own daughter.
Alice Miller – The Drama of the Gifted Child: The Search for the True Self
The damage done to us during our childhood cannot be undone, since we cannot change anything in our past. We can, however, change ourselves. We can repair ourselves and gain our lost integrity by choosing to look more closely at the knowledge that is stored inside our bodies and bringing this knowledge closer to our awareness. This path, although certainly not easy, is the only route by which we can at last leave behind the cruel, invisible prison of our childhood. We become free by transforming ourselves from unaware victims of the past into responsible individuals in the present, who are aware of our past and are thus able to live with it.
John Bradshaw – Homecoming
Reclaiming your wounded inner child is a Zenlike experience, Children are natural Zen masters; their world is brand-new in each and every moment. For the unwounded child, wonder is natural. Life is a mystery to be lived. Homecoming is the restoration of the natural. Such a restoration is not grandiose or dramatic; it is simply the way life ought to be. Reclaiming your inner child involves going back through your developmental stages and finishing your unfinished business.
