Spiritual Resourcing vs. Spiritual Bypassing
Dear friends, How is your heart, right here and now?
I want to start today’s letter by acknowledging the immensely heartbreaking and transformational times we’re in. Life is moving very quickly and intensely, from the pandemic to the seemingly countless murders of innocent black people. No matter what your unique circumstances are, I know that your life has been radically changed, possibly completely transformed, in a short period of time, so I share the following with the intention to support you wherever you are today and to offer nourishment and resources that have been helping me navigate these times alongside you.
Today I’m called to expand on an Instagram post I shared yesterday on the difference between Spiritual Bypassing and Spiritual Resourcing, inspired by a group session led by one of my teachers Rachael Maddox, a trauma resolution educator. As we navigate the increasing complexity and demand for action these times call for, it’s necessary to increase our capacity for difficulty.
Spiritual Bypassing is a form of disassociation and escapism: a flight, flee, freeze response in the nervous system. Bypassing reveals an inability to stay engaged in the realities of life on Earth, which can be heartbreaking, horrific, and difficult.
Spiritual Bypassing in action can be incredibly harmful on the receiving end, from toxic positivity (“just look on the bright side!”) to avoidance, denial, weaponizing emotions (“anger = bad, happy = good”), and expressing a complete lack of empathy to another’s experience. Bypassing is a form of energetic numbing; you shut down because you don’t want to think about or face something perhaps you don’t believe you can bear. It denies reality and checks out to another dimension. It is pain expressing itself in a cloak of stark, fluorescent light.
Spiritual Resourcing is like a hydration station in the labyrinth of your life. It expands your capacity for staying present and engaging with reality, especially when it’s heartbreaking, horrific, and difficult. Whether calling on angels, spending restorative time in nature, breathing, movement, prayers, meditation, and/or pausing a minute to check in with your body, Spiritual Resourcing helps you engage more fully with life. It doesn’t deny or diminish reality, but rather increases your capacity to meet reality without collapsing emotionally or otherwise.
These times call for increased capacity to face our discomfort and engage with it...how are you Resourcing? How might Spiritual Resourcing expand your capacity to engage in the lifelong work of anti-racist action?
For me, Spiritually Resourcing looks like engaging in my inner practices of embodied movement, meditation, prayer, and spending time in nature in order to answer calls to action. In addition to spiritually and emotionally nourishing me, these practices help my body digest all that's happening.
In short, Spiritual Resourcing is restoring your personal energy so that you can then focus that energy on service to others. It’s receiving deep rest so that you can do deep work.
As a white woman, I acknowledge the privilege of educating myself about anti-racism rather than experiencing it my whole life. I acknowledge the horrendous harm that 400+ years of systemic racism and colonialism has created not only in America, but across the whole world. There is much to unpack, unlearn, and stand for TOGETHER—and while that will look different for each of us, I am committed to listening and learning from Black activists and educators while undertaking the inner work of dismantling white-body supremacy from within.
If you’re white and these terms are brand new to you, I highly recommend reading or listening to My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies by Resmaa Menakem He also offers a free introduction to racialized trauma video course here.
If you identify as highly sensitive and are looking for a place to start and dive in, I’ve been learning from Leesa Renee Hall’s Patreon. She’s an anti-bias facilitator, and today she begins a 10-day Inner Field Trip to uncover unconscious biases through writing prompts, which she wrote specifically with highly sensitive people and empaths in mind.
I also recommend Spiritual Activism 101 by Rachel Ricketts, a rich 90-minute online workshop on healing and racial justice through a spiritual lens, as well as the documentary 13th on Netflix, in which Ava DuVernay explores the “intersection of race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States.”
It’s on my list to watch the 3-part docuseries Race: The Power of an Illusion, and in Los Angeles, I’ve donated to the bail fund facilitated by Peoples City Council Freedom Fund.
To dismantle white-body supremacy, I’m taking In this Body: The Sacred Responsibility of Being a White Person Here and Now and am participating in the monthly membership offered by Energetic Justice.
I’m also prioritizing non-negotiable TIME to resource, digest and process the information and calls to action, to tune into my heart, and pray on how I may be used in service for the Highest Good at this time. Time is perhaps one of the most valuable Spiritual Resources we have, so if you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the work to be done, I recommend you pick one resource that calls to you most and go through it slowly and thoughtfully, giving it your full attention. (Single-tasking is another great nervous system support, too.)
Moving forward, I'm committed to serving - and for me, that always includes deep listening, receiving and digesting feedback, and implementing healthier ways of being. If you’re a part of this community and have suggestions, feedback, or requests, please know you are welcome to reply to this email or reach out to me personally by emailing me at madeline@angelicbreathhealing.com at any time.
Remember: You are, quite literally, born for these times. You have a body because you’re needed on Earth. Please tend to yourSelf so you can show up in action here and now.
Love,
Madeline
