SOUL SICKNESS AND SOUL LOSS #3

Here is this weekend's blog - a bit early

Some Physiological Effects of Soul Sickness 

The psychiatrist Stephen Porges has enhanced our understandings of how the parasympathetic nervous system and its vagus nerve work. Many disagree with his principles but they have been found to be  effective in the treatment of abused children, notably his Safe Sound Protocol. Attachment theory say that a compassionate caregiver/s is vital for the early development of a child. Abused children who are treated with humiliation and disgust often have soul sickness. It is essential for a child to feel safe, secure, seen and heard and not to believe they were born a mistake. The Safe Sound Protocol helps to connect the child to the high frequencies of a compassionate human voice with auditory engagement.

 

His is a complicated theory but may be worth thinking about. Here is a brief outline - there is a lot of detail on the Internet for those interested.

There are two vagal branches - a dorsal and a ventral one. The ventral or front vagus nerve is a much more recent evolutionary addition according to Porges. It is common to mammals that raise live young (not reptiles, birds or fish). It goes directly to the muscles of the face, ear and voice, helping to determine expression and is active in social engagement. When the ventral vagal nerve is active we seek and initiate social contact. The ventral vagus is responsible for social engagement, facial expression and also tuning in to high vibrational hearing which is key to Porges' Safe Sound Protocol. This is an effective therapy for these children, connecting them with the ventral vagus and facilitating social re-engagement. It activates the parasympathetic ventral vagus in severe stress preventing and helping the child to come out of dorsal vagal shutdown. This method can alleviate the soul sickness and shame caused by developmental trauma. 

The dorsal vagus controls our thoracic and abdominal organs. Normally the dorsal vagus, part of the parasympathetic nervous system, serves as our relaxation response. It helps the body modulate stress. It can be enhanced by meditative techniques. However, in rare instances when the sympathetic nervous system is too aroused by extreme stress, the dorsal vagus can override the sympathetic Flight or Fight response and shut down the entire system, inducing a Freeze response.

 

The sympathetic nervous system controls our flight or fight response which increases our heart rate and blood pressure, dilates our pupils and increases metabolic rate to prime our bodies into action. However, the dorsal vagus can override it in these extreme conditions. It also tunes out high frequency sounds but will respond to low frequency threat sounds such as a predatory growl. Porges' Safe Sound Protocol  uses high vibrational sound to slowly overcome this shut down response in these unfortunate children.

The Broken Heart Syndrome  

can be a byproduct of acute soul sickness caused by severe emotional or physical stress. It is a reversible heart condition occurring almost exclusively in women. The stress causes cardiomyopathy and a weakening of the muscle of the left ventricle. The main symptoms are chest pain and shortness of breath without evidence of coronary artery obstruction. The symptoms are due to a ballooning of the left ventricle which can be seen on imaging studies. Recovery occurs usually within a month. It can mimic a heart attack.

General Principles in the Prevention of Soul Sickness

"I am guarding my light and my treasure, convinced that nobody would gain and I myself would be badly, even hopelessly injured, if I should lose it. It is most precious not only to me, but above all to the darkness of the Creator, who needs humans to illuminate his Creation.” C. G. Jung

 

“To confront a person with his own shadow is to show him his own light.” C. G. Jung

“... What counts is to restrain the blaze in the hours of desire and let it flow into the hours of prayer and service.”  Talmud

 

Prevention is better than cure. Prevention is about having a spiritual life and not submitting to the wiles of a sensory body hypnotized by the temptations of excess and greed.

If you would dispel the darkness, seek the sacred.

 

Be careful of what you taste and where you immerse.

 

And as for your power what are you doing in the wrong circle.

 

Grieving is essential when confronted with severe trauma and this means fully acknowledging the truth and expressing it to those who can hear and support, so that the pain can be released. Denial or hiding it away will not work.

 

”I was never asked, “Aren’t you finished grieving yet?” Rather, they would say – “have you grieved enough? Have you cried enough?” Blame, guilt and shame, come from being unable to express our grief properly…” Sobonfu Some' (quoting her African mentors)

 

Grief may require special rituals and communal help – sometimes it take a village as in a recovery program. Indigenous societies have their own rituals that have to do with forgiveness and letting go that are effective.

