As Christmas approaches, many of us are getting ready to return to family homes across the country to spend the festive break with our loved ones. And with this comes the peculiar experience of sleeping in your childhood bedroom, having meals cooked by your parents and bumping into old-school friends.

Essentially, you become a kid again, regressing to a version of your younger self. While this can sometimes teeter into toxic territory (and we’ve got advice on how to avoid that), it can also be a wonderfully positive thing.

Psychologist Dr Roberta Babb says that leaning into this sense of regression and nostalgia in a positive way can unlock more joy during the Christmas period.

“The festive season often acts as a time machine that transports us back to the excitement and wonder of our youth,” says Dr Babb, who has partnered with Snapchat to share the benefits of tapping into your inner child this Christmas. “This psychological journey into our past, facilitated by the warm embrace of nostalgia, reconnects us with the enthusiasm of our younger selves.”

Eloise Skinner, author and psychotherapist, agrees that Christmas is the perfect time to reconnect with your younger self. “Many of us have strong emotional connections to childhood at Christmas, which can bring back memories, associations and feelings,” she says. “Christmas traditions and routines from childhood can be so well-established that we find ourselves repeating old patterns of behaviour, thought or emotion.”

Jacqueline Carson, a clinical hypnotherapist, adds that it’s the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas that transport us back to our childhood and teenage selves. “Our senses are powerful triggers, stimulating our subconscious mind and sending us back in time to the roles and behaviours we adopted as children,” she says.

While fighting with your siblings over the TV remote, denying it’s your turn to do the washing up and launching a house-wide investigation into who’s putting the empty wrappers back into the Quality Street tin aren’t exactly healthy behaviours that should be repeated, tapping into your inner child in the right way can be liberating and joyful.

“Our childhood selves often didn’t have to deal with the complexities of adult life, so we might be able to set aside preoccupations and everyday stresses by connecting with this former self,” says Skinner.

Carson adds that even if your childhood Christmases don’t evoke the happiest of memories, tapping into your inner child can help reframe those memories. “It’s also an opportunity to allow yourself to experience Christmas as you would have liked to experience it as a child,” she says.

To boost your joy this Christmas, our experts shared their tips on how to tap into your inner child this festive season.

All three of our experts recommended recreating festive traditions from your childhood to reignite the childlike joy of the season. Their advice includes watching Christmas films you loved as a child, playing board games with family and friends, baking festive treats or reading a Christmas story.

So many of us lose our sense of creativity as we get older, so tapping back into that is a great way to reconnect with your inner child. “Spend time drawing, painting, crafting or writing, allowing yourself to create freely without judgment,” says Carson. “Creativity is a direct link to the carefree nature of your inner child.”

It might feel silly, but Carson’s advice to write a letter to Father Christmas makes a lot of sense. “Even as an adult, writing down your dreams and wishes – playfully or seriously – can reignite the hopeful spirit of childhood and help you clarify what truly matters.”

Christmas is the perfect time to reconnect with old friends and family members you don’t often see, especially if you no longer live near where you grew up. “These people have known us the longest, so their familiarity and understanding can allow us to return to a more authentic version of ourselves, one that’s often masked in daily routines and new social circles,” explains Dr Babb.

Dr Babb says looking through old photographs is a powerful way to stimulate memories and get people to share anecdotes. “You could even take on a nostalgic photo challenge by getting your family to recreate an old image as a fun and meaningful way to celebrate the season,” she says.

Skinner advises stepping away from technology to allow yourself to be fully immersed in the activities of the season. “Make sure you have enough time away from checking work emails and social media to make the connection to your inner child meaningful and intentional.”

Images: Getty