Unattached Burdens and Spirit Guides & Ancestors

Modern, Enlightenment notions of autonomy and separateness in Western cultures gave us a model of the mind as an isolated, sealed-off and fully separate thing.

As we unlearn this fallacy, we begin to understand what Indigenous cultures have known and practiced for thousands of years — that we are permeable, inter-beings entangled in a web of mutual influences. Our emotions, thoughts, health, sense of identity are all shaped by our relationship to all that encircles us.

From this expanded understanding of ourselves, we come to understand that some of what we carry didn’t originate within us and doesn’t belong to us. Alongside personal, collective and legacy burdens, we can also be impacted by what is known in the IFS community as “unattached burdens” (UBs).

Unlike our protective parts and the burdens they take on, these burdened energies that originate outside of us and our lineages do not have a positive intention for us and can weigh us down, keeping us from living fully in the present and making it difficult to access Self and to experience our wholeness.

All cultures across time have had ways of addressing this undesirable phenomenon. With an expanded experience of IFS, we can respectfully and compassionately release these energies, reclaiming our sovereignty, clarity and vitality.

This process of releasing burdened energies is often supported by discovering and strengthening our connection to compassionate, wise, and deeply well Spirit Guides, allies, and healed ancestors. The presence of these illuminated beings can offer wisdom, strength, and blessings as we walk the path of healing. Inviting in this guidance can also support us in feeling more connected and resourced, restoring our experience of cosmocentric belonging within the larger web of life.