Each encounter we make in life gives us the benefit of positive and negative experience. If we are psychically and spiritually aligned, then the best we can take from any situation is wisdom - how to deal with a similar problem in the future or the ability to pass our discoveries on to someone in the same position that we once were. However, if we are not at our full psychic strength then experiences can wound us and, inevitably, we are left with spiritual baggage.

What is spiritual baggage?

Spiritual baggage can be likened to household clutter. It serves no real positive purpose and, ultimately, can get in the way of our truly enjoying ourselves. So why do we accumulate it? The answer lies in the division between the conscious and the unconscious mind and the way in which they operate. In any situation, especially traumatic ones, we instinctively look for a way to take control of it. We comfort ourselves that we still have some choice in the matter – no matter how illusory this thought might be. The subconscious mind will analyze and respond to both the positive and negative factors of an event and try to make sense of them both. The conscious mind, however, will generally focus on one or other aspect – and it would appear to be human nature to dwell on the negative.

Peculiarly, even clinging to the negative aspects of a situation will give us a sense of security, albeit a false one. Most of us are aware of people who seem to ‘enjoy a drama’ or are ‘never happy unless they’re miserable’. As strange as it may seem, these statements are more accurate than we might first think. Retaining anything from a trauma or event, no matter how negative, leads us to believe that we are still in control, that we own part of the event and that we have taken something from it. Yet accumulating negative baggage can only serve to weigh us down, both spiritually and psychically.

Breathing out

If accumulating spiritual baggage is like holding your breath, then ‘letting go’ is life a psychic exhalation - it takes with it the negative concerns that can latch onto your psyche and subvert it into a pessimistic, unconstructive force. It also allows us to inhale again, having made room for all the positivity that can evade us when we are so spiritually downcast and even affect our physical health.

If you are suffering from the psychic effects of an event, the first thing you must do is realise that, by clinging on to what has been, you have much less control than if you were to let them go. Begin by putting yourself into a relaxed state and focussing on all the positive things that your life has to offer and that you have to offer life. If this sounds like an ego-massage, then that’s because it is. A massage relieves tension and stress and it is possible to massage your psyche as much as it is your neck or shoulders. As you affirm to yourself how much you have to give, you should find negative thoughts creeping in. This is your subconscious attempting to expel its own stresses and strains. As these thoughts appear, visualise them as images, no matter how abstract they may be. Then, rather like colour-separation overlay in films, drain the colour from that negative image, making it spectral. Once the image is ghostly, transpose one of your first, positive affirmations over the top of it, giving it bright colour, detail and sound. This will tell your subconscious that the time has come to convert harmful thoughts into healing ones.

As you practice these meditations, your subconscious will start to reassess each situation that is causing you psychic distress and, ultimately, you will achieve a balanced view of your experiences, allowing you to move forward with clearer vision.