Resistance

Obstacles to Your Flow

You have done the work, read the books and even have sophisticated explanations for all that has and may happen to you. However, you are yet to fully integrate the great work you have done. There is more to your journey as you bring your insights from your head into your whole self. You are justifying beliefs, thoughts, actions or feelings that hold your deeper healing and desires at arm’s length. It’s time to hold them up to the light of the present and see beyond them. Open your heart and mind to who and where you are today. Dive into your truth, empowerment and compassion. Resisting your reality is denying your growth and potential. Step out of stasis and bring your attention to all you want in the here and now. Your mind and energy field can then reverberate with your soul’s plans and possibilities. You may then see that life is not a test of your worthiness but something worth embracing. Seize it fully, without delay.

Shadow Mastery Class: Radically Accepting the Now

Meditation

Place your hand on the card. Gently close your eyes. Sense your body and concentrate on your breathing. Follow your breath inward. Hold for five seconds and relax. Breathe out and release all tension. Focus on the middle of your chest.

In front of you, a golden staircase descends into the earth. As you walk down the ten healing steps to a magical, amethyst crystal cave, your body relaxes, your mind becomes quiet and loving, supportive energy moves around you.

Step into the amethyst cave and greet your shadow. In front of you, a door labeled “Radical Acceptance” is ajar. You peek inside and see a beautiful place in nature. This is your unique space where you feel completely at ease, immersed in the peace and glory of the natural world. The door swings open quickly, and you float through.

Take a breath and notice how the pristine air feels as it enters and leaves your body. Feel how good it feels to breathe. When you were born, your first action was to inhale and receive the breath of life. Your second was to exhale, giving breath back to the world in a new form. How fully are you receiving and giving? One does not occur without the other. Take a moment to notice whether your breathing feels constricted, sticky or uneven. Keep breathing until it feels even and deep.

Close your eyes and scan outwards with your senses. You will feel drawn to a location. Move towards it and scan again to find your power spot. Sit or lie down upon the earth. Gently notice what’s present here with you-the sensations arising in your body and any movement of emotions or thoughts. Welcome it all. Allow it all to be here. Don’t try to change it. Don’t push it away or pull it towards you. Just let it be the way it is. You are safe.

If any discomfort arises, respond with compassion. Embrace this pain as you would comfort a loved one or an animal or child. Love this part of you until balance and harmony fill your senses. Remain still and spacious in your awareness of all. Feel how wonderful it is to be at peace with yourself and all things. Stay here for as long as you like-at least thirty seconds.

Gently arise from your spot in nature and move through the door of radical acceptance into the amethyst cave. Walk to the golden staircase. As you ascend, notice how clear and precise your mind is. Inspiring ideas will come to you now or in the days and weeks to come as resistance falls further away. Thank your shadow for the internal opposition that reveals where you are ready to grow. At the top of the stairs, take two deep breaths in and out. Open your balanced, accepting eyes and welcome your new outlook.

Inspired Insights, Reflections and Actions

Try the following exercises:

*Research “spiritual bypassing.” This phrase was coined in the 1980s by psychologist John Welwood. He observed the tendency to use spiritual practices and ideas to avoid facing unresolved emotional issues and psychological wounds.

*Pay attention to any resistance in your body. These feelings may reveal where you most need to embrace your emotions and shift your perception.

*Research “cognitive dissonance.” This term refers to internal conflict that arises when beliefs, feelings, values, behaviors or observations don’t align. Examples might be wanting to do well on an exam but choosing not to study for it or choosing to ignore a new piece of information because it challenges an existing view.

Journal Work

Write or draw about a time you felt resistance to something. It could have been a person, an idea or a change. Write or draw about how you knew you were resisting and where you felt it in your body.