Breathing out Shame

A crystal came into my dream last week. It was an ancient fossil shell with a natural spiral. It sang of releasing old patterns of shame. I found this crystal tucked away with other shells and spiralling wood wands. I have been keeping it close by.

During this time that this crystal shell was filling my space with its energy, I noticed that old memories of shameful experiences began to surface. Because this stone spiral came to me at a time when I had been doing lung work I paid attention to the connection between breath and shame.

Destructive Spiral

Shame is quite a powerfully oppressive emotion. The only way to set yourself free from it, is to openly speak your truth. However, when you are in its grip, authentic expression is impossible. It sits in your throat and every time you try to speak it gets tighter and more painful. It is a relentless spiral that keeps us locked in its repetitive pattern.

I know this emotion intimately. I had unknowingly been stuck in it for much of my early life. Even though I always had so much to say to the world I rarely opened my mouth to speak. It seemed futile, when what sounded so eloquent in my thoughts, always ended up coming out in an inelegant jumble of disjointed ideas.

My Shame became my Prison

I am looking at these old shameful memories rising up now with different eyes. Thanks to a boost of strength and new insights from my spiral crystal guide, I can see so clearly that my shame had been my prison. It kept me quietly suffering in false beliefs that I should be ashamed of things that I’d done and who I was.

Shame is such a prevalent emotion among human beings. It spreads and intensifies each time we hold our tongues. It has kept us silent and stuck in fear for ages, women and other oppressed segments of societies, especially.

Freeing our voice

This is a period in our history when the voices of the marginalized are beginning to be heard by those who have always been protected from discrimination. It is also a time when the most oppressed voice in our world, woman’s voice, is being expressed. She is speaking openly of the injustice, the inequality, the abuse, and other violations that she had once kept silently imprisoned in. With this, her shame is being expunged.

For me, shame had been living in my breath and in my voice (lungs/throat/jaw). I find myself wondering if other sensitive (and maybe not so sensitive) souls are feeling this too. Could it be just a coincidence that the virus that is spiralling around the globe is affecting our lungs. If we are collectively storing feelings of shame in the body’s seat of breath, then it actually makes so much sense.

Crystal’s Supportive frequency

How do we release these old patterns and feelings while protecting our body and our breath? There are many ways to find freedom from the prison of shame. Crystals are one of my favourites. They have a gentle energy that reflect our inner state while gently holding our heart in a frequency of love.