The Path Back To Self

Anah Maa and I will be joining together for another powerful discussion Tuesday at 4pm PST. The topic of our show is “Escaping the Prisons of Your Mind.” Wow! That could mean so many things, right? How do we come up with these topics? Well, Anah and I are longtime friends and we have always had some pretty deep and intimate conversations. Whenever we get together to decide on a topic it seems the topic chooses us.

It is important to me that I gear the majority of the shows on Pandora’s Box to the challenges most of you are going through right now. And I know from both personal experience and through my correspondence and counseling with others how frustrating it can be to feel trapped in your own mind. Obsessive thinking, ruminating thoughts, and repetitive stories are just a few of the issues people who come out of traumatic relationships suffer from.

It is easy to make the mistake of believing coming out of a traumatic relationship would involve the same kind of grieving process as a “normal” relationship. We tend to want to put time limits on our process and feel something is wrong with us if we are not “getting over it” fast enough. The other guy has moved on, why can’t we? Why are we still trapped in the relationship long after it has ended? It is no longer the relationship with the other person we are trapped in. It is the relationship we are still having in our own mind.

Many people go on for a year, or two or more, depending on the length of the relationship, processing through the tragic ending of that relationship. Your ex “significant other” might be remarried, or have already had six different relationships, meanwhile you are still here, ruminating, wondering what you could have done differently, or trying to deal with your rage, or trying to figure out how to get yourself back. The crazy making part of the relationship may not even come until the end, because being trapped in ruminating thoughts is crazy making. You don’t want to think about “him/her” but you just can’t seem to help it. You don’t seem to have control over your thoughts. You might even read books about “change your thinking, change your life” and end up judging and blaming yourself because you can’t seem to change your thoughts.

So how do you escape this insanity? Well this is what we are going to be talking about on Pandora’s Box. But until then I am going to give you a tidbit you can start using right now. Be gentle with yourself! Stop beating yourself up. Accept that the relationship you once had “out there” is still happening but now it is “in here.”

It is normal for any relatively healthy person to process out of a relationship but when that relationship ends abruptly it doesn’t change the need to process out and when all the emotional baggage from the relationship has been dumped in your back yard, you are the one left to pick it up, right? You have two choices. You can either get out into that yard and start picking up the trash, one item at a time or you can spend the rest of your days looking out your window and getting angry that you have been left with the garbage.

You can’t change the fact that the emotional garbage has been dumped on you and the other person seems to have escaped “garbage free.” It might help to know that nobody really escapes the emotional burdens of life. Just because someone has learned to repress everything and project what is repressed onto others doesn’t mean he/she gets off scott free. It may appear that way. But everybody has to pay the piper. We all have to be responsible for what we have created in the end.

Things are not always as they seem or as they appear. The good news is if you get out into your back yard and start picking up the trash, eventually your yard will be clean again and you can plant some flowers, grow some new trees and create a sanctuary. You may become a master gardener and also become very mindful about who you allow into your yard. What once felt like chaos can be transformed into peace. You might look back on your life and realize you have gone from a life of high drama to a life that is relatively drama free.

Tuesday, May 8, 4pm PST: Escaping the Prisons of Your Mind with Kaleah and Anah Maa

Kaleah and Anah Maa will be discussing how we imprison ourselves in obsessive thinking, ruminating thoughts and repetitive stories that keep you stuck in your mind. Learn how to change your thinking, shift your perspective and take that journey from the head to the heart where you can find peace and serenity.

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If you would like to participate in this show, please feel free to call into our guest line at (347) 826-9626.

Tuesday May 1st, 4pm PDT: The Soul’s Initiation

We often find ourselves in very challenging times and wonder how we got here. What if it was your higher self that orchestrated the current circumstances of your life? What if that narcissistic jerk or sociopathic predator showed you his/her true colors so that you could see the truth and move beyond the lie? What if instead of life punishing you by giving you this awareness, it was protecting you and helping you to unveil more truth in your life?

In this episode of Pandora’s Box we are going to talk about the Souls Initiation or the human challenges we must often undergo in order to become more fully connected to our true selves. The concepts discussed in this episode can help you to see your life from a higher perspective, release your victimization story and see yourself as being supported and empowered rather than victimized and torn down.

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There is a lot of information out there on borderlines and narcissists but according to most psychological data borderlines are more commonly women and narcissists are more commonly men. What’s the difference? The differences can be subtle and hard to detect and I’m not going to go into it in this article. It is an article in itself. I feel it is more important to acknowledge that the further one strays from his/her true self, the less capable of intimacy that person is and the more deceptive he/she can be.

