5 Ways to Make Anger Your Ally

5 Ways to Make Anger Your Ally

By Julie Peters

Post on May 31, 2026

Source

Anger isn’t something to suppress or fear—it’s a powerful ally that protects your boundaries, needs, and authenticity. Discover five practical ways to slow down, listen to what your anger is really saying, and turn it into a wise guide for healthier relationships and greater personal power.

Manage your anger, the books tell us. Tame your inner tiger. Quiet the angry beast inside. Anger is an ugly, scary aspect of each one of us, so we’d better overcome it fast, right?

Actually, no. Anger is a core emotion, an inborn part of who we are. Getting rid of it would be like getting rid of a vital organ: It would leave us at a huge disadvantage.

All our core emotions have a purpose. Some of them keep us physically safe (fear, disgust), while others help us navigate our relationships with others. As social animals, human beings need each other in order to survive and thrive. We don’t tend to do very well on our own, and our core emotions are there to help us figure out how to be together.

A therapy client once told me something that has stuck with me ever since: Anger is the emotion that loves you the most. It’s true. Fear loves safety. Sadness loves something or someone that is missing. Joy loves the experience that’s happening right now. Attraction loves connection. Anger loves you: your true self, your needs and boundaries, your authenticity. Anger will show up when something threatens the you of it all, flaring at your physical and emotional edges.

Anger has a particular quality, though, that makes many of us uncomfortable. It is a certain I don’t care what you think of me quality. Anger will leave. It will break up with someone. It will flip the table over and burn the house down. This is necessary. Anger can show us who is safe to be around and who is unsafe; which tribe members share our values and which are enemies. Humans tend to want to connect overall, but anger knows that sometimes connection can get in the way of more important things.

What Is Your Anger Trying to Say?

Of course, with such a powerful tool at our disposal, we must be careful how we use it. Anger can push away people we really do want to be close to. It can get confused when it’s trying to protect us from feeling vulnerable. If we consistently ignore and suppress it, it can explode, and then we fail in its mission: to get our relational needs met.

The most powerful move we can make with anger is to start listening to it. Rather than reacting immediately, it needs us to slow down and take a moment to hear what it’s telling us. Once we figure that out, we have choices about how and whether to communicate that anger to others.

Here are some ways to work with, rather than against, your anger.

1. Slow down. 

When you feel the body sensations associated with anger—jaw tension, throat tightness, heat in the hands and face, and so on—slow down. Take a moment to notice that your anger is with you.

2. Breathe.

Notice if you are trying to make the anger go away. If you are—stop. Just sit with your anger. Breathe with it. Let it move through your body. Don’t take any action yet. Simply listen to the anger.

3. Ask questions.

Anger usually appears only under specific circumstances:

• It sees an injustice.
• A boundary is being crossed.
• A need is not being met.

Imagine your anger as its own entity. (Many people imagine a fire-breathing dragon!) Ask it which of the above things it is reacting to. Sometimes I like to journal from the perspective of my anger, as if it could speak for itself. What is it trying to tell me?

4. Communicate.

So much of the time, all anger needs is a gentle, loving communication of needs and boundaries. In a healthy relationship, everyone would love to help the other get their needs met. We just don’t often know what they are.

A useful (if difficult) side effect of communicating your needs clearly is that you may discover others can’t or won’t meet your needs. That could change or end the relationship altogether. Sometimes that’s exactly what’s needed.

5. Take action.

Often anger is trying to get your power back when you feel it’s been taken away. We can’t always control what’s happening to us, of course, but it can help to think about the choices we do have. If you’re feeling powerless over a particular issue, what’s something you could do to remind yourself that you do have power somewhere else?

Take this practice with you every time your anger comes up. Your life may begin to change for the better, or you may simply feel more at peace, more empowered. Experiment with what it could mean to work with your anger as an ally.

Julie Peters

• https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 

• https://eraoflight.com/2026/05/30/5-ways-to-make-anger-your-ally/

The Spiritual Meaning of Moles, Skin Tags, and Birthmarks

The Spiritual Meaning of Moles, Skin Tags, and Birthmarks

By Julie Peters

Posted on September 17, 2025

Uncover hidden messages in skin pigmentations: protection needs, hormonal shifts, family legacies. Use intuitive questions on moles, tags, and birthmarks to connect with your inner wisdom.

