Embodiment & Spiritual Bypassing: The difference between mental and messy spirituality


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The world of chakras, kundalini, energy & intuition is infinitely intriguing to most modern women.

As an aspect of ourselves that we cant see, or touch or were not raised to understand Many of us feel that this spiritual & energetic aspect of our body holds many, many secrets.

Yet while its delicious to learn about yourself, and to see oh yes I do identify with that solar plexus power issue  its actually quite another journey to take that conceptual spirituality, the intellectual knowing, and make it true in your body.


Embodied spirituality is the practice of not only understanding the theory with your mind, but also anchoring it into your human being.

Embodiment is the step that makes it practical, lived, a spiritual experience in your skin.

Its something I had to learn the hard way.


My first few years learning & working with energy as a kinesiologist which is rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine – I was working with energy in very disembodied ways.
And I believe most women are.

The very definition of embodied spirituality is the deep truth that you sense, feel and honor within your body. 

Which means it doesnt matter if you cant remember what all the chakras do. Its got nothing to do with how much kundalini youve awoken.  
Or how many crystals youve got around the house.  
And its okay if youre not clairvoyant.

None of these are true measures of how spiritual you are.


The truest measure of a spiritual woman.
Is a woman who is true with herself.

A woman who is willing to tell herself the truth.
To feel the truth of her body.
And to honor the wisdom from within her.

This kind of spirituality is really just a form of honest living.


Its not fancy. Its not conceptual. Its often not pretty.

Honest spirituality is often the hardest to do.
Because being truthful with ourselves is uncomfortable.

Its one thing to understand oh I have a power issue with my solar plexus chakra and I should breathe this way and get this crystal to help me heal.

It’s quite another thing to sit in a moment where you have forsaken your own power. To open, and feel the pain or shame or hurt or any texture of uncomfortable feeling that might be present – and to lovingly be with it.


This is embodied spirituality.
A woman feeling it.  
In her human body.

A woman sensing her deepest truth.

Even when shes giving her power away.  
Especially when shes giving her power away.


We can see that when spirituality remains a polite concept,
It’s actually escapism.

This form of spirituality is known as spiritual bypassing.
It’s a popular trend that’s everywhere.


Where instead of showing our true selves to the world.
We dress up in flower crowns with insta-perfect snaps smiling pretty to match the image of what spirituality should look like.

Where instead of talking about the uncomfortable truth what we really need to express, we simmer in polite silence, saying nothing at all.

Where instead of feeling the uncomfortable & honor the human parts of ourselves  which are just as spiritual as the light & love. We seek out someone to magic our pain & suffering away.


If your spirituality is not hot, messy, human & uncomfortable…
It’s not spirituality in my book.


Yet conceptual spirituality is a necessary right of passage. Its the door of true luminous living beginning to crack open. Giving us a taste of whats possible.

And there is deep truth in all the concepts of spirituality.
But only when you’re living them.
Only when you’re embodying them.


On a super practical note, in my work with women Ive come to see that we can reduce all the complexities of charkas, meridians, prana, chi and the rest of it into two key feminine gateways.

These gateways are the essential feminine aspects of our energy body that we can tap into most easily. You can download your copy of these gateways as part of the Feminine Magnetism Map below and at www.jennaward.co/map if youd like to learn more.

You dont know to know more theory to be spiritual.
You just have to feel more truth.magnet map

About The Author
Jenna Ward

Welcome! I’m Jenna Ward. Feminine Embodiment Coach & Founder of the School of Embodied Arts. I’m an Australian woman living between Australia & the Netherlands. I speak English & een beetje Nederlands (that means, a little bit of Dutch). Mother of one. Lover of chai, chocolate & champagne. Read more here.

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