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.”

Why you should tap into your inner child this Christmas, according to psychologists – and how