The Refuge Inside

Where to Find Refuge in Insecure Times

The reason I’ve been teaching people to go into their traumas, to be in loving presence with yourself as you metabolize your darker moments out of your tissues, is primarily because it works. It works on a body level, instantly reversing injuries and traumas, physical, emotional, and energetic. And it often works faster than Joe Dispenza-type believe-your-way-out-of-your-troubles schemes*, though I’m sure there’s some overlap. But there are other reasons I advise people to go down and in, instead of out. Here, I’ll cover three, all terribly important in this time of transition.

When you go in, you encounter yourself. You swoop in with your presence and your loving allowance, find those places where you were once overwhelmed, and you become your own rescuer, throwing rope and life rafts to the forgotten pieces of your soul. This creates self-love. You begin to understand that all the things you didn’t like about yourself are actually parts of the continuum of you, your full range of shadow and gift, none of which is unloveable. This is how adults are meant to walk in the world, acknowledging their shadow tendencies and choosing their higher expressions.

By forgoing the fantasy that you could just wish your way into a new life and, instead, going down into your internal stuck places, you won’t just resource yourself as a grounded, eyes-wide grown-up, you’ll also literally inhabit your body. Nature abhors a vacuum. Just as unoccupied houses soon become partying grounds for mice, raccoons, and bats, your unattended body breaks down, curries infections, and even hosts ghosts and entities. The answer isn’t to abandon ship, but to swab the decks, clean out the holds, and raise the sails. Energetic mastery on all levels is the goal.

A fully inhabited human body is anchored, mind and soul. I can’t think of anything more important at this time, when the Epstein revelations splinter our conception of the world outside. My TCM teacher, an 88th-generation Taoist monk, once told me that the only difference between a crazy person and someone who is perceiving the true nature of the world was absolutely nothing. Except that the sage has the ability to stay grounded.

When the seas are rough, go inside

By focusing outside the body, too much trust is placed in our collective projections. What happens when the world shifts quickly, as it’s doing now? When it’s impossible to know where to look, what to believe, where to go, your body is reliable, safe, and will endlessly resource you. Your own heart is always your best refuge.

Love,

Stella

*If you want to do future visualizations, the ideal time would be after you metabolize your stuck traumas.