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Spiritual awakening isn’t always about pretty crystals and learning how to smoke cleanse. Those tools are incredible, of course. I use and share about those “fun” tools all the time!
But it goes much deeper than that.
Growing into the reason you came here and discovering the illusions that have held you back from your true self and full potential are the core of spiritual awakening.
It’s about revealing everything that causes us to feel separate from oneness and realizing our divine vision and our spiritual gifts.
All of us have spiritual gifts– but sometimes we repress and forget them because of outside influences like society, family, friends or culture.
Society tells us that it’s weird or bad to have spiritual gifts or to be sensitive. We’re not usually encouraged to ask questions that defy the norm.
Because of this, most of us are never taught how to use our sensitivity as a gift to succeed in life. Before you know it we lose sight of what was once so clear as a child.
Enter, the “awakening” (more like RE-awakening) process.
We start to get reminders of our soul essence and of the uniqueness we came here to share.
Maybe we learn about being an empath and start taking steps to better understand ourselves.
Or maybe we start to see colors or visions in our meditation and become curious about what they mean.
Regardless of how you arrive on your spiritual path- the awakening has threads of similarity for us all.
I’ll elaborate, it usually happens in some common stages.
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Stages of Spiritual Awakening
Dark Night of the Soul
Eckhart Tolle explains the dark night of the soul so eloquently. It’s usually a period you encounter in your life (several times over, perhaps) that leads you to seek a deeper understanding about why you’re here. This period can be led by grief, sorrow, feeling lost or lonely.
You might feel like no one in the world understands or like you’ve been woken up from living a lie. It can feel pretty gloomy and like you somehow have to start over on a new path because your world came crashing down.
On a collective level– 2020 has been a pretty good example of this.
Inspiration Hits
The light at the end of the tunnel becomes visible and your curiosity piques. After going through a life-altering dark night of the soul- you finally see from a higher perspective. Maybe you come to a profound realization and inspiration hits to lead you into a new found purpose.
Curiosity & Questioning
This is a hugeee part of spiritual awakening. My awakening started here, actually.
Your consciousness starts to question everything, seeking for truth and deeper meaning. You become curious about all things- religion, spirituality, philosophy, society, culture, education- everything.
You zoom out of the everyday reality and traceback for origins and consider “how we got here.”
Symbolism may start jumping out of you in the form of coincidence, and a yearning for new meanings and resonant truths begins to bloom.
Ease, Breakthroughs, Growth Spurts
You start to feel empowered and renewed. A rebirth or born-again experience occurs and things start to flow for you with ease.
You might have huge spiritual or mental breakthroughs and adopt a new way of being or thinking. It can feel like a huge growth spurt that encourages you to embody a whole sense of newness.
Knowledge, insight and intuition are typically strong and abundant during this stage.
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Inner Conflict: Feeling Lost or Alone
What goes up must come down- and this applies to the spiritual journey as well. Its not always going to be ease, flow and strong intuitive hits- even after you’ve been awakened for years.
When you reach a new level of growth you may feel ecstatic, inspired and joyful. But part of the journey often leads us to inner conflict.
When we’ve discovered all this newness and become empowered by our knowledge, insight and intuition- this usually causes some doubt or confusion.
“But this is not what I was taught growing up”
“These two contradictory concepts both appear to be true”
Or- “This completely contradicts everything I’ve thought and held true for my entire life”
“No one around me is aware of these insights and realization I’ve had- whats the point?”
Very common for this inner conflict to give rise and cause you to feel lost, alone or like there’s no point in continuing on the seekers path.
When you do feel lost or alone, reach out and get involved with a community. Your local metaphysical store could have some resources, but if not- there’s plenty of spaces online to connect with like minded people and those who understand.
Deep Inner Work
This is where the real healing takes place. When you are guided to do the deep work- this is a huge step in your spiritual awakening.
The “deep work” is the hard stuff. Maybe you’re forced to finally look at your shadow and do some ego dissolving. Or perhaps you do some inner child healing and let go of attachments or limiting beliefs.
Being ready for the shadow work takes a certain level of awareness, and although it’s not easy, it is such powerful work that will help take our consciousness and self-confidence to the next level.
What is Shadow Work? Identifying the Shadow Self and Learning How to Heal it
Grounding and Expansion
After rounds of deep healing, realizations and shifts- you begin to integrate the lessons into your being.
You’re no longer hiding your wisdom or your awakening journey from those around you. You learn how to ground your spiritual experiences into the physical and maybe learn how to energetically ground energy.
It’s likely this spiritual awakening has heightened your intuition or your sensitivity– and by this point you’ve really learned how to embody that as a gift instead of something that hinders you.
When we ground our spiritual experiences into the physical- we’re able to expand beyond ourselves and make lasting impacts on the collective.
Living Your Purpose or Dharma
We all came here with a purpose in this lifetime. Some of us have a similar purpose and you may notice people coming into your life who are on the same path as you and who have a similar mission.
Your purpose is always unique to your own soul, though. And only you can define your purpose. But sometimes the people brought into our life at certain stages of the journey are meant to help us or inspire us into discovering our purpose.
We may even be led to several purposes that align with each specific stage of our growth.
