I’ve found that people seek answers outside themselves in any way they can — even sometimes, when they’re on a path of self-discovery, they still don’t turn to the self for answers. They turn to mind-altering substances and methods that come from outside them to bring them the answers by forcing their inner life to come forward.
But it need not be this way. Healing can happen intentionally within yourself and with no external aid. You can discover yourself without ingesting anything out of the ordinary. I’ve done it, and countless others have as well. It’s called meditation. It’s also about learning to have a less rigid, more fluid mind.
Starting a Meditation Practice Isn’t Easy
It’s the hardest thing in the world for many of us. The more you are attached to your own emotions and inner cycles, the more challenging it will be to start meditating or training yourself to break free. And only then can the healing work begin.
It is by no means an easy process, but it is worthwhile because it all depends on you and can be achieved by you. You will learn that you don’t need to spend money on ceremonies or take trips to places where a shaman can administer a substance to you. The power to heal and integrate your shadow was always within you.
Discern What’s Actually Good for You
There are plenty of messages out there telling you that you need to try this substance or do that session with a professional. These things can be good for self-discovery in the sense that you may need them in order to believe that your life can drastically change. You may need to have a taste to see what your mind really is. But when you become dependent on these external things for your healing, it’s no better than being dependent on medicine from a doctor to heal instead of trusting your body. It can also become an addiction.
When you’re reliant on someone or something else healing you, then you’re giving up your power of self-healing. You have always had the power to transform yourself, but you have to believe it in order for it to work.
Healing is Hard
Meditation and inner work are extremely hard. It’s uncomfortable to face yourself. No one can blame you for avoiding it. I know people who would do almost anything to avoid committing to meditation and self-reflection. They’ll tell me they prefer breathwork and “meditative activities” and that’s good enough for them. But for those who meditate, we know that this only scratches the surface of potential. Only when you remove all distractions from your busy mind can you ever really make a breakthrough.
If you’ve discovered through psychedelics that you have something deep to heal then I recommend meditating daily on that. Answers will come. They don’t have to be forced. But sometimes as we’re starting out, the practice can be so painful because so much that has been repressed tries to come up all at once. You have to take control of that and try to confront those things buried within you little by little.
Sometimes we do need a cataclysmic event in our lives where an outside source allows us to see some truth, so I’m not saying that the use of psychedelics is bad. Just do what you know feels right for you. And know that everything you’re doing in a psychedelic session can be done without them.
Meditation Brings Experiences Beyond Imagining
The experiences in meditation will change over time. Don’t for a second think that it will always just be total silence. You will learn to harness the calm within you, but beyond this, things you can’t imagine will begin to happen. That’s because once you’ve crossed the threshold to your heart and connected with your soul, you begin to access experiences that were hidden while you were attached to the physical world.
In meditation, I’ve expanded so that I am bigger than the planet, looking at the workings of humanity with wisdom and grace. I’ve spun around in two directions at once, expelling bits a pieces of my energy field that were no longer needed. I’ve been given answers and found clarity on problems I face in my daily life. I go through tunnels at times. Sometimes I’ll fall into another place and time that feels like another life with totally different people. The best experiences are when I have the feeling of opposites at once — paradoxes pervade.
But it all started because I meditated to heal and review my life. I intentionally sought a release from the things that cause me suffering. To this day, my meditations often begin with me looking closely at traumatic events from the past that I never fully healed from. Meditation is the only clear way to remove blockages like that. After you heal a bit from those important things, you move to the next stage where you find peace.
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