 

“May you have the commitment to know what has hurt you, to allow it to come close to you and in the end become one with you.” Payer of Finton

 

“I saw grief drinking from cup and called out, ‘it tastes good does it not?’ ‘You've caught me Grief answered and you've ruined my business. How can I sell sorrow when you know it's a blessing?”  Rumi

Everything should be considered a test.

 

We are continually being tested – not about how much we know or how well we perform but that our trust, our love and our faith are being always tested at unexpected times in often unrecognized guises…

The sages teach that without the sacred there is no mundane and without the mundane there is no sacred.
They are different sides of the same reality.
They are unique but not separate from the whole.

Spiritual knowledge and practice can help us overcome the trials and tribulations of life and mitigate or prevent pain, suffering and the possibility of soul sickness.

Love, laughter and song chase away the dark forces and all that is dreaded from your nights and days.

 

"If you don't want to see the shadow, turn your face to the sun."

Aboriginal proverb

 

 

SOUL SICKNESS AND SOUL LOSS #2

Shame, Severe Guilt and Self-Condemnation 

 

“Shame is the swampland of the soul.” C.J. Jung

When ego, monkey mind and shadow predominate they can induce us to misbehave and create severe body, mind and spirit dysfunction causing Soul Sickness or in severe circumstances Soul Loss. When we condemn ourselves severely and lastingly shame results. Shame can come from within from self-abuse - (committing a crime, “sex drugs, rock and roll” etc.)  It can also occur from without because of one or other form of severe abuse from another or others early or late in life. There are also other causes for shame.

Sometimes, depending on its severity, aggravated guilt can lead to shame. Shame is about feeling bad about who one is rather than only one’s actions. We all do bad things but this does not make us bad. We are responsible for, but are not our actions, and should not magnify them. We need to release ourselves from what we are not accountable and shift the blame to where and whom it belongs. Shame can occur even if we have done nothing wrong. No one is perfect.

"To err is human, to forgive divine."

When non-toxic – guilt or shame can also help us self-correct. Otherwise it can be a crippling emotional force which can be aggravated by humiliation and isolation. It cuts us off from our higher consciousness and puts the brain in lockdown, survival mode cutting us off from our higher consciousness. We are responsible for but are not our actions. Guilt and shame may decrease self-motivation and control. Belief that one is bad and out of control makes one more so!  This may lessen accountability and cause more dysfunction. This “dis”-ease can cause depression and even disease. Shame and guilt also increase proinflammatory factors which can increase the incidence of certain illnesses. 

Severe shame can also have acute physical effects including a lowered head, downcast eyes, voice alteration and a slack posture. Sometimes when politicians, who have a measure of conscience, know they are telling shameful lies, their speech falters and their voice cracks.

Flushing due to our sympathetic autonomic response can also occur and is more intense than flushing. It can extend to the ears, neck and upper chest and over more of the body, Severe blushing can make it difficult for the person to feel comfortable in either social or professional situations. 

Attachment theory states that a strong emotional and physical attachment to at least one primary caregiver is critical to personal development early on in life. Abused children can feel unseen, unheard, unsafe, un-soothed and insecure. Shame can occur early in life if a child is continually put down and humiliated by a toxic caregiver, especially if this is associated with the emotion of disgust. The child believes that they were born a mistake and are no good for anything. Abandonment can also be due to the child being forced to take care of the caregive's physical and emotional needs. 

 Shame can be due to any form of abuse, physical, sexual (including voyeurism) or emotional. Humiliation aggravates the shame. Shame can turn inward or outward leading to unskillful desires, habits, impulses, compulsions, hatred, anger, vengeful actions, malice and addictions.

