What if I told you that the chronic stress, unexplained health issues, and that persistent feeling of being "off" aren't actually about your diet, exercise, or genetics?

What if the thing that's literally making you sick is sitting in your throat chakra, unexpressed and festering?

When Spiritual Bypassing Becomes Physical Illness

Last week in our sangha, we explored something that might make your "love and light" friends uncomfortable: the things we don't say are poisoning us.

A student shared her story—years of resentment toward her mother for not protecting her from an abusive father. Years of holding back her truth because expressing anger felt "unspiritual."

The result? Pre-diabetes. Hypertension. Episodes where she'd literally pass out while gardening.

Her body was screaming what her voice wouldn't say.

The Dirty Water Revelation

Here's what no one tells you about authentic spiritual practice: it's messy as hell.

Imagine a water faucet that hasn't been used for years. When you first turn it on, what comes out? Dirty, contaminated water that splashes everywhere and makes terrible noise.

But if you keep the faucet running, eventually clean, clear, life-giving water flows.

This is spiritual growth. The gucky stuff comes out first. The jealousy, resentment, rage, judgment—all the feelings you've been taught "spiritual people" don't have.

Most people turn off the faucet the moment they see the dirty water. They go back to being "nice," swallowing their truth, pretending they're evolved.

And their bodies keep the score.

The One-Week Transformation

Back to our student. After months of coaching around what we call "withholds"—the truths we keep locked inside—she finally found the courage.

She went to her mother. She owned her resentment, her judgments, her years of unexpressed pain. It wasn't pretty. There was a big emotional fight.

But something shifted.

One week later, her doctor confirmed: normal blood pressure. No longer pre-diabetic. The only thing that had changed was that conversation.

What Your Body Is Trying to Tell You

Your chronic fatigue, digestive issues, mysterious aches, anxiety that won't quit—what if these aren't just "stress"?

What if they're your soul's way of saying: "Stop pretending. Stop being fake-nice. Stop withholding your truth."

In our tradition, we understand that preventing authentic expression doesn't just block unpleasant emotions—it blocks joy, power, connection, and physical vitality.

The "Spiritual" Lie That's Keeping You Sick

The wellness world has sold you a beautiful lie: that evolved people are always calm, always kind, never have "negative" emotions.

But here's what 16th-century wisdom texts actually teach: A true spiritualist doesn't deny his perceptions. He shares them assertively, with compassion, for the purpose of illumination.

Real spiritual practice includes naming jealousy when you feel it. Expressing disappointment when someone lets you down. Setting boundaries even when it makes others uncomfortable.

The Sacred Practice of Letting Dirty Water Flow

This is what we call "withhold work"—the practice of expressing what's been blocked between you and another person.

Not to blame. Not to attack. But to clear the energy that's literally poisoning your system.

"My withhold with you is that I feel intimidated by your success and I've been avoiding you because of my own jealousy."

"My withhold with you is that you interrupt me constantly and I've stopped sharing my real thoughts because it feels pointless."

It takes tremendous courage. And tremendous love—for yourself and the other person.

You Need Witnesses for This Work

Here's the thing about dirty water: you can't let it flow alone. You need people who understand that spiritual growth is messy, who won't shame you for having human emotions, who can hold space for your authentic expression.

You need a sangha where someone might say: "You know what you just said about that person? That quality you criticized lives in you too. Let's explore that together."

Because the deepest truth? You spot it, you got it. What you see in others lives within you. And that recognition—painful as it is—becomes the doorway to your healing.

Your Body Is Waiting

Right now, your body is holding the unexpressed truths, the conversations you've avoided, the authentic feelings you've buried under spiritual bypassing.

How much longer will you ask your nervous system to carry what your voice is meant to express?

The dirty water is ready to flow. The question is: are you ready to turn on the faucet?

Ready to practice this sacred work with guidance? Join our weekly sangha in the Yoga Mārga Skool community—where we honor the messy truth of real spiritual growth. Your body will thank you.