In this article I'm going to share my thoughts on the very subjective and mystical experience that is known as a spiritual awakening. We'll cover what it is, what it can feel like, why it happens, and how you can flow with it (or initiate it if you want).
What does it mean to have a spiritual awakening?
From my research into the subject and my own personal experience as well, I quickly learned that a "spiritual awakening" means different things to different people. The common basis I have found in the spiritual awakening process is that there seems to be a merging of ego with one's true nature. A person is aligned with their higher self and thus many emotions and even physical symptoms are ignited from this union.
This of course can happen in many different ways, which is why there are so many definitions for spiritual awakenings. Many come into this process from a "dark night of the soul". This experience tends to be quite dark and isolating in the beginning, but when the person comes out on the other side, they typically feel much more at home within themselves and the universe at large. Their sense of self has been restored at an even deeper level that it was before they went through their dark night.
Another interesting occurrence that some consider a "spontaneous spiritual awakening" is when a person has actual physical symptoms that feel electrical in nature. This is also known as a kundalini awakening.
I experienced this in the summer of 2021 while meditating with another person. I first felt like I was in a cloud of pure bliss, followed by electrical sensations that went up and wrapped around my head. All night I was woken by electric feeling sensations buzzing up and down my chakra centers like an accordion. It was the wildest thing I've ever experienced and have yet to really understand. I began to have out of body experiences every few months after that night, so I know that it seemed to open something within me.
A more frequent type of spiritual awakening is when you are aligned with your higher self in general. Insights, downloads, feelings of euphoria and well-being flood your mind and heart. This type of spiritual awakening can happen many times throughout your life. Each time you are awakened to even more of yourself and the nature of reality.
My gripe is that most articles seem to insinuate that a spiritual awakening is this once-in-a-lifetime thing where the soul transforms, but you and your soul are always doing that. That’s spiritual evolution. You can't not do that, even if you tried.
Most people, especially on the spiritual path, will have many spiritual awakenings throughout their lives. One spiritual awakening per lifetime doesn't make any sense.
What makes it sometimes feel like an "official" spiritual awakening is that a person will go through something painful that gives them strong desire for the opposite, and as they come into alignment with that desire, their perspective dramatically shifts and they feel as if they have awoken to a new reality.
Spiritual awakening is an always, on-going process of realizing more, desiring more, understanding more. We are always expanding into higher and higher states of consciousness.
It’s uncovering the truth of who and what you are underneath the cultural conditioning you've been given for most of your life.
Does spiritual awakening have to be painful?
Spiritual awakening absolutely does not have to be painful. Sometimes pain is what we experience when we are so far from the truth of love, but spiritual awakenings can happen (and most often do happen) when we are aligned with truth.
The main reason why painful events can trigger what many call a “spiritual awakening” is because a person is forced to let go of control. In this state, they realize the magnitude of life, love and everything that they are.
I am a long-time student of Abraham Hicks, and what I’ve learned from them is that we are here for the joy and expansion of it all.
Abraham talks about the 5-Step Process that we continually go through. It’s as follows:
- Experience contrast (something negative or unwanted)
- Higher self/God answers
- You align with your desire
- It is manifested
- Appreciate the contrast
Contrast would include the experiences we consider painful, but it also includes anything that we experience as negative. Most people stay in their Step 1 moments instead of moving forward to Step 3 (because Step 2 is the universe's job).
I have had two bigger-feeling spiritual awakening experiences in the last 8 years. Both came from contrast, as everything does, but I handled each one differently.
With the first one, I moved onto Step 3 fairly quickly and so the spiritual awakening did not seem to be born of pain. It was definitely catapulted by contrast, but I didn’t dwell there long.
My second one, which was ignited by health anxiety, I stayed in my Step 1 moment for months. I was so focused and terrorized in that reality that it was hard to pull myself away from the ledge. This is what many identify as a spiritual awakening because deeper pain and more perceived darkness was involved.
Yet out of both experiences, I felt a deeper understanding and connection with my inner being that felt euphoric, life-changing and filled me with so much inner peace.
This is why I do not believe that spiritual awakening needs to be born from a dark period.
The only reason why one period feels darker than another is because you stay disconnected from your inner being longer.
All contrast is the same.