The key is to stay aware. Pay attention to the signs and patterns that appear for you. Do people keep coming to you asking for guidance about xyz? Do you keep getting confirmations or reminders of a great idea that came to you and wants to be expressed?
Sometimes its revealed through a simple inner knowing or intuitive nudge.
By this stage- you’re ready to follow that and do the work to get it done.
Potential Traps During Spiritual Awakening and Things to Look Out For
Spiritual Bypassing
Only focusing on light and not acknowledging stuff that feels triggering.
At some point you may come across teachings that encourage you to only focus on the “light” and to not focus on negative or hurt parts of yourself because you might “lower your vibration.”
Don’t fall for this trap. Real healing and awakening does not begin until we’ve become comfortable with our shadow and are able to acknowledge the darkness that exists.
We have to become aware and comfortable with our triggers in order to really expand.
The lesson here is to get comfortable with what makes you uncomfortable. Our triggers point to the things within us that still need to be healed.
Ego Trap
This is a good one and you’ll come across it often during your awakening and beyond. The whole “I’m better because I’m on the spiritual path and I’ve already healed xyz….”
Wrong! Maybe you’ll catch yourself judging others who appear to be lost or triggered.
Beware of this trap.
We are not given the gift of inner knowing and awakening to use it as a weapon against others who are still finding their way.
Sometimes we are meant to be the guide. Sometimes we are meant to let it go and let it pass- they’ll find their way.
It’s not our job to make sure everyone “gets on the path.” You’ll know when to be the guide and when to keep a boundary.
One of my favorite quotes is
“If you can’t see God in all, you can’t see God at all”
― Yogi Bhajan
This is important to remember when your ego wants to get loud.
Spirituality should humble you and remind you that we are all one.
Beware of this spiritual ego stuff when choosing your own guides too. Some people/healers/teachers want to act like they’re superior to you because they’ve been on the path longer or they’ve found some of the answers you’re still seeking.
Always choose gentle, humble guides who share their wisdom without expecting to be placed on a pedestal.
Boundaries
Boundaries become more important than ever. When you “turn your light on,” you may start to attract others who want you to fix their problems.
Remember- sometimes we ARE meant to be the guide. When it comes from a place of love and we are full enough to share and guide others- we absolutely should.
But sometimes it drains us and sometimes our well being is not being respected. When this happens- its time for boundaries. Simple communication is usually enough to set a boundary but be sure to set boundaries spiritually as well. We can do so through prayer, visualizations, using crystals, etc.
Symptoms and Signs of Spiritual Awakening
Here are some common signs that may appear when you are going through spiritual awakening.
- Yearning for Purpose and Deeper Meaning in Your Life
- Crave Deeper Conversations and Have Low to No Tolerance for Surface Talk
- Want to Quit Your Job (if it does not spiritually fulfill you)
- Sensitivity Increases (physically and spiritually)
- Intuitive Abilities Appear or Strengthen
- Crave Alone TIme
- Empathy Increases- More sensitive to what others feel
- You want to make an impact
- Self Confidence and Self Awareness Increases
- Dreams become vivid and full of symbolism
- Synchronicities Occur (repeating numbers or topics)
- Seeing through illusions (BS detector gets activated)
- You want to get rid of things that no longer resonate with you
- Awareness that we are all One
- Crave Authenticity
- Perception of Time Changes
- Losing friends
- Feeling lonely
- Feeling like no one understands
- Heightened interest in astrology or other esoteric practices
Physical Symptoms of Spiritual Awakening
- Food Intolerance
- Ringing in the Ears
- Spells of Dizziness
- Feeling really energized
- Feeling really fatigued
- Sensory Sensitivity Increase
- Change in Sex Drive
- Change in Appetite
Tips and Tools to Assist Spiritual Awakening Journey
- Epsom Salt Baths- help to draw out and release excess energy picked up from the collective or through daily stressors.
- Crystals – protection / grounding
- Daily Rituals- say affirmations as you stir your morning coffee, pull a daily oracle card, journal your experience, etc.
- Using Herbs and Natural Remedies- Organic Olivia products
- Essential Oils- Mountain Rose Herbs
- Set Boundaries- Say “no” more often, listen to your body
- Do what’s best for you, don’t need to apologize or explain
- Connect with an oracle or tarot deck- Hay House or Amazon have plenty to choose from. Local metaphysical store likely to have many as well. Choose the one you are most drawn to! (And no, it does NOT have to be gifted to you by someone else)
- Connect with nature and get outside
- If you can, get a pet
- Smoke cleanse- Mountain Rose Herbs or Mama Wunderbar
- Ground yourself daily – How to Ground
- If you resonate with lightwork… invite light into your life daily
- Connect with like minded individuals, find a healer or spiritual mentor or coach
- Drink good quality water and practice intuitive eating (eat what makes you feel good)
I hope this guide was helpful for you. Spiritual awakening can feel lonely and confusing- but it is the process to unlocking our gifts and creating a life of abundance and joy.
Where are you in your spiritual journey? Was this guide helpful? Let me know in the comments.
im still trying to learn its been a heck of a ride i see alot and i feel the tinest lint it drives me crazy