“Malice sucks up the greater part of her own venom and poisons herself.”  Michel de Montaigne

 

The child dreads the possibility of being abandoned. This may lead to perfectionism to find some measure of control and avoid criticism or bodily harm. As they mature they might overact to give the impression of normalcy.  Appearing to be invulnerable is also a method of defense. Sometimes two personas are developed; a public and a private one. Anger may become a state of being, projecting blame onto others. Numbness, mood disorders and addictions often fill the emptiness inside. 

“If we do not transform our pain we will most assuredly transmit it.” R. Rohr

Sexual abuse may lead to promiscuity or alternatively to an eating disorder in an attempt to appear unattractive. There is a tendency to shut down and an inability to respond to others. 

In the adult, shame can come from any form of severe abuse. There may be abuse from a partner, a would be “guru,” a dysfunctional priest, religious, spiritual or occult cults, etc. 

The Soul is pure and can be redeemed by corrective measures. The soul and body should be allowed to “return” to one another. Psychotherapy alone may not be enough to bring the soul back into the body and allow for self-forgiveness. A skillful shaman and a diligent spiritual practice can help Spacious Mind to subordinate shadow and Monkey mind and restore ego to its rightful place. 

 

The voice of shame is self-judgment, silence, secrecy and invisibility. Brene’ Brown

  

“The wound carries the medicine.” African proverb

 

The only way out of it is through it. Restoring self-love and self-worth can be difficult. Being invulnerable is the enemy of shame. Being vulnerable is to be courageous which implies having the courage to be imperfect and to come out of the closet of shame. To have compassion and empathy for oneself – to treat oneself as one would a good friend. It requires not being stuck in damaging self-talk and self-blame. 

Empathy from a kind, skillful friend, witness or therapist who will listen to one's pain is key.  This is a seminal principle in rehabilitation or recovery programs where one shares one’s dysfunctions with a group in a safe, secure empathetic environment. 

 

“Shame cannot survive being spoken. Find someone you trust and tell them how you’re feeling. Talking with a trusted person will give you a fresh perspective on what’s happening, which will challenge the spiral’s negative views.” Brene’ Brown

 

Treat oneself as one would a good friend. To forgive and love oneself and even have enough compassion to forgive those responsible for the pain. The latter can be excruciating but healing. It is well to remember that they were probably victims of similar circumstance and also that karma will reconcile all grievances. 

 

Be patient with yourself, kind to yourself and, above all, release yourself from what you are not accountable.

The treatment of abused children is more challenging. See next blog.

 

SOUL SICKNESS AND SOUL LOSS #1

 

 

“No matter how you stir a pot of filth it is always a pot of filth. 

Better to let the pot be and string pearls 

for the sake of heaven.” Chassidic saying

 

“It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”  

William Ernest Henley

 

“It is very dangerous (for the soul) to go into eternity with possibilities which one has oneself prevented from becoming realities…” Kierkegard

 

The soul is pure and whole. We are responsible and will be accountable for our actions that affect it when we face a spiritual tribunal at the end of our days. The laws of karma are defaults for keeping the soul aligned with the body. The soul, made in the image of the Divine, is unified and does not split. Some mistakenly believe that the soul can be broken. It is the ego that gets shattered, usually, from severe trauma, not the soul. The soul, however, can separate from the body!

 

From the sound of my sighing has my essence cleaved onto my flesh.

This is speaking of the soul’s essence lodging comfortably in the body... 

 

This wisdom can be found in king David’s psalms. What David means is when we find ourselves in a state of equanimity and peace (my sighing) our body merges with the spirit to become as one.

 

The soul yearns to do the Creator’s will and clings to the body when all is well.
A body caught up in cravings and attached to sentient pleasures distances the soul.
The soul withdraws causing bodily imbalance and illness (which can become sickness).
The body’s (flesh) attachment needs to be broken so the soul (essence) can return to the body.

 

“The soul by reason of lust had become the principle accomplice in her own captivity.” Plato

 

The soul is neither a captive nor an accomplice to lust from the body. 

The soul is pure and checks out from the body when it becomes challenged by toxic behavior due to ego or the shadow. It is never imprisoned by it. 

“The soul is pure ... The strength of the forces of holiness and the destruction of the shells or husks that imprison holy sparks, depends upon joy.” 

