Take a Look Inside

We don't need to look far at all to see what needs our attention and healing.

The problem is, we tend to look outside of ourselves instead of looking in the one place we need to: inside ourselves.  Every single time we feel "activated" by some external event or other person is an opportunity for healing a past wound.  An "activation" is some form of emotional response, agitation, frustration, or reaction that we have, based on a previous experience that we likely have no recollection of.

We come into this world with a clean slate, as an open book.  We aren't programmed at birth with ideas about what is right or wrong, good or bad, or with preferences.  While it's true we do come into this world with ancestral knowledge and wisdom, we mostly learn through observation of others and through our own experiences.  Every experience and encounter we have leaves an imprint--a memory--and as we go through life, we make split-second decisions and reactions based on our lifetime of stored memories.  Every negative imprint we're carrying (from this life or ancestral) can be healed in any given moment.  The problem is that when something happens in life, we tend to blame the situation or person involved for causing our distress, when in actuality our distress is a signal that something within us requires attention and healing.  Instead of lashing out at the "perpetrator" of your situation, sit with yourself and look within.  Be curious about why you're feeling the way you do--why you're really feeling that way, on a deeper level.  

Our external world is a reflection of our internal world.  If we experience much chaos and confusion in our life, then we carry chaos and confusion within us.  If we experience anger and hostility in our life, we carry those within us as well.  Once we realize this powerful secret, we recognize that we have the power to change the entire world, simply by healing ourselves.

Bypassing is a phenomenon that is prevalent in today's society.  Bypassing happens when we achieve a false sense of inner peace through "spiritual" practices or activities that help us feel open and connected to others, while unknowingly bypassing (or disconnecting from) the wisdom of our body.  There's a lot of language in society encouraging people to "rise above"--to forgive anyone who has harmed you and to love all.  It's easy to buy into this idea, especially since none of us really want to harbor resentment and pain.  But when we follow this philosophy, this can lead us into an ego trap.  In the trap, we may feel good about ourselves for being "such a good person", while feeling superior to those who haven't learned to "rise above it all" as we have.  While we may feel good much of the time within this bubble we've created, situations will present themselves that continue to activate us anyway.  Some examples of this may be: feeling "taken advantage of" because you're "too nice", or finding yourself constantly depleted because you do so much for others.

When we understand that every experience and encounter is an opportunity for us to be curious about our response to it, we get the opportunity to continually deepen our healing.  

With love,

One Breath Institute

Founder Lisa McNett

Co-Founder Debbie Schirmann

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