13: Freedom + Expansion : The Terrifying Gifts of Spiritual and Existential Crisis AKA WTF is Going on? #AmIGoingCrazy?

Everything feels like it is dismantling; falling apart. Parts of me feel that they are disintegrating, lost, shattered, untethered.I don’t know who I am anymore.Why do I exist and what am I here for?What is the meaning of life - of everything?I don’t know why I feel sad and fearful.Reality feels like it is blowing apart.These are some of the thoughts and feelings I’ve had in the last few weeks as I’ve been on a spiritual roller coaster. At times I have felt I have been in spiritual or existential crisis, and other times it’s been more like spiritual flu.Luckily, I am aware that these are just parts of me and more grounded inner parts of me are able to stay calm.The soul is speaking or screaming loudly, ready to share its story and lesson for us when we have intense emotional and physical symptoms. The chance to experience profound healing and expansion, energy and a return to our truth is waiting to be reclaimed within an existential and spiritual crisis.But it can be terrifying and overwhelming! Especially if you’re not sure what’s happening. Some of the feelings one can have related to archetypal, ancestral, past life, or collective unconscious material that may have no words to describe.In this week’s episode of the Embody Podcast, I share my personal and present experience of spiritual flu and crisis, what has helped me through it, and what might be helpful if you or someone you know is experiencing emotional intensity, physical symptoms/illness, or other experiences that may be hard to give a name or find the cause of.Enjoy!~Candice Links, Article, and ResourcesAll Show Notes for This Episode📝https://candicewu.com/spiritual-and-existential-crisisPodcast Homepage🎧https://candicewu.com/podcastNewsletter & Embody Community💌https://candicewu.com/embody-communityCandice Wu Page on Facebook👫https://facebook.com/EmbodyYourNatureFollow Candice on Instagram📷https://instagram.com/EmbodyYourNature Show Notes 00:47 Sponsored by the Sound Sleep Alchemy Album by Yours Truly01:11 Intro of the Episode / Setting the Stage02:15 “Even Monkeys Fall Out of Trees” Quote / is Candice Actually Human?03:11 Wandering and Exploring as a Healing Act03:37 Sharing a Real Human Experience03:52 When I Think of Vulnerability04:04 Brené Brown’s Definition of Vulnerability04:17 Exploring Spiritual Flu04:29 Being Playful and Open While Healing05:04 Why I Am Sharing This Today06:05 We Are All Human: On Being Messy and Unpolished06:24 My Experience Going From Box to Box07:12 So What Have I Been Going Through?07:35 Dismantling and Existential Questions Pouring Out of Me08:08 How It All Started08:29 Handling Pain in the Body - to Go or Not to Go to the Doctor?09:56 the Feminine Archetype and Pain Carried by Women10:40 Body Shame10:56 Personal, Ancestral & Archetypal Wounding12:17 Unconscious Energies - Not Everything Can Be Named or Makes Sense in Spiritual Crisis12:31 Feeling Unanchored13:00 Underneath the Physical Pain14:14 How Spiritual and Emotional Work Was Shifting the Body Symptoms15:33 a Wildfire in My Body.15:56 Riding the Wave of the Feelings and Symptoms16:42 in Better Spirits17:29 Grateful for Past Learning 🙈18:31 Feeling Grounded, Knowing Myself, and Feeling the Intensity19:07 Pendulation19:23 Shout Out to Birthday Podcast Episode19:53 Not Attaching the Experience to My Identity20:41 Opening Up Internally - Trauma and Pleasure Can Surface21:07 a Nervous System Perspective of Crisis21:36 Helpful Practice of Voice Dialogue22:53 Shifting Gears and How I Almost Saw It All Coming for Myself24:23 What Do I Mean by Spiritual?25:24 Spiritual Crisis, Sickness, Flu, and Everyday Experiences - a Spectrum on the Lens of Spirituality26:19 the Spiritual is the Most Subtle Level26:53 Layers of the Physiology - Koshas in Yoga27:56 Belief Sets We Hold28:21 Healing at the Root - the Most Powerful Angle29:30 More About Existential & Spiritual Crisis29:34 Transpersonal Psychology and Dr. Stanislov and Dr. Christina Grof30:31 Symptoms You Can Experience in an Existential Crisis31:23 Some Triggers of Spiritual Crisis32:25 on the Other Side of Crisis (Big S-Self and Small S-Self)34:17 Mention of Marlyse Carroll (Author of Am I Going Mad?)35:36 Cultural Misunderstandings Around the Transpersonal | Creating Ease and Understanding Around Spiritual Crisis37:04 Quote by Dr. Carl Jung - “...Attempt of the Mind to Find Wholeness”37:39 Spiritual Madness38:02 "What is Psychosis"?38:34 Self - Care and Getting Through Spiritual Crisis | What I’ve Been Doing | What You Can Do40:56 Calling Upon Angels and Spirit Guides43:22 Voice Dialoging - Talking to Parts That Are Screaming44:18 Some Other Ideas for You in a Crisis46:44 Outro