In my last post, I explained that depression often numbs our ability to spiritually connect. The catch 22 with this is that spiritual connection can help us to facilitate healing.
This is important and I'll tell you why.
I'm not the type of person to go around proselytizing or pushing new age ideas on people. I will also say that if none if this resonates with you then please move on to something else. I know through my own direct experience that our capacity for spiritual belief is hugely affected by many things that we are unaware of, and I simply want people to be aware of this fact. Spiritual belief and connection are so vitally important because we cannot heal on a spiritual level if our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions are blocking spirituality out.
Spiritual healing can take many forms, including (but definitely not limited to) shamanism, energy healing, prayer, or simply seeing the divine within ourselves. We don't need to be psychic or have some direct connection to God. But we do need to open enough to allow spirit to work with us.
I sincerely believe that many people don't believe in a higher power, not merely because of personal choice, but because they actually can't believe in a higher power. In other words, many people have a block or wound that prevents them from perceiving outside of what can be felt with the senses. It is like not having the ability to smell and therefore believing that scent is not real.
If we knew that the fragrance of a rose would make someone happy, it wouldn't do any good unless that person was able to smell the rose. The same goes for spiritual healing. Spirit works at a subtle level, which is similar to the wavelength of our thoughts and emotions. The subtle energies of spirit can be blocked by thoughts and emotions.
First of all, let's look at why people can be spiritually blocked.
Spiritual wounds from the past can obviously keep us from venturing forward in our growth. This could be a spiritual teacher from childhood who broke our trust or a religious teaching that attacked our sense of who we are (such as homosexuality being a sin if you are gay). Did you have any experiences that wounded you or turned you off to spirituality as a kid? I sure did! :)
In this culture, there is a huge fear of rejection from friends, family, coworkers and or/society in general, and therefore most of us have blocks that serve to keep us safe. These blocks prevent us from being "too open minded" or believing in weird "woo woo" stuff. There is a lot of pressure in this society to be logical, to only believe in what has been scientifically proven, to stay in our heads (as opposed to in our hearts), and to play by the rules. It is a huge risk to be truly authentic, to stretch our belief systems, and live in ways that might be seen as unusual.
Lastly we all have beliefs and ego resistance deep in our subconscious that prevents us from letting go and opening up spiritually. You would be surprised at how far deeply in our subconscious this resistance can be! Imagine that you had a fence built. You might reason that part of the fence might be buried underground to make sure it stands up straight and strong. Just like a fence creates strong boundaries for our home, our ego can create boundaries to keep us safe. However, imagine if you tried to dig up that fence and found out it was buried 20 feet underground instead of just a foot or two! This is what it was like for me what I started having my spiritual awakening. My ego defense was surprisingly deep and prevented me from moving forward in my healing and spiritual growth. In these cases we might need spiritual healing in order to push past the plateau, which is what I had to do.
These are just some examples of why we become spiritually blocked. Of course there are other reasons as well, but the point is that these blocks exist on unconscious levels.
Spiritual connection for the most part requires two things:
1) The ability to FEEL spirit, which uses our emotional capacities.
2) The ability to BELIEVE in spirit, which uses our mental capacities.
So how does one begin to spiritually connect when they are either too numb or just can't believe in the divine?
First of all, we need to look at how severe and numbing the depression is for you. The more depressed and numb you are, the less spirituality you'll be able to take in. And that's okay! The general rule is to just give ourselves as much as we can take in. Anything more will just overwhelm us.
Next, we need to take a look at what your level of faith has been historically. Someone who has always been a die-hard atheist will be able to accept a lot less than someone who has dabbled in spiritual ideas now and again. For a good part of my life I voraciously read channeled books because the spiritual teachings strongly resonated with me. Yet it was a full decade into my spiritual journey before I began to believe that channeling might actually be real.
Once you gauge where you are emotionally and mentally, I recommend taking four steps:
1) Open yourself up to believing in a higher power. Just try this belief on for size for a while and see how it feels. It is impossible to truly know what the Divine is on a sensory level because it is not anything that can be seen or felt. However it might be helpful to start with a symbolic picture or symbol.
2) Look for the evidence. Do you know someone who had a spiritual experience? (Like me for example!) Do you see synchronicities? One of of the most undeniable pieces of evidence for the existence of the divine are near death experiences, or NDEs. You can read tons of fascinating near death accounts at NDERF (Near Death Experience Research Foundation). Some of my favorite NDE books include:
Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani
To Heaven and Back by Mary Neal
Embraced by the Light by Betty Eadie
If you see the evidence but still feel resistance, that's okay. Just observe it and let it sit in the back of your mind. Don't try to have everything figured out. Just allow things to become clearer over time at it's own pace, which may take years or even decades.
3) Feel what resonates with you. Our feelings are a tool for inner guidance, so get in touch with how you feel. Have you read something that rings true for you? Maybe you saw something on TV or YouTube that made something inside of you stop and want to learn more. Or, it could be a spiritual friend or loved one who inspires you to open up in ways you never thought possible before. Listen to these inner signals. Any kind of feeling that makes you think, "What if?" or "I'd like to learn more!" is a sign to follow your curiosity and see where it takes you.
4) Heal your emotional wounds. It is so important to clear our negative thoughts and feelings. Doing this allows spirit to flow through us more easily. Additionally, when we clear our wounds we learn to feel in our bodies in healthier ways. When we remain unhealed, negative thoughts and energies stay stuck in our minds and bodies. This prevents us from feeling spirit and our own inner guidance.
Spiritual growth and connection is an ongoing process. It is best to take your time and, again, not force yourself to believe in something. Just keep an open mind, have fun curiously exploring, and don't be afraid to move on to something else once a spiritual belief, practice, or teaching no longer resonates with you. Over time you will find that the little pieces you've gathered will eventually fall into place.
Important: Don't let anyone tell you that there is only one true spiritual belief, practice or religion! This is a fear-based belief and is very limiting to anyone on the spiritual path. It is normal for someone to find a spiritual practice or belief system and stick with it for a while (maybe even forever). A person might discover a spiritual path that works for them and feel like they've found THE ANSWER, but this does not mean it will be right for everyone. Staying in our own personal power is important while on the spiritual journey.
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