16 signs of spiritual awakening
No matter how you come into alignment with your inner being–either after a long battle of resistance or with faith and trust after some contrast–you will experience many beautiful realizations and new perceptions as a result.
Here are 16 common signs or symptoms that can happen right before, during, or after a spiritual awakening:
- Strong desire for a shift in reality
- Closing the gap from a sense of separation to being one with All That Is
- A spiritual awareness of reality beyond the physical senses
- Deep sense of inner peace, joy and relief
- A trust and surrender to the flow of life
- An awareness of your eternal nature
- Becoming aware of one’s own power in the creation of reality
- Connecting more within instead of outside yourself
- Forgiving and loving the self and others
- Realizing there is no wrong or right way
- Surrendering to the “Great Mystery”
- Releasing what no longer serves you
- Seeing yourself and others in a new light, with love and compassion
- “Miracles” occurring; abundance flooding in, the body healing, relationships improving
- Beautiful synchronicities throughout your days
- Strong feelings of appreciation and love for your life
These are just a few signs or experiences you may have. Who can really say for sure all that a person will experience during a spiritual awakening? It's such a subjective experience that no one can tell you what you are or aren't going through!
Spirituality is subjective. Spiritual enlightenment is subjective. Spiritual experiences are subjective. It's all subjective. So please know that your experience is special and unique to you.
For me personally, the list above expands and shrinks to what I think I feel or know at any given time in my life. There is no one person who has figured this all out. That is simply spiritual elitism fueled by ego.
The one thing that let's me know I'm going through something that could be labeled as a spiritual awakening is that I feel something different on the inside of me. It may wax and wane between feelings of frustration to a deep sense of connection. It's as if I'm leveling up from my current level of understanding, even if it doesn't feel like "leveling up" at all.
So in my opinion, this is why I think a person has many spiritual awakenings throughout life, and it's also why they all look so different. You need different "alarm clocks" for different types of awakenings.
Why did I have a spiritual awakening?
You had a spiritual awakening because you came into alignment with your inner being. If your spiritual awakening does not have an end result of feeling more at peace, then I don't consider it a spiritual awakening.
If it feels bad, you are still in the Step 1 moment that leads to a spiritual awakening. Step 1 moments happen all the time, no matter how enlightened you become, because otherwise no strong desires would ever be born from you (the whole point of focusing here into this life you're living).
So everyone has Step 1 moments and yes, some feel harder than other ones. But when you came into alignment and experienced a spiritual awakening, that happened because it’s the most natural thing in the world.
You are meant to be in alignment with Source, and when you aren’t, it doesn’t feel good.
Also, you may oscillate between feelings of peace and back again to fear. This only means you're still giving your attention to things that aren't true. The more you can consistently trust in love, the more at peace you will feel.
How to initiate (or flow with) a spiritual awakening
The feelings and experiences that come from a spiritual awakening are always available to you, and are easier achieved when you have a better understanding of how it works.
Below is a method of living that becomes a habit when you continue practicing it. It doesn't stop Step 1 moments from happening (contrast) but as mentioned earlier, Step 1 moments are necessary and make coming into alignment all the more joyful and euphoric (sort of like the cosmic version of an orgasm)!
In addition, when you’re in one of those harder Step 1 moments that’s taking everything you’ve got to turn your attention from the dark to the light, this way of understanding reality below will help to carry you through so much easier.
1. Start a meditation practice
I was never able to get into meditation until I started doing it in a way I'd never heard anyone talk about. Sitting in silence was really hard for me and honestly I didn't give regular meditation much of a chance.
There are many ways to meditate, but if you can find one that fits for you, it will really elevate the connection you have with yourself, open psychic abilities you didn't know you had, and you will begin receiving direct spiritual guidance from your higher self and spirit guides. Heck, you will receive assistance from many different sources of a higher vibration.
Do some research into different types of meditation. Abraham Hicks has always recommended a simple 15-20 minutes of silent meditation at the beginning of the day which aligns you with your higher self and sets your day up to flow with ease.
I personally began with guided meditations, and then I began using binaural beats while visualizing certain things. I love the app "Beatfulness" and my favorite one on there is "Light Body Contact".
One type of meditation that began really changing my life, and this sounds weird but just hear me out–before sleep, I lay in bed and visualize walking out of my room and into other rooms of my house. I feel the ground under my feet, the water over my hands when I visualize washing my hands at the kitchen sink, hearing the sounds of the coffee maker turning on, etc.
