Spiritual awakenings initiate us into the realm of the soul and spirit that we have been disconnected from for so long. Born into a society that currently values material growth over anything else, very few of us are familiar with the mystical way of life.
Everything down to the way we plan, dress, work and talk is based on the assumption that there is only really the physical external reality – nothing else. As a result our lives become shallow and vacuous. We may become successful, rich, respected, loved or even famous, but none of these things fill the void of soullessness within us.
Thankfully, there are moments in our lives when we sense this immense empty chasm within us.For a time we may ignore its mournful calls and attempt to stuff it with material comforts and superficial excitements. But we can never quite escape it. Then, one day, quite out of the blue, our lives split in half and the ground crumbles beneath us. We fall, screaming and crying, into the void of dissolution.
If you’ve come to this article you’ve likely undergone, or are presently going through, this unnerving – but ultimately soul-saving – spiritual crisis. We’ll explore what this means for you and what you can expect to experience.
Everything down to the way we plan, dress, work and talk is based on the assumption that there is only really the physical external reality – nothing else. As a result our lives become shallow and vacuous. We may become successful, rich, respected, loved or even famous, but none of these things fill the void of soullessness within us.
Thankfully, there are moments in our lives when we sense this immense empty chasm within us.For a time we may ignore its mournful calls and attempt to stuff it with material comforts and superficial excitements. But we can never quite escape it. Then, one day, quite out of the blue, our lives split in half and the ground crumbles beneath us. We fall, screaming and crying, into the void of dissolution.
If you’ve come to this article you’ve likely undergone, or are presently going through, this unnerving – but ultimately soul-saving – spiritual crisis. We’ll explore what this means for you and what you can expect to experience.
Spiritual Awakening Symptoms
Everything down to the way we plan, dress, work and talk is based on the assumption that there is only really the physical external reality – nothing else. As a result our lives become shallow and vacuous. We may become successful, rich, respected, loved or even famous, but none of these things fill the void of soullessness within us.
Thankfully, there are moments in our lives when we sense this immense empty chasm within us.For a time we may ignore its mournful calls and attempt to stuff it with material comforts and superficial excitements. But we can never quite escape it. Then, one day, quite out of the blue, our lives split in half and the ground crumbles beneath us. We fall, screaming and crying, into the void of dissolution.
If you’ve come to this article you’ve likely undergone, or are presently going through, this unnerving – but ultimately soul-saving – spiritual crisis. We’ll explore what this means for you and what you can expect to experience.
Thankfully, there are moments in our lives when we sense this immense empty chasm within us.For a time we may ignore its mournful calls and attempt to stuff it with material comforts and superficial excitements. But we can never quite escape it. Then, one day, quite out of the blue, our lives split in half and the ground crumbles beneath us. We fall, screaming and crying, into the void of dissolution.
If you’ve come to this article you’ve likely undergone, or are presently going through, this unnerving – but ultimately soul-saving – spiritual crisis. We’ll explore what this means for you and what you can expect to experience.
Spiritual Awakening Symptoms
I experienced the beginnings of my spiritual awakening about 6 months before I met Sol. At that time, I was deeply entrenched in the dogmas and cultish teachings of the fundamentalist Christian church I was born into. Beginning to doubt, question and sense that there was more to life than what my indoctrination declared, I felt lost and deeply alone. I had no one outside of the church that I felt comfortable talking to about my feelings. I had no true, close friends to confide in – and my family didn’t understand – or didn’t want to. As a result, I felt so alienated and suffocated with loneliness that I developed depression and chronic anxiety, the latter lasting for many years.
The unsettling and equally beautiful thing about spiritual awakenings is that they occur at the least expected times. There is no way you can plan for them. They lurch into your life and shake everything up like tornadoes. But the hidden gift buried deep within them is that they occur at the precise time that you need them the most.
The unsettling and equally beautiful thing about spiritual awakenings is that they occur at the least expected times. There is no way you can plan for them. They lurch into your life and shake everything up like tornadoes. But the hidden gift buried deep within them is that they occur at the precise time that you need them the most.
Spiritual awakenings are the soul’s cry for freedom.
Listen to its call and your life will be transformed into something meaningful and significant.
Refuse its call and your life will be like a graveyard.
When I was going through a spiritual awakening I had no idea what was happening to me. I thought for sure that I was going crazy or was going to burn in hell forever for questioning everything I’d been taught. I would have loved to read a simple article like this describing all the spiritual awakening symptoms and their significance. So I’m honored to be able to present them to you now. I hope, if anything, that they can validate what you’re going through.
Physical Spiritual Awakening Symptoms
Physical signs obviously differ for everyone. Here are a few symptoms that I experienced and others have shared with me on their soul paths:
- Amplification of sense. For example, your sight, hearing, taste, touch and/or smell becomes intensified. You may even discover that you’re a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person).