Moles, skin tags, and birthmarks are skin pigmentations: clusters of cells that create distinctly colored shapes on your skin. While they are usually benign, it’s a good idea to have them checked by a doctor to make sure there are no signs of anything serious (especially if they itch, hurt, or bleed).

Beyond the basics of these common skin pigmentations, let’s uncover the spiritual meanings of moles, skin tags, and birthmarks.

The Spiritual Meaning of Skin

When discussing our skin, it is helpful to remember that the skin is the body’s border—the boundary between the self and the outside world. Our skin is also the organ of touch and how we experience the world. Moles, skin tags, and birthmarks can represent a “clustering up” of the skin: a concentrated area of skin that could, metaphorically, represent an intensified desire to reach out and touch or perhaps draw in and protect. They could also represent a need for protection and for the bolstering of internal borders.

Consider the following questions:

• Do you feel that your boundaries are currently being held and respected by the people in your life?
• Were your boundaries somehow violated when the pigmentations first appeared?
• What was happening in your life when you first noticed the pigmentations on your body?
• How do you react to touch and sensation since noticing the pigmentations?

The Spiritual Meaning of Moles

Moles are small areas of darker pigmentation on the skin that can be large or small, raised or flat. They can develop at any time, though they are known to appear when the body is experiencing hormonal changes, such as in pregnancy.

Consider the following questions:

• What was happening in your life when the mole first appeared?
• Are you currently making a concentrated effort or embarking on a focused intention, like the major undertaking of pregnancy?
• Is there something you’d like to shield yourself from but feel unable to for some reason?
• Is there a particular event or major life transition making a “mark” on you?
• Has something in your life recently “darkened,” growing in both intensity and severity?

The Spiritual Meaning of Skin Tags

Skin tags are similar to moles but tend to be raised and appear in areas of the body that experience more friction, like the groin or underneath the breasts. Like moles, they can appear during times of hormonal change and are especially associated with insulin resistance, which is often related to diabetes.

Consider the following questions:

• Is there something “reaching out” from under your skin, like a need to ask for help or do something differently?
• Is there a source of irritation in your life that the skin tag could be highlighting?
• Is there something (or someone) that is asking for your attention—whether you want to give it or not?
• Do you feel like energy is being blocked in the part of your body where the skin tag appears?
• Has something recently changed for you, either physically or hormonally, that the skin tag could symbolize?

The Spiritual Meaning of Birthmarks

Birthmarks appear at birth or within the first month of a person’s life. They are usually moles, malformed pigment cells, or blood vessels. Some people believe that any birthmarks present at birth might speak to past lives and/or family system issues—a trace from a past life or a “mark” left by a family legacy.

Consider the following questions:

• Do you ever sense that your emotions, instincts, or inner wisdom originate from somewhere else—maybe even from a past life?
• Do you identify yourself as the “cycle breaker” in your family—someone who chooses to forge a different path?
• Do you feel as though pain, illness, or trauma in your life was passed down to you, either from your family or your culture?

Locations of the Pigmentation

The location of your skin pigmentation can provide insight into its deeper meaning to your personal journey. The right side of the body holds action, movement, masculine energies, while feminine energies, including emotions, rest, and dreams, are located on the left side.

Additionally, the front of the body represents looking ahead at the future, as well as how you are perceived by others. The back of the body, on the other hand, indicates the past, what’s hidden, or what you try to put behind you.

Consider the following questions:

• Where are the pigmentations located on your body?
• What are the functions of the body part(s) on which the pigmentations appear?
• What is your relationship like with this part of your body?

Take your time to sit with these thoughts and ideas, then make an effort to listen to what your intuition is telling you about the spiritual meaning of your moles, skin tags, and birth marks.

