Day 32 of My 40 Day Fast: What Is Inner Work?

Inner work is the process of self-awareness, such as figuring out what makes you tick, what your triggers are, what walls you’ve put up around yourself, etc. Inner work involves healing wounds within yourself you’ve been carrying since childhood. The process is different for everyone.

It’s also about forgiving those who have hurt you so they no longer have power over you. Carrying negative emotions towards another has the effect of lowering your own vibration, that’s giving a person too much power. What they did to you is not your burden to bear, but their’s.

All that needs healing within us is what is known in the spiritual circle as shadow work. When you become aware of your shadows, you've won half the battle. Becoming conscious of your shadows is to shed light on them, and you are able to begin the process of working on them.

Silencing your thoughts and going within yourself is a helpful tool for self-awareness. Working on raising your vibration also helps in becoming aware when you're operating at a low-vibration.

We all have energy within us, some call it a soul, spirit, life-force, it all refers to energy. We are spiritual beings in a physical body. Energy has a frequency. Our energy can vibrate at a high frequency or a low frequency. Our emotions affect the frequency of our energy. Lighter, uplifting emotions, such as love, happiness, joy, gratitude, etc., are high-vibrational emotions because they lift our energy up. Heavy emotions, such as anger, jealousy, sadness, depression, etc., bring our energy down. You can see the physical effects of uplifting and heavy emotions on a person. This is what is means to be high-vibe or low-vibe.

Living life high-vibe feels good and serves our overall health. Living life in a constant low-vibe state will cause ill-effects on our health.

In the spirit realm, spiritual beings vibrate at a high or low frequency. I refer to them as higher beings and lower beings. When you operate at a high-vibration, you are better able to connect with higher beings and are also able to manifest your prayers and desires. When you operate at a low-frequency, lower beings have access to you. They will drive you to low-vibrational activities and manipulate your emotions so that you stay low-vibe. My experience has shown me there are powerful forces out there, and it’s a good idea to get as far away from lower beings as possible.

Harbouring negative feelings towards another brings your energy down, and that’s why forgiveness is important. Forgiveness isn't about the other person, it's about you.

When you work on becoming high-vibrational, you start to notice your triggers. When I was faced with an angry customer at work, they would provoke anger within me. When I was faced with an angry driver on the road, they would provoke anger within me. I was letting strangers draw me into a negative space. The interaction would fall deeper into negativity as though we were transferring negative energy to each other. We were playing off one another without being conscious of it.

Negative emotions don’t dissipate right away. They simmer inside and bring down the mood. I realized the anger roiling inside of me could not be good for my health. How could I let a complete stranger take away my peace so easily? Because I wasn’t really at peace.

Often times when you do inner work, you uncover things that have been growing within you since childhood. This varies for each individual. For example, how a parent treated you throughout childhood may be affecting you more than you realize.

I’ve also realized because of my past I have developed trust issues, and that's made it hard for me to let new people into my life. I avert people’s gaze and keep to myself. While this feels safe, I’m preventing opportunities from entering into my life.

Life has made me very self-reliant and independent, which are good qualities, but they are also qualities I want to work on for when the potential for a serious relationship comes along. I want a man who is a leader, and if I want a man who is a leader then I have to let him lead. I need to know when to let go of the reigns.

There are many parts of me that I've become aware of over the years, and I look at them as interesting rather than good or bad. It's important to leave judgement out of the process. There is always some new part to discover. Self-discovery and healing is an engaging, thought-provoking life-long journey.

At times I was at a loss about where to start with inner work, and so I prayed to God to help me become conscious of what I need to work on within myself to become the best version of myself. Seeking guidance in the process will broaden the experience.

The first step is to find a quiet place, silence your thoughts, and sit in meditation. Go within yourself get to know yourself. Place an intention for your meditation. Your intention could simply be to sit in silence and focus on meditation. If you are looking for answers then pose the question to yourself. Clearing out the mind's chatter can open pathways that may not have been there before.