Today's post is all about how to begin your spiritual journey if you're feeling the call, but don't know where to start. It can feel overwhelming with all of the advice out there, but I'm here to remind you that you're always being led to the next thing intuitively.
You're more of an ancient pro than you realize. The fact that you're feeling pulled to learn more means you're aware, listening, and ready.
One of the things I've really come to know is that your impulses are not random–it's all inspired in some way by your higher self. Let's talk about how to follow that guidance and what to expect when you start actively uncovering you, the universe, and ultimate truth.
What is a spiritual journey?
A spiritual journey is simply the on-going experience of uncovering and remembering who you really are on a soul level. It's a never-ending expansion of all that you are–a never-ending love story between you and your higher self. You're always on a spiritual journey whether you realize it or not.
A stripper is just as much on a spiritual path as a priest is. Their souls are just experimenting with different challenges and themes. One thing that I've learned personally from my spiritual journey is that it's all spiritual.
How you choose to go about discovering your truth is your choice and no one else's. The beliefs you would like to explore, the books you want to read, the ways you choose to experiment and practice connecting with yourself...these are all going to be unique to you.
I mention this for a few reasons. One being that no one knows what path is best for you, and two being that there isn't anyone out there with the whole answer. You have a piece of the puzzle and so do I, which is why there is a wise Ram Dass quote that says "When you know how to listen, everybody is the guru speaking to you."
How do you know when you're spiritually awakened?
In my humble opinion, no one in human form is ever fully spiritually awakened. It's similar to teenagers in junior high who talk about kissing and getting to second base, and everyone assumes everyone else is so experienced and ahead.
Then you grow up and realize that everyone was trying to find their way, just like you were.
You're always in a state of spiritual awakening. You go back to sleep, wake up for a little bit, doze off again...repeat. I don't know that there is ever one huge moment where you're now "spiritually awakened" (cue a gong sound).
But there is such a thing as coming into yourself, of "waking up" from the stories we tell ourselves and each other here on this stage of illusions. A big chunk of your youth is spent anchoring into this reality and going through experiences that will shape and prepare you for spiritually awakening as you get older.
If you came into this lifetime wanting to work on shame, for example, you will go through experiences in your youth that really perpetuate that emotion inside of you. You do this so that when you are ready, you will investigate this story you believe about yourself, this illusion. You'll dance with the shame, make friends with it, and eventually release it with love.
The experiences in your life have been no mistake. They were all part of the plan for your eventual waking back up to truth.
How to begin a spiritual journey
Right here, where you are with what's calling you in this moment is where you begin. All it requires is some quiet reflection to get personalized answers for your spiritual journey and awakening.
1. Reflect & aim
Typically when we begin to wake up, it's because we're at a point in our lives when we're ready for change. You may be tired of drama, or people pleasing, or being broke, or attracting partners who aren't right for you, etc.
Whatever it is, it's acting somewhat like a catalyst for you. It's likely some form of pattern you've been entangled with your whole life in some way or another and you're over it. For me, it was hitting financial rock bottom that began my quest for knowledge. My lack mindset affected me in more ways than just financial, but at the time I only recognized it by my cash flow.
Learning about the law of attraction is what (unknowingly to me) started it all. I learned how to use what wasn't going right in my life to help me manifest what I did want to experience.
Think about where you are currently and start feeling into the direction you want to start moving in. This helps so much with tapping into your inner guidance. Since everything is FOR you, you can begin to see that even the contrast of where you are currently is there to push you towards its opposite.
Use the following journal prompts to help you feel into the direction that's most desirable to you currently:
- How I'm currently feeling about life
- What's happening that I don't enjoy
- How I want to start feeling
- What I want to start experiencing
2. Follow the crumb trail
Starting where you are now–begin to follow the crumbs. There may be a topic you want to learn more about, or a podcast that's intriguing you. Whatever it is, allow yourself to freely consume it without worrying if it's the "right" place you should be or not.
Whatever is lighting you up with interest and intrigue is where you should be.
You can't learn ALL THE THINGS in one lifetime, nor do you need to. I began studying astrology four years ago and one thing I've learned is that we are all learning different things, not just from birth but yearly we are going through different learning cycles.
This tells me that you are being drawn to certain things all the time that match with your higher intention from a soul level. That's why no one's journey can look the same because we're all playing Marco Polo with our souls and being called in different directions.