Julie Peters

• https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/spiritual-meaning-moles-skin-tags-birthmarks

Compiled by http://violetflame.biz.ly from: 

• https://eraoflight.com/2025/11/17/the-spiritual-meaning-of-moles-skin-tags-and-birthmarks/

The Spiritual Meaning of Heartburn, Acid Reflux, and GERD

The Spiritual Meaning of Heartburn, Acid Reflux, and GERD

By Julie Peters

Posted on August 16, 2025

Heartburn, acid reflux, and GERD can all signal issues with your emotions and energy.

Heartburn is a very common experience that most of us will go through at one point or another. Stress and certain physical conditions such as pregnancy, asthma, and obesity can increase the likelihood of heartburn. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a chronic form of acid reflux that can lead to other troublesome issues, such as esophageal irritation. As always, talk to your doctor if you’re experiencing these conditions, especially if your symptoms are more than just a passing discomfort. In the meantime, let’s consider the spiritual and emotional meanings of heartburn, acid reflux, and GERD.

A Burning Heart

The English language can be surprisingly evocative of spiritual and emotional meanings, even in its most common clichés. The phrase society has agreed upon to describe the experience of acid rising up into the esophagus when it’s not supposed to is heartburn.

Consider the following questions:

• What is happening in your heart right now?

• Is there presently a burning, a yearning, or a pain in your emotional world?

• If your heart is “on fire” in some way, what choices do you have? Can you go after what you want, correct what doesn’t feel right, or otherwise listen to the desires and feelings of your heart?

• Is there something you must suppress, avoid, or let go of, any of which could break your heart?

Rising Energy

Acid reflux is a condition with an upward flow: Food is supposed to go down your esophagus and stay in your stomach, sealed by a sphincter that separates the stomach from the esophagus. With acid reflux and especially GERD, this sphincter does not effectively prevent the stomach acid from rising into the esophagus. Metaphorically, you are not completely “swallowing” whatever is going on.

Consider the following questions:

• Is there something happening that you are trying to suppress, avoid, or push down?

• Have you received some information that’s very difficult for you to “swallow?”

• Is there something you would like to eject, reject, purge, or release from your body?

• What would happen if you relaxed your body and allowed that rising energy to come up?

Energetic Issues Related to the Stomach, Spleen, and Solar Plexus Chakra

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the stomach and spleen are especially affected by worry and anxiety. In Ayurveda, the stomach is connected to manipura chakra, the solar plexus energy center. This is where we find our power, our will, and our sense of identity and ego.

The solar plexus is also the location of the agni, or digestive fire. We need lots of digestive fire to process both food and the world, and in some cases, heartburn is actually caused by too little acid in the stomach: The esophageal sphincter is not getting the message from the acid that it needs to close.

Consider the following questions:

• Have you been stressed or worried about something?

• Is there a sense of powerlessness connected to that worry?

• What is your relationship with control or personal agency?

• Is something happening that makes you feel out of control?

• What might you need in order to feel more powerful and more connected to your sense of choice?

• Do you feel confident in who you are?

• Do you stand up for yourself, speak your truth, and say what you want—and go for it?

• Do you tend to hesitate, procrastinate, and struggle to get things done?

• Do you have strategies to help you process stressful or difficult news?

Energetic Issues Related to the Throat Chakra

Heartburn originates in the stomach, but we feel it higher, in the chest and throat. Energetically, there is something from lower in the body trying to rise into the throat. In addition to hearing and listening, the throat chakra is an energy center related to speech, self-expression, and truth. As we’ve discussed, acid reflux can indicate our struggle to assimilate something we’ve heard, but we may also want to consider what we are saying—or not saying.

Consider the following questions:

• Do you speak the truth from your own perspective?

• Are you willing to listen to others’ perspectives without fear that it threatens your own?

• Is there a truth that you’ve been keeping to yourself?

• If you had all the freedom in the world and did not fear the consequences, what would you say?

GERD and Chronic Issues with Expression

While most heartburn is occasional, GERD is a disease in which the esophageal sphincter consistently misfires. When acid reflux is chronic, we may want to consider deeper, more longstanding issues.

Consider the following questions:

• What is your relationship like with boundaries, whether your own or those of others?

• Do you have trouble separating areas of your life? Do you find that issues unintentionally seep from one area of your life to another?