The greatest deception is the deception of the self as one paints a pretty picture over the top of a very wounded, fragmented, fearful, and needy self. The more wounded someone is the more he/she invests in convincing others how wonderful he or she is. This is why, often times, the most charismatic people are the most dysfunctional or disordered. Charm becomes a coping mechanism or ones method of seduction used to convince others of his/her greatness.

The greater the disorder the less likely one is to invest himself/herself in personal or spiritual growth. It doesn’t mean a severely personality disordered individual won’t go to seminar’s or to church, or even have a library of impressive books, but that person is not really able to look at himself/herself objectively. A deeply personality disordered individual also will not be able to have deep, intimate, self reflective conversations that involve taking responsibility for an action or behavior.

If you are someone who is willing to look at your part in a relationship, you may end up taking far too much responsibility when involved with a deeply disordered personality who deflects responsibility and allows you to accept it all.

In my experience those who are deeply disordered will go to great lengths to shun responsibility. This is why deeply disordered people cut off from their relationships often without warning. If you are the mirror that reflects that person’s behavior back to them, they are more likely to smash the mirror and walk away then look into it. Instead of feeling as if you have had a real relationship where both parties are involved and working out their issues, you feel like that smashed mirror. It is even more painful when you realize how quickly you are replaced by someone else who is willing to be that pristine mirror reflecting that person as he/she wishes to be seen.

For deeply disordered personalities people are expendable and used for positive reflections. Once you cease to be a positive reflection you have lost your value. These relationships can be great in the beginning because you buy into the illusion. Initially you see this individual in all his/her glory or shall we say “the act,” and you are reflecting that person back as the hero/heroine in your life. You are feeding his/her ego and he/she gets to feel really good about himself/herself.

Of course we all want to feel good about ourselves and we all want to be reflected positively. It can be painful to take a good hard look at our deficits or character defects. It takes courage. But until we are willing to take a good hard look at ourselves we can’t grow, nor can we have healthy relationships. None of us are perfect and our imperfections will surely rear their heads during our most intimate connections.

A healthy relationship doesn’t involve two perfected people. It involves two people willing to take responsibility for their own character defects and provide a container for the other person to learn about themselves. In healthy relationships we don’t expect perfection from the other. In disordered relationships we do. The less one is able to tolerate his/her own character defects the less that person will be able to tolerate yours.

Since extreme personality disorders are developed in dysfunctional familial relationships where the child felt he/she needed to be perfect in order to be accepted or approved of, or to avoid abuse, that person worked very hard on presenting a perfected image. Anything less than perfect can feel deeply shameful. Shame is at the core of personality disorders. Shame comes from a deep seated belief that one is flawed at the core.

As one grows up he cuts off from his/her feelings of core shame and lives in the perfected image of himself/herself. Any reminder of those intense feelings of unworthiness get cut off as well and if you are a reflector to someone who is deeply disordered you will be cut off. It is only a matter of time. You are not being cut off because you are unworthy, as many might feel because your own core shame is being triggered. You are being cut off because you are mirroring that person back in a more honest way and that person just can’t take it.

People who have been abandoned by a narcissist/borderline often find themselves wondering what they might have done differently to avoid the abandonment. But the truth is, short of giving up your person-hood all together, there is nothing you could have done differently. Those of us who strive to have a real, honest and open relationship are going to give honest, open feedback and the truth is, the more disordered the individual, the less likely he/she will be able to handle honest feedback. That person can whack you over the head with a two-by-four and unless you to say “that’s OK honey, I had it coming,” you will be in danger of being punished for your response/reaction. If we are the least bit healthy we will react to what we perceive to be “bad behavior” or abuse.

Narcissists/borderlines don’t want to be called on their bad behavior or abuse. They want partners who will allow them to get away with horrendous acts and never hold them accountable. Does that sound appealing to you? And if a narcissist/borderline does commit a horrendous act he/she is just as likely to cut off from you and go find the next victim then hang out awaiting your response. That leaves many of us who have had this kind of experience scratching our heads and saying “what the ….?”

There is no sense of closure because you never have the opportunity to say how you feel about the extreme injustice. That person never takes any responsibility. You might hear a dismissive remark like “well what’s done is done and I can’t do anything about it now.” You are left reeling in intense pain and agony while the borderline/narcissist is off on his/her honeymoon with the next guy/girl. Doesn’t quite seem fair does it? Well the sooner you realize that these kinds of people don’t play fair, the better. As kids we learn really early on not to play with other kids who don’t play fair. But as adults it takes us a while.

