Simplify your life: Make arrangements for childcare and time off work if necessary. Stock up on some basic groceries.
Limit your use of all stimulants: caffeine, alcohol, drugs, etc. If you are on any form of prescription drugs continue taking them as prescribed or ask your doctor/caregiver about going off them for a short period of time. This is especially true if you are on any form of psychiatric medications -- severe withdrawal effects are associated with some medications and they should never be stopped cold turkey. If you regularly meditate or do yoga (especially kundalini yoga) stop doing so for at least a few days. Do not resume the practice until you feel comfortable doing so.
Create a sacred space: The idea is to create a safe container to hold the experience. The container can be a room in your home, a journal, even an imaginary place. You will likely spend the majority of your time in this space so it should offer access to basic necessities (i.e., food, a bathroom) in addition to as much privacy as you feel is required.
Find a means of expressing your experience: Talking, journaling, painting, dancing, etc. Feel free to bring other elements into your sacred space that assist in the expression of that content -- photographs, pieces of music, poetry, symbolic items, etc. Be aware, self-identification with specific symbols and archetypes can be a normal part of the process.
Internal Support: Try to find a means of bringing the expressed content into a trusted relationship. The relationship can be with a spouse, a friend, a therapist, even a group. If you have no one in your life that you can share this with, think back to a time that you did have that kind of relationship and imagine yourself sharing the content with that person. If you've never had a relationship like that, imagine yourself sharing your experience with your ideal friend/caregiver. The important thing is that you feel absolutely safe with the other, whomever that other is. This person (whether real or imaginary) can enter your sacred space with you so as to provide support through the process.
External Support: Try to ensure that at least one person in your face-to-face world is aware that you are undergoing a form of transformational process/crisis. It's not necessary that this person goes through the process/crisis with you, but they can provide assistance in the event you require outside help. You may find it helpful to have them read some basic information related to spiritual emergence/emergencies.
Flow with the process: Intense emotion is common -- love, fear, sadness, bliss, despair, etc. Extreme forms of empathy may also come into play. Physical expressions are also common so feel free to move, dance, sing, etc. as required. Anything that does come up is coming up for a reason. It's not necessary to analyze this content too closely at this time, just to allow the expression of the content. Nor is it necessary to understand the process, just to allow it to unfold -- you can analyze the entire experience in depth later. In the midst of it just let it flow. If you need to eat, eat; if you need to sleep, sleep. During the less intense stages you may find that you're quite capable of turning the experience "off", (or at least, "down"), thereby allowing yourself to attend to vital everyday functions such as preparing a meal or driving.
Know your limits: You are not under any obligation to deal with any content you don't want to deal with. If something arises that feels too painful or frightening for you to cope with, feel free to set it aside. Alternatively, work through the content with your trusted internal or external support person. Bear in mind, this is a psychological/spiritual process and the content that arises is often symbolic. The idea is to experience the entire process in your psychological depths.
When to get outside help:
- If you think you need it.
- If suicide has become an attractive option. [Read this first]
- If you want to hurt yourself.
- If you want to hurt someone else.
If you should determine that a formal therapeutic relationship will be to your benefit you may find that therapists who specialize in transpersonal or Jungian therapy can best identify with your personal experience. Ideally, any caregivers will be able to recognize the experience of spiritual emergency as one of transformation, not pathology.
See also:
Crisis and Spiritual Emergency
Tips for "Dark Night" Journeyers
Thoughts on Spiritual Emergency
How to Treat Difficult Psychedelic Experiences
Getting Through Psychosis
Active Imagination
Death & Rebirth in Psychospiritual Transformation
Holotropic States of Consciousness
Spiritual Emergency, Suicide, Altered States of Consciousness, Psychotic Episodes, Psychospiritual Transformation, Crisis, Acute Schizophrenic Break, Holotropic States of Consciousness