All the while, I'm not moving my body in bed. My body is actually falling asleep while my mind is staying awake. I will typically end this meditation by visualizing me grabbing a huge amethyst crystal in my living room and going outside to sit on the porch while feeling the crystal in my hands.
I then affirm that I will remember all dreams. This odd meditation opens up many subconscious doors and I don't understand why. I just know it works. I began having precognitive dreams, out of body experiences, and even shared dream experiences with others when I tailor the meditation to concentrate on another person.
2. Start getting present
The more present your mind is, the more "awake" you are. I am always between sleep and awake. Meditation has shown me how busy my monkey mind is. But the more you practice being present and noticing your surroundings, you will begin to pick up on flashes of thoughts, visions, downloads, or spiritual guidance that is coming in.
I have had the most incredible experiences using the Gateway Experience. They were created by Robert Monroe and contain a type of technology that produces brain hemisphere synchronization. This type of meditation also utilizes the "mind awake body asleep" technique that produces amazing results. I have seen past lives and received instant guidance during these meditations.
But, I learned I have to be present in order to receive the guidance. If I'm thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner, I completely miss the flash of information I was just sent. I know this because I'll realize that my inner eye was looking at something and I almost didn't catch it.
It's like our dreams. We have them every night, and the more present we are, the more we can remember. Sometimes you can wake up and feel the dream, but can't remember what it actually was. It's like that with meditation and being present. You are shown things while in meditation but just like a dream, you have to be present and aware.
Why is it like this? I'm not sure but I intuitively feel it has to do with our intention to be physically incarnated here and the strong focus we have to maintain. So the more we can practice getting present and aware, the more likely we are to pick up on things that we are being sent from the spiritual, non-physical side.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle is a great book that I refer back to often.
3. Acknowledge your desires
What is your desire in this moment? If your back is up against the wall (loss of income, symptoms of dis-ease, deterioration of a relationship, etcetera) recognize what the opposite of that is that you want.
Do you want to have a spiritual awakening? Declare that to the universe, your guides, or your higher self.
You may desire abundance, well-being or a loving relationship as the opposite of what you're experiencing right now. Maybe your desire is to surrender everything up to the universe and feel inner peace.
Acknowledge this desire. Feel into it. Let yourself feel good just by the thought of it. Trust that this image combined with the feeling is underway for you.
4. Recognize the nature of reality
Abraham says that when you desire something, your inner being expands and becomes it.
This means that the larger part of you is that thing you are desiring. Your higher self already is abundant, healthy and in love with everything and everyone. You already are spiritually awakened! Your only job is to align with that version of you, and you do this by following what feels like the best idea to you throughout the day.
Whenever my health anxiety creeps back in, I tell myself something like "The core of who I am is and always will be vibrant and alive, and all I have to do is trust in this and let it go."
When my husband lost his income, I told him and myself every day "Something bigger and better is being lined up for us." You are constantly tapping into different realities by way of your focus. It's all energy, so you've got to learn to start being aware of this and claiming the direction you want to go in.
Recognizing the nature of reality means to acknowledge that everything is first energy before it is matter. Matter is the past; it’s already been created. If you’re focused on what you see with your physical senses, you are dwelling in the past.
The new is created with thought and feeling.
You could think your old place of employment is the only way money can flow to you, but then you'd be wrong.
You could think a dis-ease is incurable, but then you'd be wrong.
You could think a relationship with someone can’t be brought up to a higher vibration, but then you'd be wrong!
Anything is possible. This is the nature of reality that spiritually awake souls come to realize. Open your heart and trust.
Whatever it is you’re going through, let go. Remind yourself in every moment that you already are that desire, and it’s only a matter of time before it shows up in your physical reality. It is born in thought first, physical reality second.
5. Come into alignment with your desire
In order for the energy to turn to matter, your only job is try and get in the same frequency as your desire at least once a day. In other words, trying to feel the best you can feel once a day is enough power to begin to shift your reality.
We stay in the frequency of what we want by believing it’s on the way and not concerning ourselves over it. By noticing all the beautiful things going right in your life, or just simply finding small things in your current reality that you really appreciate. Some days this is all I can muster and that's enough.
In essence, "good" things can not easily come to a person who has their back turned because they’re focusing on all the bad stuff that’s in the other direction.
