Sacred Sunday: Meditation Isn't the Only Route
Embracing the Many Roads to Peace
Happy Sacred Sunday, sweet souls 🌞💛
My dad sent me something on Instagram this week that’s been living in my head (rent-free, of course). It was a post by Dr. Zach Bush, where he talked about working with a woman on her physical pain.
But here’s the wild part—after experiencing some intense discomfort, she gasped and realized her anxiety vanished. Why? Because that pain brought her back into her body.
Not just existing… but fully present. Fully here.
Why was this so important to me?
He explained how she had been trying to escape not just her pain, but also intense anxiety—through practices like working with her kundalini energy and meditating her way out of it. In simpler terms, it was spiritual bypassing, or a form of escapism.
And the truth is, so many of us do this without even realizing it—chasing a sense of freedom from our physical, emotional, or mental pain, not knowing that in the process… we might actually be keeping ourselves stuck.
I used to think meditation was the cure for everything.
Bad day? Meditate.
Anxious thoughts? Meditate.
Existential dread? Obvious answer—meditate and throw in a crystal for good measure!
That is… until I read The Body Keeps The Score by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk. That book shifted everything. I dive deeper into what I discovered in this post:
Sacred Sunday: Suffering From Memories
“Some people’s lives seem to flow in a narrative; mine had many stops and starts. That’s what trauma does. It interrupts the plot….It just happens, and then life goes on. No one prepares you for it.
Eventually, I realized something that changed everything: meditation doesn’t always work—because it’s not always the medicine needed.
There are times when I sit down to meditate, close my eyes… and my mind just won’t shut up. Not even a little. Instead of breathing through it like some peaceful monk, I end up spiraling into a full-blown emotional storm. Then comes the self-judgment for not being able to sit still or “just be.” And of course, I’m internally yelling, “Damn my ADHD!!!”
But that’s when I started to understand something deeper:
Stillness isn’t the answer when your energy needs to MOVE.
There are days when, instead of silence, I need to punch my pillow, scream into the void (or my car), dance like I’m summoning rain, or walk outside for an hour just to remind myself that I have legs that can and will carry me through this.
Because guess what? You don’t just silence anxiety—you shake it off.
Anxiety is just anticipation.
Anxiety is a natural human emotion characterized by feelings of worry, unease, or apprehension, often triggered by perceived threats or uncertainty, which can manifest physically and psychologically.
It’s your mind living five steps ahead, predicting doom in high-definition.
So why would closing your eyes and sitting still with those thoughts make it better? Personally, all that does is give my anxiety more screen time.
This realization also helped me understand why talk therapy doesn’t work for everyone.
Don’t get me wrong—I love talk therapy, I love yapping! I think it’s a gift to be witnessed in your healing and guided through it. But if you’re anything like me, and you’re already hyper-aware of your patterns, your triggers, and your traumas, but you’re just stuck in a loop… you might not need more talking. You might need a physical push.
Sometimes the truth is already in your face. You’ve analyzed it six different ways. You know the “why.” You know the cycle. What you need now is to break it.
And that doesn’t happen through more talking—it happens through action. A therapist can tell you all day, every day what you need to do. But how many times have you nagged someone just for them not to do it? That’s when you know it’s time to pivot to a new method of healing and growing.
So… when should you meditate?
Meditation is beautiful and healing—when it fits the moment.
Here’s when it actually helps me:
• When my thoughts are spiraling and I need to observe them, not absorb them.
• When I’m feeling disconnected from Spirit or my inner voice.
• When I’m overstimulated and need to regulate my nervous system gently.
• When I want to be still because I feel safe being still.
But meditation is not the move when:
• I’m physically jittery and can’t sit still without feeling caged.
• My emotions are bubbling right under the surface, about to explode.
• I’m trying to get out of my head, but closing my eyes makes the thoughts louder.
• I’m overwhelmed, and my body’s begging for movement—not mindfulness.
One thing I’m realizing even as I write this—release first, regulate second. At least that’s my formula, but try to understand what works best for you depending on the situation.
I’ve come to see meditation as more of a maintenance tool than a starting point. Yes, there are times when you need to calm yourself down to begin releasing something—but if that feels nearly impossible, don’t force it.
Start with your body.
Ask yourself: Is it tired? Restless? Hungry?
Before you try to quiet your mind, try tuning into what your body is actually asking for. You might be surprised how much shifts just by listening.
Somatic therapy or movement-based practices are often what you need when your body is holding onto unprocessed emotion or trauma. That’s the phase where you need to get things out of your system—not sit with them. You can’t meditate your way through a body that still thinks it’s in danger. You have to move that stuck energy first.
Once you’ve shaken some of that energy loose, that’s when meditation starts to feel like a true refuge—rather than a frustrating chore.
I used to hate meditating. My mom spent years trying to convince me of its benefits, but it never really clicked until I actually connected with my body.
It’s the check-in, the upkeep, the return to center.
But the truth is… you can’t come back to center if you’ve never been given the space to fully leave your pain in the first place.
Therapy comes in many forms. And we need all of them.
Movement is therapy.
Music is therapy.
Screaming into your pillow? Surprisingly therapeutic. Maybe try a rage room?
Journaling, painting, crying to a sad song, hiking in silence—therapy.
Dancing in your living room under moonlight like a chaotic fairy queen? Yep, therapy too.
Getting a massage, acupuncture, and other holistic methods like energy work?Therapy.
Healing isn’t one-size-fits-all.
Some days you need to go inward. Other days, you might need to go out. What matters is knowing the difference, and permitting yourself to do both.
Your anxiety doesn’t make you broken.
Sometimes it just means your body is trying to help you process something your mind can’t hold on its own.
So next time you’re tempted to sit still and “get over it,” check-in:
Do I need silence—or do I need movement?
Do I need to go within—or shake the shadows off?
The answer might surprise you. But trust—it’s always within you.
See y’all next time, stay divine💛
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Love it 🩷🩷
Amazing Grace. So beautiful and resonant and clear. Bless you. Thank you! 💛💛