Is Spiritual Bypassing Making You Sick? An Integrative Roadmap to Healing

As summer winds down we transition from our outward, yang nature toward our more yin, introspective selves. As the new season approaches, how can we gracefully flow into this period of self-insight without contracting inward & abandoning our true nature and healing needs? Will we embrace what’s been urging us to shift course or avoid what is seeking us to heal? Because we all have this choice to make, will we evolve or devolve? Spiritual advisor and writer Danielle Beinstein says, “We cannot escape ourselves.” I couldn’t agree more. I see this concept come alive in private practice-- repetitive emotional avoidance over time that manifests into serious physiological health concerns: think cancer, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disruptions, and serious hormonal issues.We avoid dealing with the numbness and tingling in our left arm so it eventually results in a heart attack scare. We’re too scared to have those screening tests until we discover a lump in our armpit in the shower. The message becomes so loud-- it’s screaming at us to wake up through more and more serious physiological manifestations that just “show up” in the body. If we’re “lucky” we hear the message loud enough to enact a new behavior, but if we pass it to the back of the line, it eventually shows back up later as a four-alarm fire. And that’s when I get the 911 phone call. Health concerns were ignored or their impact wasn’t debilitating enough to face them head-on at the time-- I could have changed my diet, I could have gone to relationship counseling, I could have started exercising… It’s the long list of I could haves but didn’ts that’s now burning down the door in the form of serious health issues. It’s tricky because I often hear, “But I am doing the spiritual work, I go to Tai Chi and Qigong and practice my meditations... I’m just not getting better.” To these sentiments I humbly inquire, “Have you asked your subconscious if it’s telling you the whole story then?” I’ve seen many odd expressions in response to this question, but also many giggles and some, “Yeahhh it is, I’ve just been avoiding answering it.” Others answer, “No, I didn’t even think to ask!”So how do we go about answering this question? How do we become aware of and deal with our participation in this seeming form of self-sabotage?When someone asks, “Why am I not getting better?” I tend to think the person knows that more information requires decoding, but they don’t always realize this vital information that can unlock their healing capacity will be discovered within. I invite clients to run through an emotional checklist:

• What was going on in your personal or career life when you first started experiencing more serious health concerns?
• What was occurring in your personal or career life each time your health concerns flared up or progressively worsened?
• Do you feel scared and limited, or empowered and encouraged to heal?
• Do you see a connection between your emotional well-being and physiological wellness?
• Are you moving away from, or toward healing?

That last question seems to bring it all together, to help us step out of the shadows long enough to identify the repetitive patterns that may be holding us back from healing. I suggest this visual practice:

• If you answered “moving away” please close your eyes. Now picture yourself exactly where you were the moment you started moving away. What did you look like, what were you thinking about, how were you feeling? Why did you decide to move away or ignore those feelings?
• How could this have been different if you decided to move toward healing? Would you be open to exploring how those feelings you experienced are related to the health concerns that have manifested?

If you answered yes, keep reading for our P+S Toolkit, and if you answered no, save this article for when you’re ready. | TOOLKIT |1 | Be easy on yourself, but be truthful by enlisting exploratory talk therapy-- For some it may be a manifestation specialist and others a spiritual advisor. Decide which resonates most. These types of talk therapy are about identification, about uncovering what’s inside, what’s underneath, what’s behind our behaviors, and why we may be spiritually bypassing or engaging in avoidance behaviors. Identifying these variables is an integral part of the healing process and could help put an end to a cycle of serious illnesses and health concerns. 2 | Do something exceptionally soothing that helps improve communication between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems-- This type of communication helps reduce stress and anxiety to induce calmness while also promoting enduring, lasting energy. Acupuncture, Healing Touch, Reiki, and/or a Hot Stone Massage are all examples of this.3 | Find an integrative health specialist that can address deep level healing on both a physiological and emotional level-- It’s important to find one who addresses both because neither exists in its fullest capacity without improving the potential of the other. This type of healing aims to discover what epigenetic variables in the environment bear the most weight on everyday wellness. This will help to identify what neuro-physiological nutrients may be affecting our behavior and ultimately our overall wellness. How are you staying out of the shadows to embrace your inner healing light? What powerful manifestation tools have helped you heal? Please share your experience with other Poppy & Seed readers here. Christine has dedicated her career to helping others understand the science of happiness and its powerful effects on everyday human health by harnessing the power of the epigenetic landscape. She is available for both private and professional consultations. Please contact her here.