When people ask me how they can avoid getting involved with someone who doesn’t play fair all I can say is there is no “full proof” method of avoiding danger, just as there is no method of avoiding danger in life. Danger happens. It is what you do with it that matters most. The more you develop yourself emotionally and the more you connect to your true self, the more you will know yourself and trust your own intuitive guidance.

Reading the signs and red flags is one of the most important criteria for avoiding danger. But let’s say you miss the signs and find yourself involved with someone who doesn’t take responsibility, blames you for everything, and doesn’t play fair. How long will it take you to cut your losses and move on? That is the big question. Why do you hold onto someone once you realize he/she is not taking personal responsibility in the relationship? Do you believe that person will change? Forget it!

When we stay in a relationship waiting for the other to change, we are setting ourselves up for disaster. If you are the one who is unhappy with a partner’s behavior, then you are the one who needs to change. That’s right! You need to look at your own neediness and self sabotaging behaviors that keep you holding on far past the time you should have let go.

In my experience most people receive signs within the first three months of a relationship that something is not right. But most people ignore the signs and go forward anyway hoping that it will change. It never does. What you see is what you get. Like it or leave it. People are not fixer uppers. They come with all sorts of character defects. Some we can live with and some we can’t. You have to be honest with yourself about what you are willing to live with and what you are not. Most people, who desire a healthy relationship are not able to live with someone who does not take personal responsibility for their actions or behavior.

People who do not take responsibility for their own actions and behavior will either marry someone who allows them to get away with it or they will have serial relationships, discarding their partners when they attempt to hold them accountable. Either you will be someone who takes all the responsibility for the relationship, including your partners lies and affairs, or you will be one who is discarded when you call your partner on his/her stuff or confront the issues in the relationship. Either choice is not pleasant when involved with someone who is extremely disordered, but it is best to cut your losses early and move forward then to lose years of your life waiting for change to come.

For all of you writing to me expressing concern and sharing prayers, thank you. After writing my last piece on “broken hearts” I found that my heart was really heavy and I needed to take a break and listen to what it was trying to tell me. I teach others to really listen and I had to follow my own teachings. I realized that I had been taking life far too seriously and it was time to unplug, let go and have some fun! Ironically this all happened right after I attended the “Reconnective Healing” seminar with Dr. Eric Pearl. Dr. Pearl said once we start working with this energy we become more aligned with our purpose in life.

I had been neglecting a very important part of my being, my music. The following week I was invited to join a Sedona band for their practice and play their next gig with them. I had a blast. I hadn’t had so much fun in so long. I realize how important it was for me to express myself artistically. Now I’m feeling strong, healthy and balanced

I am realizing so many people are having huge challenges right now. It seems to be part of the planetary evolution. People’s stuff is coming up to be healed. We are all having to face our insecurities, imbalances, fears and heal those parts of ourselves we feel are just not enough. We are all enough! We are all lovable! We are all deserving of love. It is time for us to heal our broken hearts, our wounded inner children and all that prevents us from truly living our divine purpose in life.

It is ironic how many people are suffering at the hands of narcissistic predators right now. It is no accident that this time in history there is more narcissism than ever. But we are truly in an age of awakening and the brighter the light the greater the darkness. Ernie Vecchio says we all are personality disordered to some degree because we have a dysfunctional relationship to the self. I really get what he is saying. I realize it is our own disordered self that attracts us to disordered people.

Our own disordered self is on the table for healing right now. We have to be willing to look deep within ourselves and ask ourselves “what is this person in my life who has pierced my armor and brought me to my knees, here to teach me about myself?” “What is it that has been exposed in myself that I’m really afraid to look at?” If we are courageous enough we can use this opportunity to know ourselves on deeper and deeper levels.

The more we focus on the disorder of the person who has caused us great pain, the more we shelter ourselves from our own pain and it is our pain we must feel in order to grow beyond it and attract a different kind of energy. We have to learn to sit with our pain, our fear, our anxiety, our feelings of abandonment, our feelings of rejection, our feelings of worthlessness, loneliness and emptiness.

Personality disorders are developed to shelter us, at a very young age, from excruciating emotional pain. The more disordered a person is the stronger the defense mechanisms that keep that person shielded from his/her pain. Underneath it all is intense emotional pain and for those of us who have had our defenses shattered, we are feeling it. We are feeling what we have spent a lifetime trying not to feel.