You gotta turn around.
Let the light shine on your face. It is safe to feel its existence. We might not be able to comprehend it all, but we know there’s something bigger there, always proving that if we believe, trust and let go...it will never let us fall.
6. Surrender and go with the flow
To surrender and go with the flow you need to get a little intentional with your focus. There’s a lot of societal peer pressure to focus on the negative, to take on a victim mentality and to fill your mind with depressing things instead of filling it with hope, excitement and love.
Surrendering and going with the flow looks like:
- Appreciating more than you complain
- Staying in the present moment (not the past or the future, but right here)
- Meditating to calm the mind
- Being mindful of what and who you allow into your energy field
- Taking full responsibility for your life (you are a God-being walking around on this earth–realize it!)
- Cultivating self-love and compassion
- Doing daily processes to help clear out stuck energy (I love journaling and tapping for this)
- Creating a morning or evening self-care routine
- Seeing yourself as your inner being does (abundant, well and thriving)
- Remembering how powerful you are on a frequent basis
- Spending time alone intentionally
- Finding ways to relieve fear and doubt (tapping, listening to Abraham or other spiritual teachers who spread a message of love and empowerment)
You essentially stay in the flow by treating each day as a new adventure.
Be like a child who spends their day looking for things to enjoy and appreciate. Acknowledge your upsets when you're experiencing them so you can let them go. Realize that nothing anyone thinks or feels about you is really about you at all–and it's not your responsibility either to help them think or feel otherwise.
Live in the present moment. See yourself with loving, compassionate eyes. Understand that you're so much more than this one earthly experience. You are God, Source, the Universe.
Stay in this lane and you will experience spiritual awakening after spiritual awakening. And when you veer off, never condemn but only love yourself back into alignment.
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this article and found something to take away with you.
For holistic self-care tips every Sunday afternoon, you can sign up for the Dwell in Magic weekly newsletter.
With love,
Jessica
Jessica Dimas is the creator of Anything Can Be: A Reference Guide for Applying the Law of Attraction.
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Jessica
Lovely article. I’m going to print it so I can reference all these wonderful suggestions. I’m already aware of most of these things but I sometimes forget. Thank you for always being so inspiring when I drop by your blog!
Joan
My name is joan from kenya am so thankful that I found this article ave been struggling so much to let go of my past
Carol Atterbury
I absolutely love this read, really brought me to tears. I know all of this yet I lost my way to live it. Powerful words here again tonus that practice living in the now as a light worker, I lost touch with the powers I have to be the best part of me. I am always putting on a smile but not feeling it. I side stepped somewhere . I just want to say Whole Heartily Thank You for the wake up call Beautiful Reminder to Self Love and stay in the light as the goddess here on earth.
Love & Light Carol ♥️
Love Abraham and the delivery. As you had mentioned very motivating.
Jessica Dimas
Such a wonderful feeling to come back to what you know. We all side step, I totally know what you mean. Thank you for your beautiful comment <3
Bridget
Beautifully said! I have experienced a profound awakening in the past couple years and it is truly life changing. I am also a love of Abraham 🙂
Jessica Dimas
There's nothing better than such an awakening 🙂
kiki
I feel like i can see who is sleeping and who is awake... help lol!
Jessica Dimas
It's all good. The more aligned and surrendered we become, the less the "sleeping" or disconnected ones bother us. We're all eternally expanding and unfolding.
Anna
I enjoyed reading this!! Keep sharing truth and positivity!<3 you are special!!
Jessica Dimas
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for you comment 🙂
Celine Moreira
How do you know if you’re in step one?
Jessica Dimas
An example of a step one moment could be that you lose your job. You initially find this painful or undesirable, but the experience helps you clarify what it is you do want. A lot of us get stuck in the step one moment, focusing all of our attention on what we don't want, rather than moving forward into the clarity of what it is we do want and focusing on that. When you're in a space of focusing heavily on what's going wrong, you're in a step one moment.
Melvin
Well said Jessica. I had my spiritual awakening back in October 2019 from a Twin Flame encounter. Met my Ex False Twin Flame from Dominican Republic 🇩🇴 and I had no idea on Twin Flames..
I randomly had my awakening months after we met and my life changed since. My first job closed. I was traveling to Dominican Republic for a month back in Dec 2019- Jan 2020.