- You discover food intolerance’s that you never seemed to have before (or perhaps weren’t paying attention to). E.g. Allergies to wheat, nuts, legumes, soy, spices
- Changed sleeping patterns, i.e. you sleep more or experience more disrupted sleep, often causing insomnia
- Vivid dreams – your dreams become scary, bizarre or intense
- Dizziness – feeling lightheaded as a result of being ungrounded during the day
- Weight change – either gaining or losing a lot of weight
- Changed eating habits – what you once liked eating no longer appeals to you. Also you may crave to experiment with other foods that you’ve never tried/liked
- Fluctuations in energy – feeling less energized than you used to
- Decreased or increased sex drive
- Decreased immune function (more illness) and eventually increased immune functioning
Mental and Emotional Spiritual Awakening Symptoms
These symptoms are shared by the majority of people experiencing awakenings.
1. You feel as though your life is false.
Everything that you have built up, believed and worked towards seems to be false. Your life doesn’t feel as though it’s your own.
2. You craving for meaning and purpose.
You deeply desire to find the meaning of your life. You have no idea what your purpose is, but you want to find it desperately.
3. You realize that a lot of what you’ve been taught is a lie.
You start to see how many beliefs, ideals and values are not actually your own, but other people’s or inherited from your culture.
4. You feel completely lost and alone.
Nothing in your life seems to make sense anymore. You feel as though you’re wandering through an endless wilderness. As a vagabond, you feel completely alone and cut off from people.
5. You see through the illusions of society.
Materialism, success and profit no longer mean anything to you. You start feeling as though you’re a cog in the machine of society.
6. You see how unhappy most people are.
You awaken to the unhappiness and suffering of others. You may start to explore activism or read more about the human condition. It is tormenting to you to realize how much pain there is in the world.
7. You begin experiencing deep empathy and compassion.
As you start paying more attention to the many hardships faced by man and nature alike, you develop more compassion. Your inherent empathy is awakened and you may find it hard to cope with the intensity of your feelings. This is a pivotal point in your involution: you either numb the pain you feel with addictions, or you find healthy ways to accept and express your emotions.
8. You desire to be alone.
You crave solitude. Whereas once you may have been extroverted, now you experience the introverted side of your nature. You spend a lot of time introspecting and enjoying the silence. At every cost you try to reduce social contact. At this point you may lose touch with many old friends.
9. Conversations seem shallow.
When you do talk to people you feel an acute sense of separation. You realize that very few people are comfortable with talking about passion, emotions, meaning and the soul. In conversations you feel restless and irritated by the small talk. You silently scream, “Can’t anyone wake up and realize what is happening?” Your distaste for frivolous chit chat draws you more into solitude. You may become a lone wolf.
10. You want to quit your job.
Even though you worked for years getting your degree, establishing your career, and climbing the ranks, you feel nothing but emptiness. Your job no longer provides you the sense of fulfillment that you need. You desperately crave for more.
11. You thirst for authenticity and truth.
Being true to yourself becomes priority. You hate faking and putting on the old masks that you used to wear. You want to be completely authentic. Pretense makes you feel sick and disgusted.
12. You become aware of your old negative habits.
You are painfully aware of your flaws and destructive habits. Within you a strong urge arises to wipe the slate clean and start over.
13. You experience anxiety and/or depression.
You may go through deep bouts of existential depression or persistent anxiety. The shock of plunging into your awakening leaves you feeling unstable. You may be misdiagnosed with a mental illness.
14. You want to make the world a better place.
When all is said and done, you want to leave the world a better place.
15. You deeply want to understand WHO you are.
Endless questions arise about your identity and your life, for example, “Who am I?” “Why was I born?” “What am I here to do?” “What is the purpose of my existence?” As a result you begin reading many self-help books and spiritual texts. No wonder you ended up here. :-)
16. Your intuition is heightened.
Gradually you begin to listen to the still, small voice within. You allow it to guide your decisions. Eventually, you start to uncover your hidden away gifts and talents.
17. More synchronicity.
You start becoming conscious of the many signs and omens that life brings to you. Life becomes much more receptive and interactive with you. Serendipity and déjà vu increase.
18. You feel more wonder and curiosity.
The smallest things start to bring you joy and bliss: a falling leaf, a spider’s web, a child’s laughter, a puddle. Life is no longer ignored – it is seen as magical, amazing and beautiful.
19. You start to love unconditionally.
As the barriers of the ego breakdown, you begin to love other people without expectations or conditions. You lose interest in drama, conflict and anything that perpetuates hatred.
20. You see that we are all One.
Not only do you intellectually understand that we are all interconnected, but you feel it deeply within your bones. You realize that our thoughts and beliefs influence reality, and that we are all fragments of one great Whole – that is, Spirit. Having fully experienced that we are this Oneness, you find peace at last. Sometimes this stage can take years or even an entire lifetime.
Finally…
I have no idea what will be the outcome of your spiritual awakening, and neither do you probably at this point. But let me tell you, it’s worth floating around for a while. When I was going through my awakening I carried with me the unshakable sensation that I was falling endlessly through a void of darkness. This Dark Night of the Soul taught me so much, even though it made me experience unimaginable pain.
So let your pain be your teacher.
Surrender to the inevitable.
Have courage.