How does spiritual bypassing affect our spiritual growth?
Spiritual bypassing leads us to repress feelings and emotions. It is something people do to avoid dealing with pain. This causes stunted growth, keeps us disconnected from being our true authentic self, and is not healthy. The desire to be living in a constant high and elevated state, to causes people to spiritual bypass which may manifests as:
- anger-phobia
- emotional numbing and repression
- delusions of having arrived at a higher level of being
- focussing on the positive only leading to negative resistance of self and others
- Self judging
- Excessive niceness
- Misuse of spiritual and religious truths to avoid pain
This avoidance and denial of our unaddressed wounds, detracts us from the calling of our true self, and a deeper place of compassion for others and self. Emotions serve as a function to meet our needs. Our brains have specific areas, like the limbic region, which interprets information and produces our emotional reactions. When emotions are not processed and not expressed they are repressed. What we resist will persist and remain suppressed, building up and eventually released in a likely unhealthy manner.
Honouring and Serving,
Simran K. Rattan MD
Content support Maria Peach