• Do you consistently try to “swallow down” a feeling or concern rather than talking about it or dealing with it?

• Do you struggle with identifying, processing, or communicating your emotions?

• Are any of the above issues chronic? For example, you are always keeping secrets, never speaking your truth, or have unresolved issues from the past that still trigger you today?

Issues with the Food-Love Connection

Human beings are predisposed to connect food and love. Our first experiences of being held, cuddled, and physically soothed came with food, whether we were breastfed or bottle-fed, and the connection expands from there. Stomach acid is supposed to help us break down our food, separating it into different parts and then allowing it to nourish our bodies.

Consider the following questions:

• What is your relationship like with love?

• Does your current relationship include a lot of boundary-crossing?

• Do you sometimes struggle to let people in, or to receive and trust love?

• When love is being offered, do you tend to recoil or move away, feeling stressed by too much attention and care?

• Do you feel your needs are being met in your current relationship?

• Do you struggle to connect on a deep enough level to maintain a relationship?

• When in a partnership, do you feel able to fully express yourself, your needs, and your boundaries?

Take some time to sit with these questions and notice what resonates. Give your body time to tell you what it wants you to know. In addition to any medical help you may benefit from, let the signals you’re receiving from your body teach you something about what you might need.

Julie Peters

• https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/spiritual-meaning-heartburn-acid-reflux-gerd

5 Ways to Listen to Your Body

5 Ways to Listen to Your Body

By Julie Peters

Posted on August 16, 2025

Your body is part of you for your entire life. Are you listening to what it’s asking of you?

Do you listen to your body? Do you attend to its needs moment to moment, or do you find ways to suppress those signals so you can get through your day? What does it really mean, anyway, to “listen” to the body?

Listening to the body is a powerful practice of reclaiming our bodies—and our whole selves—from the daily grind of all the things we have to do, whether it’s for other people, for work, or for systems that we participate in but don’t have control over, like capitalism. Our world is generally set up to benefit those of us who don’t listen to our bodies: people who use caffeine or other substances to stay awake and stay productive; who eat according to diets prescribed by someone else; whose productivity does not change in the dark, cold winter or the bright, hot summer. Sometimes it’s easy to feel like we’d be better off as robots instead of the human animals we are.

People who ignore their bodies for the sake of productivity, expectations, thinness, people-pleasing, making money, or whatever else our culture tells us is important will get along like that for a while, but there’s a great risk of collapse. When we consistently ignore our bodies’ needs, we can get sick, either acutely or chronically. Yet we live in a world where we often can’t take a rest day when we need one, are unable to choose to work more hours when daylight is long and fewer hours when it is short, and cannot attend to the needs and whims of the “soft animal of our bodies,” as Mary Oliver called them. We must negotiate the needs of this world with the needs of our bodies.

One thing that may help is knowing that the practice of listening to the body is valuable in and of itself, even if you don’t do what the body is asking for. Taking the time to slow down and tune in to the itchiness around our eyes when we are tired, the sudden low mood when we haven’t eaten in a while, or the intense longing for our bed during the dark days of January matters—even if we can’t attend to those urges right away. Becoming aware that we feel tired, even if we can’t pass out in the middle of the workday, still matters. Acknowledging the body’s needs could inspire a different choice later, like going to bed a little earlier or saying no to an additional project we know we don’t have time for if we’re also going to rest.

Mindfulness Meditation

One way to listen to the body is through mindfulness meditation. All this entails is slowing down and quieting ourselves enough to notice how we feel physically. Our minds can be very good at overriding signals from the body through busyness and anxiety, giving us so many things to worry about that we don’t stop to feel ourselves feeling. When we do, it’s very helpful to step back from analyzing and judging what we feel and simply notice: a weight on our shoulders; a tenderness around our heart; a buzzing behind the eyes like there’s too much on our mind.

When we practice mindfulness consistently, we open ourselves to learning the language of the body, which is not verbal or intellectual but based in sensations and sometimes images. At first, it can be like hearing a word from a language we don’t know, just a collection of strange sounds without meaning. But with time and repetition, we start to put together context clues. For example, I notice that when my left eye twitches, I’ve spent too much time with Kevin from Accounting. Or when my feet feel swollen and hot, the only thing that helps is a gentle yoga class.