The Coronavirus Pandemic took over the world.. Made a ton saved up on unemployment, couple of job and business venture opportunities. So many positive things went right for me in 2020.
A crucial turning point in my life that I see light in my life and the world in darkness with the pandemic. My ex was extremely abusive and narcisssitic and led me to my kundalini awakening. 2020 was the best year of my life for all the right reasons that happened to me throughout the while year.
My older bro forgave me for stuff in the past. My favorite video game of all time, Last of Us Part 2 gets Game of the Year while my favorite channel from high school, G4 announces a return next year! Finally see positive progress and my life is going somewhere since and now I know how to invest my money in the stock market with experiences and CDs, now ETFs and Index Funds while having thousands of dollars saved up. Easier to find work since my first job.
Finally I made it and seeing growth in me. Now I'm waiting for my real twin flame to appear in my life. Can't wait after this pandemic ends and travel and do other amazing things. After years of struggle and finding first job and being hospitalized for a stress induced Psychosis due to trouble and frustration finding work.
Finally my life is getting together and God blessed me with this spiritual awakening for all the right reasons.
Laury
This was so insightful and helpful. I was feeling kind of lost because my perception of reality has been shifting for the past few months and a lot of things you see on internet just made me feel like I was going nowhere because I didnt have one big awakening moment. I understand now that it is a process and your article is helping me navigating through all the emotions triggered by this completely new spiritual journey. I can’t thank you enough 🙂
Jayvon
My name is jayvon and idk but I been feeling more awareness of myself at all time. Like I been paying attention to myself and it feels weird. it feel like I been living in a new world. I been seeing things bigger and brighter. But more importantly It feels like I'm watching myself at al time. like I'm more alert on my action. It makes me nervous cause I never felt this way. But I do feel good and more powerful. Can somebody give me some advice?
Anonymous
Great ranking in Google. Lots of Google ads. No thank you. Not the kind of blog I am looking for
Siedah, Her Love Co.
I've been on this journey thus far since 2015. It has been TOUGH. A few things I wish I would've known.
1. You have to be patient with yourself
2. Have faith in those times when life seems quiet, lonely, or stagnate.
3. DO NOT RESIST CHANGE ( I am a stubborn Scorpio and I put myself through painful situations longer than I needed to ).
Some things I am GLAD I did:
1. I expressed myself in written from, LIVE chats, podcasts
2. I create (ebooks, books, journals and candles)
3. I know I am not alone
4. I am stronger than I could've even imagined.
KEEP PRESSING FOWARD BEAUTIES! 🙂
Jessica Dimas
Beautifully said!
Anonymous
I experienced what I would like to call pre enlightenment in 2017 after I read "The power of your subconscious mind" by Joseph Murphy. I was so obsessed with the book and how it awakened me, learning about my inner being and how the law of the universe works was very exciting. I got destructed and lost focus but never forgot what I have learnt, I got detached to myself. Until recently I was going through depression and I think that was the biggest break through of my life, I sat alone trying to figure out what is happening to realize that all the signs was there I was not conscious enough to notice them, I was going through spiritual awakening I was just not aware of it. Thank you for the insight
Jessica Dimas
I really relate to this! I love that book as well, such a life-changing read for sure. Thank you for sharing your experience, it's beautiful how something like depression or any other dark time in our lives can truly be such a gift.
Joan
Thank you for posting coz i had been asking myself many years ago, where my life be going, and last year (2021) i discovered i am an empath, things are changing, like i used my creativity as my God given gift, and what i learned now that i'm a writer and artist to just live life as it should be and time and it's course will just unfold by itself, of where life will take me .. so once again, Thank you for the pist and it gave me insight.. God bless!
Jessica Dimas
Love this, thank you for your comment!
Katie
Thank you Jessica for sharing your insight and wisdom! I've been stuck in a step 1 for a couple months now and have been having a really hard time coming back to myself. This article was really helpful and inspiring and I feel very rejuvenated and hopeful again after reading this. Thank you so much. <3
Jessica Dimas
I'm so happy to hear that, Katie! I understand because I've been stuck in step 1 as well. I find that when we do end up making our way back to ourselves after being stuck, you can really see how much growth occurred during that time and how much clearer you feel. It's definitely a continuous ebb and flow! <3