10 Spiritual Awakening Stages You Might Not Be Aware Of
Are you going through this now?
If I had known six years ago that I was entering a spiritual awakening instead of feeling like I was going crazy, it could have made my journey a whole lot easier. I had never even heard of the term spiritual awakening, and actually wanted to stay far away from anything spiritual.
But the truth is… once you enter this journey, there is no way back. You can fight it or write it off as bullshit, but sooner or later, you will have to deal with it.
What is a spiritual awakening?
A spiritual awakening is basically a wake-up call from our matrix society. You suddenly realise how most people are unhappy and are just living on autopilot (including yourself).
You start to see what is wrong with the world and with our consumerist way of thinking. You feel no joy in fitting in anymore, and you crave to find a real meaning in your life. Your job suddenly doesn’t interest you any longer, and you have an ongoing sensation of anxiety. You try to find external distractions, but nothing seems to be able to shake off that feeling.
A spiritual awakening changes you so profoundly; you can never be who you were anymore. And it’s certainly not an easy journey. The ‘western’ explanation would probably be that you are going through a depression.
But you know in your heart it’s something much deeper.
What are the stages of a spiritual awakening?
It is easy to confuse a spiritual awakening with depression. We know so little about the secrets of the Universe that we try to explain them with logic or science. Your doctor might prescribe you anti-depressants, which end up making you feel even more useless.
So what then are the stages of a spiritual awakening? You might not recognise the following signs:
1. Being Angry About Everything
My own spiritual awakening started with feeling angry about everything. And with everything, I mean E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. I was angry at my (ex)boyfriend, at my job, at my travel life, at my family, at society, at the cities, at my friends, at the topics we talked about, at my country, and much more.
I was angry about a lot of things. But most of all, I was disappointed with myself.
How could I even justify being so angry while living an almost perfect life? I literally had no reason to feel this way, which made me even angrier.
2. Feeling Empty
After my anger stage, I was left just feeling empty. I continued doing the things I did (traveling the world), but I found no joy in it anymore. What I once thought was my life’s mission now felt like a confusing mental trap.
I felt like I was wasting my years trying to pursue something that I would never find. Traveling used to give me this immense feeling of happiness and freedom, but now it felt like a cage I couldn’t escape from.
3. A Big Change In Your Life
This is where a spiritual awakening is different from a regular depression. Something big changes in your life. You might meet somebody important to you, quit your job, lose somebody close to you or have a serious accident. It could also be a profound psychedelic experience that awakens you.
This event totally shakes you up.
Your eyes literally open up to a new world. You suddenly see that you have to do something about this feeling you are having.
You become much more aware that something profound is happening in your inner being. You start to see that our society, as we know it, is not healthy for us. And that most people are not conscious about the way they live their lives.
4. The Search For Understanding
This is the stage where you get more interested in spiritual or religious books and videos. You want to figure stuff out. You look for online communities that you feel aligned with.
You search for friends who have ‘woken up’ as well. You are like a sponge now; there is so much to learn! You might also have mystical experiences; things you just can’t explain to anybody.
I experienced moments in nature when I felt completely one with everything around me. I had dreams that felt like visions. I dedicated myself to yoga and meditation, and I had out-of-body experiences.
5. The Disillusion
After the previous stage, which feels so blissful, this fifth spiritual awakening stage is exactly the opposite. Even though you know there is something more, it doesn’t feel like it anymore. You don’t have that feeling of oneness any longer, your curiosity drops, and you might even think it was all an illusion.
It feels like the Universe has turned its back on you. Your feelings of emptiness come back, and you wonder once again why the hell we are doing it all for.
You can’t fit it into your previous life anymore, but you also feel foreign in your new life. Your new spiritual friends seem more and more crazy, and you wish you never discovered this side of yourself.
6. The Dark Night Of The Soul
This part is the worst of all the spiritual awakening stages. You fall into a deep void. Everything around you doesn’t make sense anymore, and generally, life feels pretty fucked up.
You learned enough during the previous stages to know that humanity is deeply flawed, yet you can’t seem to do anything about it. You feel like there is no sense in trying to figure stuff out anymore — everything is shit anyway.
But this stage is also the part where you grow the most. You discover things about your childhood traumas. The veil of your conditioning drops, and you have the chance to start from zero again.
7. Getting To Know Yourself
Once you have fallen so deep, there is only one way out. You have to get to know yourself. Get to know your inner demons and shadows.
Where did they come from? Why did you hide them? Who and what brings out the worst in you?
You finally learn how to really love yourself.
You realise you were always looking for external answers, but everything you need to know is found within.
This is the perfect time to do inner work. I bought a shadow journal and an inner child journal, and they helped me immensely to get to know myself. You need solitude during this stage, or else you just keep distracting yourself more with external things.
8. Increased Sensitivity
Once you get more connected to your Soul, your body follows as well. You suddenly become more sensitive to external noise. Cities might drain you. You start to feel other people’s energy. You have the urgent need to take care of your body and leave all toxicity behind (like junk food, smoking, drinking, etc).
You start to notice synchronicities around you, and your sleep pattern might change, and you’ll have more meaningful dreams.
I wrote another article about this stage because it can feel very overwhelming.
9. Inner Peace
The best part of the spiritual awakening journey is inner peace. Even though shitty things still happen to you, now you can deal with them. You embrace all the feelings you have, the good as well as the bad. You stop needing external validation.
You feel more empathy and compassion towards people around you. You realise everyone is on their own journey and you can’t do anything about that, except inspire others.
You let go of attachments. You stop chasing unavailable people and reinforce your own boundaries.
You realise we are all One, and what you do to others directly affects your own Soul as well. You have the need to protect Mother Earth and drastically change your own consumer behaviour.
10. Service & Co-Creation
The final part can take years to reach, and many people get stuck in one of the previous stages. But a complete spiritual awakening involves being of service to others.
You see that awakening isn’t personal but a collective endeavour. You feel the deep need to guide others as well, not by forcing them, but by inspiring them.
Your purpose will be activated during this stage, and it always involves making the world a better place. You become a stabilising frequency towards others and possess a deep inner wisdom.
Why does a spiritual awakening happen?
I think a spiritual awakening happens because we, as humanity, need to learn some lessons. We have forgotten about our ancestors and our connection to nature.
All we think about is ego, money and power, and we totally lost touch with ourselves. Our planet is slowly dying, and nobody really does anything about it.
A spiritual awakening connects you to your intuition again, and you learn you have so much to give to this world. You discover hidden talents, and you generally become a better person.
You get less judgmental and learn to flow with the present moment. My own spiritual awakening drastically changed who I was and how I saw myself. I haven’t experienced a more fulfilling part of my life than during my spiritual awakening stages.
So if you recognise yourself in any of the signs above, don’t immediately grab towards those anti-depressants or alcohol/drugs/sex.
Life just may have this amazing journey planned for you.
If you’re craving a deeper connection with yourself and feel ready to begin again, I highly recommend this course. If you’re longing for a reset, this might be just what you need.