The simple practice of learning the language of your body is individual and personal; a practice of intimacy with yourself. But there are a few keys that can help decode these messages, and when you can find ways to attend to the needs your body is signaling, you can improve your overall health, wellness, immune and hormone function—and, yes, even productivity at work.

Cyclical Awareness

One way to help decode messages from the body is to think about how our bodies tend to respond to the seasons, the weather, and the cycles of the moon. This is easy to remember because it’s so intuitive, and there are easy correspondences to keep in mind.

Spring, waxing moon, follicular phase, and the morning: These are times when energy is growing. This is the best time to exercise, get things done, and take action on projects we’ve been working on.

Summer, full moon, ovulation, and midday: These are peak times, and while in some cases that means we have peak energy, it’s actually a good time to pause and look at what we’ve been doing, and maybe take a rest. Imagine climbing a mountain: When you get to the top, you need to sit down and enjoy the view and take in the fruits of your labor rather than rush to get back down again.

Fall, waning moon, luteal phase, and the afternoon and evening: Energy is waning, and it’s a time to wrap up, integrate, and prepare for rest. Integrate lessons, edit, polish, reconsider, and finish things.

Winter, new moon, menstrual phase, and nighttime: Rest! Stop, pause, slow down, and don’t do so much. Sleep more if you can. Pause projects if that’s possible. Dream, imagine, feel—but don’t do.

When we attend to these cyclic realities, we will tend to already be aligned with what our bodies want to do. We may notice rewards in that way: more energy, more focus and productivity, more stable moods, all which may help us work with our bodies instead of against them.

Attuning to Parts of the Body

The language of the body tends to be metaphorical. We have plenty of cliches in our language about the body and emotional meaning that are actually pretty accurate. Here are some examples:

• Headaches: Is there a lot on your mind?

• Shoulder pain: Are you carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders?

• Neck pain: Is someone or something being a pain in your neck?

• Lower back pain: Are you bending over backwards for someone?

Think about the function of the body that’s impaired. Is it a part of the body that filters or digests? Does it help you communicate or express yourself, or does it allow you to move? What actions does this impairment prevent you from doing, or what actions does it force you to do instead? There’s very useful information in these answers about how you might need to rebalance.

Self-Consent

Consent is the concept that you are doing (or not doing) something with someone’s permission. If you consider your body as an entity that can consent, ask yourself what you are doing that your body might be saying no to, as well as what it might be saying yes to. Treat your body like a good friend whose thoughts, feelings, and comfort you care about, and consider asking for its consent before you partake in a certain activity. You might be surprised at how much information there is at the ready.

When your body asks for a need to be met—relieving yourself, eating, having a nap, putting on lip balm—meet that need as best you can. Take a moment to notice the slight settling in your body when a need it has been asking for has been met. This is a simple practice you can do to get in touch with your body, to ally yourself with it with gentleness and care.

Negotiating the Body with Life and Work

Of course, we can’t do everything the body requests of us. Sometimes the body has conflicting needs at the same time, like when you need to get more sleep but also have to get out of bed to go pee. We also have other responsibilities in life—obviously, we can’t nap the moment we feel tired in the middle of a meeting. But we can become more aware of our bodies’ needs and find ways to meet them in small or large ways.

To live a life that allows for listening to the body, we need consistent quiet time to allow for slowness. That could look like meditation, journaling, quiet walks, or more space between appointments. Sometimes we need to reprioritize or ask for help so we’re not taking on too much and can have space to attend to our bodies. It can feel really difficult, even countercultural, to do this at first. But it will benefit the only relationship that will be with you until death: your relationship with your body.

Julie Peters

• https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/ways-to-listen-to-your-body

The Spiritual Meaning of Confusion

Spiritual Meaning of Confusion

By Julie Peters

Posted on July 16, 2025

Confused about a decision? Parts of you may be at odds. Dive into the spiritual meaning of confusion.

