Have you ever done a spiritual bypass?

Have you ever done a spiritual bypass? And no, this is not some kind of new age surgery for your soul.

A spiritual bypass is when an event occurs that causes us to feel upset, frustrated, overwhelmed, pissed and we deftly maneuver around it without taking time to feel our discomfort and understand the lessons being provided by said incident.

We bypass the opportunity to connect with ourselves and go straight to the safe place of, “NO really, it’s fine. Everything FINE. Moving on.”

We’ve all done spiritual bypasses. A few years ago I was the Queen of them, doing my little avoidance dance at least once a day. It’s a lot to face and embrace what we feel, especially when we’re just SO DAMN GOOD at compartmentalizing and moving on.

The problem with constantly moving on is you’re never IN THE MOMENT.

These bypasses then begin to spread from dodging emotionally tough stuff to bypassing the good stuff too. Suddenly we start to overlook gratitude, miss out on love, cap our joy because we’re so busy moving forward, moving on and getting it done that we miss the pockets of joy that are present right here and now.

When we bypass what’s real for us, whether its a positive or negative feeling, we end up giving more emotion to scenarios that don’t require it because we haven’t taken the time to reflect on the scenarios that do.

(Ever blow up at your partner for no reason or burst into tears when your girlfriend simply asks, “How are you?” That, my dear, is often a spiritual bypass biting you in the ass.)

And no, seeing what’s present does NOT mean trekking off for a week long silent retreat to commune with nature and get in touch with your inner child.

Often all we need is a sliver of time, 10 minutes even, to get present and explore what’s here now.

We don’t have to dive right into the hard stuff either. We don’t have shine a sharp light on old wounds, current fears and face everything we’ve been bypassing.

We can ask simple questions that ease us into insight.

This week, if you catch yourself doing your own personal avoidance dance, take a big deep breath and ask, “What’s here now?”

Let this question snap you into the present moment and see how long you can be here now, feel here now, before your to do list takes over.

Lots of love,

Jamie