It is easy to perceive that our pain is caused by the “disordered” person in our lives, but that person is merely the catalyst, awakening us to what has been lying dormant throughout the majority of our lives. If we continue to seek distractions and relationships to shelter us from our pain we will continue to attract to us mirrors to show us what we are hiding from. I know this was so true in my own journey. I was very aware on an intellectual basis but I was still covering up some pretty intense emotional pain prior to the ending of my last relationship. I knew it was time to embrace my time alone and sit with the layers and layers of intense emotional pain. It was a very isolating and emotionally painful Winter for me. I felt everything I hadn’t wanted to feel and at the same time I was guiding others to feel their own repressed pain. This time I didn’t distract myself with relationships or projects. I just sat and sat and sat. There were times it was so painful I didn’t think I could make it through and I would just breathe through it.

The spring was my “coming out” of hibernation and isolation. But my expectations of what that would look like didn’t really match the reality of it. I figured the “pain sitting” was behind me now and it was time to get back into life. What I found was that once we open Pandora’s Box and the feelings start flooding to the surface it is a time consuming process to sit through it all. We can’t put a time limit on it. It can take years. But once we learn to tolerate our pain and sit with it we make friends with it and it doesn’t have to take such a chunk out of our lives. In my experience the more I am willing to embrace my pain the less time I have when it is intensely in my face and the more periods of peace and serenity I have. I know it is this place of deep peace and serenity that is my birthright and what I am working towards.

As I look around me it seems most everyone in my life, who are on an active growth path are going through this same thing. It seems to be a global time of awakening to our true selves and our true selves are often hiding beneath a wall of intense, childhood emotional pain that has to be cleared in order for us to truly step into our authentic selves and have strong, intimate relationships with others.

The time of the comfortable familiarity of toxic relationships are over. We really don’t want that life anymore! We truly want to love ourselves in the deepest sense so that we can love others with that same depth and be open to receiving the highest love from those capable of being that. We must be willing to look within ourselves and see how it is our own emotional stagnation that keeps us pulling in emotionally stagnating relationships. We have to clear out our own closets, shed that toxic emotional baggage and free ourselves of our deepest insecurities before we can be truly secure in relating to those who are capable of offering us genuine love.

A good friend and I were having a conversation where we painfully recounted the “healthy” men we had passed over in favor of toxic, dysfunctional relationships. This was what was familiar. We were used to the feeling of “longing” for what we could never really have and interpreted this feeling as love. When true love was offered to us, we shunned it. So now we have a greater understanding into the world of the personality disordered. It is the feeling of “longing” that drives a personality disordered person.

Personality disordered people, which is most of us to some degree or another, never learned what real love looked like so we didn’t know how to recognize it when it showed up. If the “emotional charge” was missing we figured we really weren’t “in love” with that person. The more the “charge” the stronger our feelings. What we don’t realize is that those strong feelings are not love. They are longing for love. They are an attempt to fill that deep, empty abyss that we were left with in childhood when we didn’t get our needs met. This also explains why the more you love and care for a personality disordered individual the more he/she runs the opposite direction but when you give up and take a step back that person comes rushing back in. It is not the love, but the longing for what one cannot have that is the attraction. That dynamic is crazy making and awakens intense feelings of shame. The only way to get beyond it is to heal ourselves of our own deeply repressed pain which will change the dynamic of how we relate to others and who we are attracted to.

Tuesday March 27th , 4pm PST: Reconnection Therapy with Dr. Eric Pearl, The world’s leading authority in energy healing and beyond on Pandora’s Box with Kaleah

Internationally recognized healer Eric Pearl has appeared on countless television programs in the US and around the world, spoken by invitation at the United Nations, presented to a full house at Madison Square Garden, been interviewed in various publications including The New York Times, and most recently featured in the film, The Living Matrix.

As a doctor, Eric ran a highly successful chiropractic practice for 12 years until one day his patients began reporting that they felt his hands on them – even though he hadn’t physically touched them. Patients soon reported receiving miraculous healings from cancers, AIDS-related diseases, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, birth disfigurements, cerebral palsy and other serious afflictions. All this occurred when Eric simply held his hands near them – and to this day, it continues.

His patients’ healings have been documented in six books to date, including Eric’s own international bestseller, The Reconnection: Heal Others, Heal Yourself, now in more than 36 languages! http://www.thereconnection.com/

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