Self Awareness as the Path to Peace
Recognizing the “Pain Body” as the Seed of Outer Conflict
When I found my peace, someone said that because I wasn’t focusing anymore on the bad stuff in the world, that I was just burying my head in the sand. Okay, but by that logic, if you are not looking at all the good in the world, aren’t you burying your head in the sand to that?
Both realities exist. It is where we choose to focus our attention, that determines the quality of our well being.
I am so grateful I shifted my focus.
I used to feed myself daily of with the conflicts of the world. And it had a huge impact on the quality of my life. I projected my fears and worries onto others, whether through my words, actions, or simply my high stress energy.
But everything changed for me when I began to meditate and tap into my higher self connection. Just 5–10 minutes a day of intentional presence slowly shifted my way of being. I found that I had a visceral connection with a better feeling energy.
A higher self resided beneath the over thinking, controlling, worried mind I had spent decades identifying solely with.
Most of us spend our lives believing our thoughts and reactions are us.
I found that my soul self, had a deeper understanding of life and a deep connection to divine energy that previously I hadn’t believed existed. I grew up atheist, believing religion was a joke and that there was nothing beyond this human experience.
Now, I believe. I believe in God, and I believe in Angels and spirit guides, because I literally feel their presence in my peace. And I have faith.
It has taken me a long time to get to a place where I feel comfortable speaking that aloud. Yet I can no longer deny the truth of this, in order to not seem crazy to some people.
My daughter literally told me yesterday, that I stopped being cool when she was 12, because of all of this “spiritual stuff” I was feeling.
(Let’s face it, I could have been the “coolest” mom ever — a “Tik Tok” mom even — and I would have stopped being cool when she was 12 anyway. She’s now 17.)
I believe that we are all deeply connected to what is beyond this human existence. I believe we are all here to bring the love, light, and positive energy that is deep within us, into this human experience.
Yet, I understand where the fight, fear, and reactivity come from.
I used to get so fixated on my anger and frustrations with the outside world, that I wanted to debate with whomever I could. My body was so reactive and ready to argue my point with family, friends, whomever!
I thought what I saw outside of me, was the reason for my inner discomfort and chaos, but it wasn’t.
It was my own “pain body”.
I believe this is at the heart of what is going on in the world right now. Everyone caught up in this endless fight in our society, are responding to everyone else through their “pain body.” This is a term coined by Eckhart Tolle in the book “A New Earth”.
Eckhart describes the pain body as an energetic, emotional representation of the ego, which needs to evoke more suffering in order to strengthen itself.
Essentially, our pain body is made up of our triggers. Whatever trauma and emotional baggage we carry within that has not been dealt with, and we are too afraid to see and feel. And as long as we are blind to our own pain body, we will continue to look outward and fight with others. Projecting our internal suffering onto them, as they project theirs onto us.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself, if you are wondering if your reactions to the world are more about your pain body, than them…
Does your chest tighten up, your stomach knot, and does your breath quicken in response to the things you read or see happening?
If yes, this is a response to fearful energy in your own body that needs to be seen and felt. Empath or not, if you feel this, it is in you. It’s an energetic imprint from your past. And it will reside in you until you take time to see it, feel it, and let it go.
I used to have these reactions, and once I healed my own inner turmoil, it no longer happens. I can now see what is happening out there, without feeling it inside myself.
2. Can you walk away from something disturbing you hear or read, take a deep breath and let it go? Or does it continue to fester inside of you and alter your mood for the rest of the day?
If you cannot let things go, this is because something inside of you has been triggered. When you recognize your trigger, you actually can heal this energy and effortlessly let things go.
3. Do you feel addicted to watching, reading, discussing, and reacting to the “bad stuff” going on in the world?
If you can’t take time away from the “news”, media, and the stewing about all that is bad out there — your own pain body is feeding off of it.
Whether these are the ego’s thoughts of wanting to be “right” (trauma response to feeling inadequate”), or the pain body wanting to validate all the reasons you should be afraid, it is all coming from energy inside you.
Everyone projecting their fears and traumas, toward everyone else’s fears and traumas, is and endless and pointless fight. Nobody wins.
Yet the cycle of this can stop, when we all become self aware enough to stop blaming our discomfort on the world, and look within.
Step away from social media when you feel triggered. Turn off the news when your body starts to react. Pause and ask yourself, where is this coming from? What inside of me needs my attention?
Take a walk outside. Pet your animals. Play a game or have a quiet meal with people you love. Calm your body with daily intentional peace and presence. Detach from the outside world and be with yourself, so you can feel what needs to be felt.
Forgive. Let go.
When we become aware of the darkness within ourselves, we can step out of the fight with the world. The more of us that step out of this fight and return to the love and light within, the less fighting there will be.
We are all aspects of the one great light, and if each of us tends to our own light, the future will be brighter for all.