Rev Nachman

One should not separate the soul from the 

Senses, 

Joy/happiness 

 The heart and love...

Our soul is made for joy and the more we truly love the more we will experience it and become its very essence.

We are here on the planet to enjoy our senses responsibly, enhance the creation and help all the Four Beings of Nature. Having our senses is a gift to be savored. Once we pass over to the elsewhere we jettison the sensory body and leave the five senses behind. Of all the things we may miss on the other side we may miss our loss of senses the most. The senses then can only be experienced in the imagination which is not the same.

The soul's fulfillment is through the experience of the senses.
The soul's conversation is not of the mind. It is best heard with the senses.

Love of Self and love of others are key. Self-Condemnation or Recrimination are impediments to the soul's journey. Loving Self and others are catalysts for its true path.

 

“To awaken the heart is to awaken the dormant soul.” M. Gandhi

 

When the heart is muffled the soul shrinks.

 

Monkey (Narrow) mind gets in the way of the connection between body, heart and soul. The Heart Math Institute confirms that there are more impulses going from the heart to the brain than vice versa. 

 

The rational mind often gets in the way of what the heart must embrace in order to coax the soul to open.

 

The soul’s language is learned by listening with the heart. It has many sounds including that of silence. Its eloquence is universal.

We begin when we love our neighbors as ourselves, not necessarily as an emotion or a sentiment but as a commitment. We do not have to like them, only to see the divine spark in them, and respect them, as we should respect ourselves and our Self- worth, with compassion. 

Mahatma Gandhi describes the seven things that will destroy us. 

Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Science without humanity
Worship without sacrifice
Politics without principle   

To the extent that the soul partly separates from the body, soul sickness can occur. Soul sickness can lead to soul loss which can have a grim prognosis. Soul sickness is more easily corrected.

Soul sickness can be associated with many factors including: 

The wrong rules of life. Attachment to the lures of materialism and a lack of a spiritual life - the "yoke" of being attached to the ego and an unawareness of Self - the True Self. Protecting the ego and the persona against all spiritual possibilities. The toxic side of social media, television and technology. Being impregnated with bad news concerning murder, pandemics, war or fear of impending war, climate change, earth calamities and the deteriorating condition of the planet etc. Others causes include violence, abuse, misery, isolation, loneliness, extreme fatigue, burn out, sickness, depression, malignant politics and a morbid fear of death. The rugged individualism in the United States and a "Lone Ranger" mentality can create loneliness and isolation. Paul Simon’s song; “I am a rock, I am an island, and a rock feels no pain and an island never cries.” is the antithesis of what is required for the heart, love, soul and happiness. Vulnerability and connection to others are the key to soul health.                                                                                                   

“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love. It is the prerogative of the brave.” M. Gandhi 

We think of vulnerability as being weak when in fact it's the opposite. Being vulnerable is being courageous and is a love vibration. Vulnerability is also about loving oneself enough to admit to and forgive one’s iniquities. God and Jesus will forgive us for anything we have done to our higher Selves but we have to be able to forgive ourselves.

Soul Loss is more extreme than Soul Sickness and can come from: 

Self-abuse including that from sex, drugs, alcohol and addictions. Severe abuse from another or others. Critical illness, trauma, violence, war and rape. Indulging in cults especially, satanic and religious especially when associated with war, murder or violence (Isis, Boca Haram, drug cartels and others.) 

Spiritual diseases such as intrusive spirits and even possession by a dark spirits, energetic pollution, witchcraft and sorcery can cause sickness or even soul loss. These are unsupported by western thinking and are discounted but are real.

Soul sickness and loss are also associated with the symptoms of their causes including;  “dis”-ease, misery, isolation, fatigue, depression, anxiety, suicide, divorce, family disintegration, substance abuse, eating disorders, hopelessness, doubt, denial, resignation, detachment, depression, desperation and false convictions arising from lying dogmas. “Dis-ease” can also lead to disease.

 Shame, Severe Guilt, Self-Condemnation and Recrimination 

Will be discussed next week.