Spiritual bypassing is a very persistent shadow of spirituality
There’s a darkness that hides in the world of the lightworker, and it often goes unspoken. There’s a myth that doing this work (internally as you try to shed all the bullshit energetic debris you’ve picked up from society, cultural programming, and let’s be honest, childhood) means you’re over your earthly woes and have risen above any of the darkness in life.
If you live your life by the “good vibes only” mantra, then this article is for you.
Denying the darkness, or even the simple notion that sometimes bad days happen, has really fed into the myth that walking the path means that everything is love and light all the time. We’ve taken the beautiful notions of spirituality (and its roots in world religions) of love, community, and having faith, and we’ve begun to weaponize them against each other.
We may be spiritual beings (having a human existence) but we still need to operate in this 3D world to get by in order to learn, grow, and expand our consciousness.
This means that the things that come with everyday living (including bad days, mental health struggles, and sometimes feeling a bit lost and without purpose) still happen to us.
So when we shut down people who talk about it, and cast them out of the good vibe tribe, we’re alienating the very people we say we’re here to help.
And in a world full of skeptics, non-believers, and internet trolls, wouldn’t we be stronger and more supportive if we had each other’s backs instead of contributing to the struggle of our brothers and sisters of the light, and helped pull them out of their shadows instead of trying to convince them that the shadows don’t exist?
Just because you say something is true, doesn’t mean it is.
One of the biggest problems I see within the spiritual community is lightwashing, or spiritual bypassing.
This is when someone expresses that something is less than the accepted spiritual ideal (it could be an illness, a conflict with someone, even a political opinion) and they are greeted with various dismissals disguised as spiritual advice.
People from the law of attraction land will often talk about what this individual has done to attract this experience. Others may try to convince the person struggling that the conflict or situation isn’t spiritual and they just need to rise above.
It can be a kind of mindfuck, is often rooted in victim blaming, and really dismissed the person’s lived experience.
And because it’s done with spiritual language, and it’s something they likely don’t want to be feeling anyways, they often begin to question the experience themselves, judge themselves for feeling as they do, and often end up down a shame spiral — all of this when they were already vulnerable.
This is a call to arms for everyone who declares themselves a lightworker
It’s time to walk your talk, armour up, and embrace your warrior mode. True lightwork doesn’t happen where everything is bright, shiny, and out in the open. It happens in the darkness, and in the shadows, not only in the general public, but within our own souls and psyches.
We’ve had years of beautiful, poetic words that inspire and uplift, but it’s not making any change. If you’re truly committed to this work, to your work, it’s time to rise. Let’s start with reflecting on these questions:
Where and how do I dismiss my feelings, or the feelings of those around me, when they’re uncomfortable? Why do I do this? What can I do instead?
How do I define integrity? Am I living it now? If not, what needs to change? If so, how can I make it even better?
Am I surrounding myself with people who uplift, who support, and who will help me realign to my path if I stray? In truth, are there people I need to let go, or relationships that need to change? Am I willing to make that happen?
Change IS possible. We just need to be willing to stretch a little, be a little uncomfortable, and have some raw, honest conversations with ourselves to make it happen.
It begins with you, and me, and our changes create a ripple effect in our communities.
Are you with me? If that's a hell ya, then I invite you to join this years Sacred Soul Shadow Alchemy - we start in September!
Love Always, Cynthia
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