Do you ever feel betrayed by your body? You eat well, meditate regularly, exercise wisely, invest in regular bodywork or yoga, and yet you still experience pain, stiffness and various health issues. You are in good company.

According to Dr. Robert Augustus, author of Spiritual Bypassing: When Spirit Disconnects Us From What Really Matters, spiritual bypassing is the use of spiritual beliefs and theory to avoid dealing with unresolved, painful, psychological wounds and unmet needs. The ego-personality actually kidnaps our good spiritual intentions to reinforce it’s own identity and the pursuit of pleasure over the love of absolute truth. Our bodies then bear the burden of this aversion and our consciousness suffers as well…