{"id":19,"date":"2010-07-27T13:33:54","date_gmt":"2010-07-27T13:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html"},"modified":"2010-07-27T13:33:54","modified_gmt":"2010-07-27T13:33:54","slug":"barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html","title":{"rendered":"Barriers to Spiritual Practice: Don’t Let Fear Hold You Back"},"content":{"rendered":"

Approach the world of spiritual practice with trust
\nand an open heart. Don’t be afraid of spiritual experiences. Strange sensations
\nof energy, a feeling of deep love, vulnerability, connectedness, a loss of ego
\nand control are all aspects of spiritual experience that test and try people’s
\nlimits. Such profound and healing encounters can trigger fear and resistance.
\nPeople doubt what they don’t know, they resist what they don’t understand, and
\nthey cling to what is familiar. It is a longing for safety that sacrifices
\nfreedom and growth. Some even fear for their mental and physical health when
\nthen begin to have pronounced spiritual experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

All these concerns are about practices and experiences
\nare not hollow. We have all seen examples of people who seem very committed to
\na religion or spiritual practice and the outcome is only distraction, a new
\nsource of control or, worse, a rational for the judgment of others. These,
\nhowever, would not be examples of effective applications of spiritual practices,
\nnor an effective expression of an integration of what spiritual experience teaches.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

A healthy spiritual practice is both the mechanics and<\/i> a certain mindset about the
\npractice. These elements, combined with guidance, grace, and dedication, are
\nthe elements necessary to liberate the human spirit. Without an open mind and
\nheart, without a sincere desire to learn, grow and discover, any spiritual
\npractice can become a barrier<\/i> to
\ngrowth. <\/span><\/p>\n

Much
\nof what scares people about spirituality is its common incongruence with the
\nabsolute trust in science and the five ordinary senses. The spiritual world
\nlargely remains beyond the scope of material science, however, that is not a
\nproblem, that is simply it’s nature. <\/span><\/span>In his magnificent book, “The Little Prince,” Antoine de Saint-Exupery writes, “<\/span><\/span>It is only with the
\nheart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph
\nCampbell, the great historian of mythology and religion, affirms this by
\npointing out that nearly every culture in the world holds foundational stories
\nof sacred heroes who’s only salvation comes from facing their deepest fears and
\nrisking the life that is familiar in favor of a willingness to explore the
\nunknown. Often we must die to what we know in order to be reborn and revived.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is this dimension of the spiritual journey that
\nremains the greatest barrier: fear. Anywhere fear lives, the Spirit retreats.
\nIn groups, in families, or in ourselves. Where fear grows, love is diminished,
\nand the qualities of The Sacred are forgotten. People become paralyzed by the
\nfear of the unknown, the fear of being rejected, the fear of not being in
\ncontrol, and the fear of the discomfort they will face as they surrender who
\nthey have come to believe they are. <\/span><\/p>\n

A healthy spiritual practice will cause you to become
\naware of your limits and your opportunities to heal and grow. This ensures that
\nit will not always be easy, but that it will always be worthwhile. My own
\njourney has also come with many difficult cross-roads: loneliness, surprises,
\nthe recognition of old wounds, hard choices, and the need to make many
\nsacrifices. It has also blessed me with the most rewarding gifts and an abundant
\nsense of personal power, happiness and freedom. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/p>\n

 Excerpt from Return to the Sacred<\/a>.<\/span><\/font><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Approach the world of spiritual practice with trust and an open heart. Don’t be afraid of spiritual experiences. Strange sensations of energy, a feeling of deep love, vulnerability, connectedness, a loss of ego and control are all aspects of spiritual experience that test and try people’s limits. Such profound and healing encounters can trigger fear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[46,45,18,22,47,35],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spirituality","tag-fear","tag-healing","tag-jonathan-ellerby","tag-return-to-the-sacred","tag-spiritual-experiences","tag-spiritual-practice"],"yoast_head":"\nBarriers to Spiritual Practice: Don't Let Fear Hold You Back - Practical Spirituality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Barriers to Spiritual Practice: Don't Let Fear Hold You Back - Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Approach the world of spiritual practice with trust and an open heart. Don’t be afraid of spiritual experiences. Strange sensations of energy, a feeling of deep love, vulnerability, connectedness, a loss of ego and control are all aspects of spiritual experience that test and try people’s limits. Such profound and healing encounters can trigger fear…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-07-27T13:33:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jonathan Ellerby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Barriers to Spiritual Practice: Don't Let Fear Hold You Back - Practical Spirituality","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Barriers to Spiritual Practice: Don't Let Fear Hold You Back - Practical Spirituality","og_description":"Approach the world of spiritual practice with trust and an open heart. Don’t be afraid of spiritual experiences. Strange sensations of energy, a feeling of deep love, vulnerability, connectedness, a loss of ego and control are all aspects of spiritual experience that test and try people’s limits. Such profound and healing encounters can trigger fear…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html","og_site_name":"Practical Spirituality","article_published_time":"2010-07-27T13:33:54+00:00","author":"Jonathan Ellerby","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html","name":"Barriers to Spiritual Practice: Don't Let Fear Hold You Back - Practical Spirituality","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-07-27T13:33:54+00:00","dateModified":"2010-07-27T13:33:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/1e6e315f058fe48ff9fbb7e18623a0ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/barriers-to-spiritual-practice-dont-let-fear-hold-you-back.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Barriers to Spiritual Practice: Don’t Let Fear Hold You Back"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/","name":"Practical Spirituality","description":"Spirituality","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/1e6e315f058fe48ff9fbb7e18623a0ee","name":"Jonathan Ellerby","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/895\/8954139ebab28e38697498462f724370x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/895\/8954139ebab28e38697498462f724370x96.jpg","caption":"Jonathan Ellerby"},"description":"Featured as an expert in films, print, television, and radio, Jonathan Ellerby, Ph.D., is the author of \"Return to the Sacred\" and the Spiritual Program Director for the internationally acclaimed Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Jonathan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s background includes a PhD in Comparative Religion with a focus on health and healing systems, as well as training and work as a hospital chaplain, Interfaith Minister, executive consultant and coach.","sameAs":["http:\/\/jonathanellerby.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/author\/jellerby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}