Don't stress yourself out worrying that you need to learn all there is to know spiritually. You already KNOW all of it anyway on a soul level. You're here to experience, explore and expand from the vantage point of this present personality that you currently know as yourself.
Begin to trust your excitement and interest. It is always connected to a pulling from your higher self. Start with what you find yourself most interested in learning and then keep following that pattern.
My journey has loosely followed this trail: law of attraction, self-care, shadow work, divination, astrology, self-healing, reincarnation, meditation, and most recently I've been learning about dreams and astral traveling.
3. My favorite resources for learning
When you're driving, cleaning, cooking, exercising or showering, you can easily devour knowledge about subjects that fascinate you. My favorite way to consume information is from audible resources. You can find information on pretty much any subject with the following sites. Here are my favorite ones:
If you're looking for a good podcast, whether you've been studying spiritual concepts for a long time or are just beginning, I highly recommend the podcast Spiritual Tune-Ups with Mike Dooley. He is awesome and explains so many spiritual truths in such a beautiful way.
Some of my favorite spiritual apps are:
- TimePassages (astrology)
- Audible (audio books, I highly recommend the membership)
- Beatfulness (crazy good binaural beats for meditation but currently only available on Apple)
- Udemy (affordable courses)
- Gaia (like Netflix but with spiritual content)
I'm also a huge book lover. I've written a few articles on my favorites which you can find here:
- 5 Books That Will Trip You Out & Expand Your Mind
- Best Meditation Books for a Daily Self-Care Routine
- The Best Law of Attraction Books
- The Best Spiritual Books That Will Change Your Life
There are many resources for learning. Create a folder on your phone for your spiritual apps and keep it in the front so you remember to utilize them. I find the most helpful benefit of this is actually just keeping your mindset and vibration elevated, because you're constantly being reminded of your spiritual nature.
4. Get curious & take a higher perspective
One of the best ways to understand spiritual concepts is by practicing becoming a witness and observer of life. Rather than choosing to experience knee-jerk reactions all the time, try to step back and see everything from a higher perspective.
Some spiritual truths I have discovered along my journey are the following:
- The universe is based in love; anything else is confusion
- There are no victims or mistakes; every experience holds purpose behind the scenes
With these two thoughts always in the back of my mind, I observe my life and notice how much lighter things feel. If I feel fear or anger, I can investigate from a place of curiosity as opposed to feeling like a victim, or like something is out to get me.
I know this is a tough concept for a lot of people because from the human perspective, it feels like blaming ourselves or others. I see it like a stage play; we play out certain scenarios because we know it's just acting and when the curtain falls, we're all friends who continue on in our higher awareness of who we really are.
Can you see how you would want to play out different experiences in each lifetime for the expansion and awareness it would bring you? How others would also be doing the same, no matter how it looks here from our limited perspective? Some events for personal evolution, others for our collective consciousness.
Start practicing coming out of the limited human perspective and ponder from a higher vantage point. What are the positives that come out of hard experiences? What could be the invitation or nugget of wisdom? If everything is love, where are you resisting or attaching?
"In this universe, there is no such thing as a mistake. There is also no such thing as punishment. What this means, is that everything that happens to you is not an accident, and everything that happens to you has come to benefit you in some way. The key is to deliberately look through ego's illusion for that benefit." - Teal Scott
This is not saying that we allow for monstrosities to occur right under our noses. But it is saying that there is always order, and that very order flows from love. Your physical experience is an illusion of your own making for the purpose of expansion. There are no victims, no random diagnoses or accidents, no mistakes.
Start to look deeper and longer. Where are you being called to investigate in your life? In your beliefs? Wherever you hold resistance is exactly where you intended to dig in on a soul level. Don't be afraid to do so.
Another spiritual truth I know without doubt, is that you are so much more incredible than you likely believe yourself to be. The more you uncover the truth of this, the more you uncover all there is to know about reality and the universe itself.
I hope you enjoyed this article and found something to take away with you. To receive free spiritual insights & new articles, sign up for the Dwell in Magic Weekly Digest.
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Carrie
I really enjoy your posts. Thank you for sharing.
Laura
I love your posts! Big fan ❤️
Jessica Dimas
Thank you so much Laura!