We all experience a passing moment of confusion, not quite grasping a concept or idea, from time to time. But confusion can also be a state of mind—an ongoing feeling that the world simply doesn’t make sense. It may arise whenever we think about a particular situation or relationship, and we may get stuck there, not knowing which way to turn. So, we mentally retreat and focus on something else, avoiding the issue altogether.

We all know what it feels like to feel uncertain or upside down. But what is confusion, exactly? And what is the spiritual meaning of being confused?

Cognitive Dissonance

Confusion is, essentially, the cognitive dissonance that arises when two conflicting ideas battle within us. This is different than simply failing to understand something. Confusion typically happens not when we are missing information, but that the information we are getting clashes with a previously held belief, understanding, or experience.

In my counseling practice, we often work somatically to explore what feelings and body sensations come up around a certain issue. This often includes getting to know individual parts of oneself that react to an issue in different ways. For example, part of me wants to quit my job and go back to school, but another part fears losing stability.

The experience of confusion can be quite heady—we tend to feel it around the head and upper body, like a constantly moving cloud spinning in all directions. It prevents us from dropping down into the lower body, which is often where we really feel our feelings.

Confusion, then, functions similarly to anxiety (and they can certainly coexist). Like anxiety, confusion pulls us up into our minds, making us focus on thoughts, ideas, and questions, which in turns spirals fear. We feel uncomfortable when we are confused because there is a core emotion wanting to be felt underneath all that thinking, but our system has already decided it would be unsafe for us to feel that feeling. Confusion prevents us from taking action, keeping us in a state of hesitation to protect us from making a choice where we could get hurt.

Self-Protection

Our systems tend to prioritize safety above everything else. But sometimes our unconscious ideas about what safety means are outdated. For example, as children, we may have thought we would generally be safer by staying quiet. But as adults, we know we need to speak up if we are going to get our needs met. So, we may discover that part of our confusion comes from a place that’s working on old information. Sometimes becoming consciously aware of that can be enough to cut through the confusion.

Not too long ago, I was trying to decide whether to start preparing for something on the horizon for me or wait a little longer. Every time I thought about the decision, I could only feel confusion and couldn’t take a single step forward. When I took a little time with the sensations, thoughts, and feelings around what was going on, I noticed two conflicting parts: One part of me likes to prepare because it helps ease my anxiety. The other part, however, feared that preparing would make this coming event more real, which would spike the anxiety that preparation was trying to soothe. These two parts could not agree on how to keep me safe from pain, so they held me in confusion instead, preventing me from being able to take any action at all.

This realization didn’t quite shift me out of confusion and into action, but it did help me better understand how my system—my ecosystem of selves—was trying to protect me from hurt and pain. I was able to find compassion for my vulnerability and fear and empathize with my conflicting parts. With that empathy came gentleness and patience. It was as if I’d had a foot on the brake and the accelerator at the same time, and I was able to simply ease up on both. I did need a little more time before I could start preparing, and when it was the right time to do so, I was able to start without too much struggle.

A Need for Honesty About Our Feelings

There’s also an incredible power in allowing ourselves to be honest about how we really feel. We might assume that when we admit we feel a certain way—frustrated with a partner, for example, or unsure if we want to finish a degree program—we will have to act on it immediately, even if we’re not ready. But that’s not the case.

When we can honestly acknowledge what we’re feeling, we can discover that we have choices. The part of us that wants to stay in a relationship or job might be competing against the part of us that is struggling, ensuring we get stuck in confusion. But if we can take an honest look at each part at play, we can shift out of confusion and become empowered to make decisions that will bring us clarity and improve our lives for the better.

Julie Peters

• https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/spiritual-meaning-confusion

The Spiritual Meaning of Eye Issues

The Spiritual Meaning of Eye Issues

By Julie Peters

Posted on February 13, 2025

When issues arise with the eyes and our vision, we may want to consider how we are “seeing” things and ourselves.

Vision changes are common enough, especially as we age or during major hormonal changes, like with pregnancy. We can also get styes, dry eyes, cysts, and all kinds of other issues in and around our eyes. Of course, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor, ophthalmologist, or other healthcare practitioner to address any eye issues directly, but let’s also think about the spiritual meaning of issues surrounding the eyes.

