There are people who are struggling with pain and stress, and they will meditate so that they can feel more connected. They will do this to avoid pain and to have more joy. But sometimes the pain doesn’t go away, and this practice can just make your life harder. Spiritual bypassing is when you meditate in order to get past things that are hurting you in life and you take up toxic positivity by avoiding what is true.
Spiritual bypassing is when people avoid issues that they don’t face head on that can be interpersonal, personal, or even systematic problems. Spiritual bypassing is when you use meditation or spiritual things as a way to avoid reality and escape the problems that you are having. This can include:
- Not having compassion but detaching instead.
- Using meditation to get past feelings that are uncomfortable.
- Avoiding emotions.
- Meditating to say that you are superior or righteous and not sharing your practices with anyone else.
- Believing that when you meditate you will be able to be positive and you will have joy instead of allowing yourself to face uncomfortable situations or challenges.
Interpersonal Spiritual Bypassing
Interpersonal spiritual bypassing is when you never allow yourself or others to express their painful or negative feelings or emotions. Instead, you refuse to listen. You might say things like:
- Don’t tell me about it. If it makes you uncomfortable then deal with it.
- Stop focusing on the negative but look at the right side of life.
- Be nice and don’t let this make you mad.
Even though saying these things to other people aren’t bad, this can cause people to not be able to express the pain and the hurt that they are going through in an unhealthy manner.
Systematic Spiritual Bypassing
Systematic spiritual bypassing can be when you decide that you don’t see a race or you say things like, “all lives matter.” Even though these are absolutely real and true statements, they aren’t allowing you to have growth or change.
People that choose to be spiritual as a way of escaping life or putting up a wall will use spiritual bypassing to help them. No matter what kind of spiritual works you do, you can face spiritual bypassing if you are using this.
Toxic Positivity
Toxic positivity happens with spiritual bypassing, and this is when you say that nothing is ever bad and that you will keep your vibrations high no matter what happens. When you feel bad, this is toxic and so you avoid it.
Many people will turn to meditation when they are feeling pain or are in suffering because they think that it can make them positive. Meditation isn’t meant for that, and it is meant to ground you, help you to be kind and compassionate to yourself and others and to be able to deal with hard times.
Toxic positivity is hurtful because it doesn’t allow you to grow. Once change is needed, you have to be able to see it and sometimes meditation can cloud your mind and not benefit you.
Avoiding Spiritual Bypassing
You can deal with both spiritual bypassing and toxic positivity by doing these things!
- Meditation
You should meditate each day, but it shouldn’t be to hide feelings and thoughts. Meditate and notice your emotions, pay attention to what you are feeling and have compassion for yourself to change.
- Mindfulness
You need to make sure that you’re being mindful of how you’re handling things. Your emotions are real and when you feel like escaping, notice this. Don’t be impatient with others that want to share their feelings with you.
- Feel the Pain
Meditation shouldn’t be there as a way to cover up what you’re feeling. You need to allow yourself to feel the pain when emotions and other things come up.
- Avoid the Idea that Meditation Fixes Everything
Meditation is great and you should do it, but it won’t fix everything. It should help you to grow and help you to work through things, but it won’t fix things when there are problems.
- Accept That You Need to Open Up
Accept that you need to open up and you need to notice and embrace the feelings and behaviors of others. Don’t push them away and stay closed off to them.
- Everyone Messes Up
Everyone messes up and you have to allow yourself space to be able to do that. When you know that you can do better, do it but if you have messed up, let it go and forgive yourself.
- Be Compassionate with Yourself
Meditation will never make you perfect and will never make you whole. You need to give yourself grace when things happen and when you are working on your shadow self, be even more compassionate.
- Notice Other’s Pain
Learn to notice other people’s pain and to be compassionate with them. This can make you stronger and it can give you more empathy.
I don’t know if I agree with this take. Isn’t the whole point of meditation to distance ourselves from worldly concerns? If escaping pain through spiritual means works for some people, why criticize it?
The concept of spiritual bypassing is indeed real. Psychological studies have shown that when we suppress negative emotions instead of processing them, it often leads to greater distress in the long run. Mindfulness requires embracing all aspects of life, not just the pleasant ones.
‘Toxic positivity’? Really? Sounds like we’ve moved from self-awareness to self-victimization here. Meditation is supposed to uplift us, not make us dwell on every negative emotion we have.
Let me get this straight… we’re now blaming meditation for avoiding problems? What’s next—blaming breathing exercises for climate change?
While I appreciate the point about avoiding toxic positivity, let’s not forget that positivity *can* be a powerful tool when used correctly—it’s all about balance.
Thank you for addressing such an essential topic! It’s easy for people to fall into spiritual bypassing without realizing it, and this article provides clear steps on how to avoid it.
“Avoiding emotions”… how true! This article brilliantly articulates what so many people don’t realize they’re doing: running away from reality under the guise of spiritual practices.
@_Eudaimonia_, completely agree! The path to true growth involves facing discomfort head-on, not escaping it through false positivity.
Honestly, this feels like yet another attempt to demonize something positive. Meditation is about personal growth—if someone finds peace through it, why call it ‘bypassing’? This article seems unnecessarily negative.
‘Feel the pain.’ Yeah, great advice if you’re into masochism. Honestly though, I think there’s value in using meditation as an escape sometimes… Reality can be overrated.
‘Meditate but don’t meditate too much.’ Got it! Thanks for adding another thing to overthink while meditating!
This is a much-needed perspective! People often forget that meditation isn’t a magic cure-all for life’s problems. It should be about mindfulness and facing your emotions, not avoiding them.
I have to disagree here. I think this whole concept of ‘spiritual bypassing’ is just another way to overcomplicate something as simple as meditation. Not everything needs to be dissected like this.
@Skeptic42 – Actually, it’s important that we don’t confuse simplicity with ignorance. Ignoring deeper issues can have long-term consequences.
‘Toxic positivity’—what an interesting term! Sounds like someone took regular positivity and slapped a warning label on it because some people can’t handle optimism properly. Sure, let’s add ‘too happy’ to the list of things we shouldn’t be!
This article raises some valid concerns about how people misuse spirituality as a coping mechanism instead of addressing their real issues head-on. It’s not easy to admit when we’re avoiding something painful.
Agreed! I think there’s a fine line between using meditation for healing and using it to hide from reality. We just need more self-awareness around these practices.
This article touches on an important and often overlooked aspect of modern spirituality. Spiritual bypassing is a real issue that more people need to be aware of, especially in the wellness community. Meditation is a tool for growth, not avoidance. Well done!
“Meditating to say that you are superior or righteous”—well, that explains my yoga instructor! She always talks about how she’s ‘above it all.’ This article nailed it.
@_SchrodingersCat_, unfortunately some people do use spirituality as a mask for their ego rather than a tool for personal growth.
@_SchrodingersCat_, haha! I know exactly the type you’re talking about. So much for humility in spirituality!