Clear Seeing

The eyes are the organs through which we see and perceive the world. When issues come up with the eyes, we may want to consider how we are “seeing” things.

• Is something happening in your life or in the world that has confused the sense you make of the world around you, the way you “see” things?

• Has your perception changed or been changing about yourself, the people around you, or the world?

• Is there something you are not seeing that you want to see?

• Is there something you’ve seen that you wish you hadn’t?

• What do you spend most of your time looking at?

• What is your relationship like with whatever it is you spend most of your time looking at?

The Sixth Chakra

In the Hindu chakra system, the eyes are connected to the sixth chakra, ajna, which is located between and just above the eyes, in the location of the metaphorical third eye. This is the energy center related to seeing, both inwardly and outwardly. It represents our intuition—our ability to know and understand the world literally as well as intuitively. One of the best ways to support the sixth chakra is to sit in meditation, allowing your mind to quiet enough that you can see, hear, and feel inwardly.

• Do you feel connected to your intuition, your inner knowing that comes from a non-rational place?

• Have you been ignoring your intuition about something?

• Does your intuition feel confused by fear, trauma, or unhelpful inner narratives?

• Did something happen that completely confused your intuition?

• Do you ever get quiet enough to be able to listen to your intuition, or are you too busy to pay attention?

Overvaluing Logic

Seeing is related to a very masculine, rational, logical way of knowing. We trust what we see with our own eyes, sometimes to the detriment of other forms of knowing. Knowing with touch, smell, taste, and other subtler forms of perception are often more related to the feminine—the unseen powers of the universe. When we over-focus on seeing at the cost of knowing, we may be privileging logic over intuition and, by extension, masculine energy over feminine energy.

• What happens when you close your eyes?

• How connected are you to what you are feeling—both to emotion and your other senses?

• If you were to close your eyes to the world for a little while, what might you feel, sense, or know differently?

• Do you tend to overthink problems without pausing to feel into them?

• Do you move ahead with something because it “makes sense” even if it doesn’t feel right to you?

• Do you honor your other forms of knowing beyond thinking, logic, and analysis?

• Do you have internalized gender bias, especially around things like rationality, logic, and intuition?

Seeing Out Versus Seeing In

We see out of the eyes, but the eyes are also a prominent part of our faces, which is what others see. Especially if there is a stye, cyst, lump, or some other visual change to your eye, you may want to think about how you are perceived as well as how you are perceiving.

• How do you feel about yourself at this moment?

• Do you feel that you are worthy of love, care, and attention, just as you are?

• Do you fear that there is something about your inner or outer self that makes you less worthy of attention?

• Do you feel your outer appearance matches who you are and how you feel on the inside?

• Is there something you would like to communicate to the outside world about yourself? Something you feel others don’t see or understand about you?

The Eyes as a Method of Connection

One of the simplest, quickest ways we make connections with other people is through eye contact. So much information can be expressed through the micro-expressions of the eyes. When we look into each other’s eyes and take the time to listen and hear, we can feel “seen” and connected with each other in important ways.

• Do you feel seen, understood, and connected with?

• Is there someone you’d like to feel more connected with?

• Are you lonely?

• Do you look others in the eye, willing and able to see their truth as you reveal your own? Or do you shy away from seeing and being seen completely?

• Does intimacy instigate fear or anxiety?

The Need for Tears

Especially if your eyes are dry or if you have blockages like styes or cysts, your eyes might have a buildup of tears.

• Is there something you haven’t been grieving completely?

• Is there an unresolved sadness in your life, even if it’s from a long time ago?

• Is there something happening in your life that is hard to accept or understand?

• Have you been crying enough? Or too much?

Notice how these questions resonate for you and use them to ask your body what wisdom it is holding through the symptoms it is showing. Remember that your body is always on your side, always trying to bring you back to balance (even if it doesn’t feel that way!). Consider helping your body rebalance by attending to spiritual and emotional concerns. Along with any medical advice you might need to follow, your eyes might just start to feel better.

Julie Peters

• https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/spiritual-meaning-eye-issues