Symptoms of Spiritual Awakening

We live in the age where the masses are finally awakening spiritually. There’s always been spiritual traditions in our world talking about awakening or enlightenment, with their teachers like Jesus or Buddha, yet they were ahead of their time. The time for which they were truly preparing us is the one we live in: the 21st century.

At a time when the relevance of religion in our society is severely questioned in the face of scientific discoveries that seem to contradict many spiritual messages, we need to exercise caution. Yes, many religion have abused their power throughout human history; yes, people have been manipulated in the name of religion; yes, modern science seems to be unable to prove the existence of Spirit or God. But that does not mean that spirituality is dead or useless. Many religions have perverted the original spiritual messages that were meant to uplift humanity. It would be unwise to conclude that every spiritual belief is a fraud.

For the time is approaching—fast—when the human race will need spirituality more than ever. What a few decades ago was barely noticeable is now becoming common: people are awakening to a greater truth. They reject materialism, the way our society is devised—and evidently the way it fails to make people happy. What if we had missed something essential on human life and our place on Earth and the Universe? Millions of people everywhere in the world have embarked on a journey to find a greater truth, a more authentic way of living and want to bring more meaning into their life. And chances you are one of these people, and you are reading this article to find out if what you are experiencing recently could be considered a ‘spiritual awakening’.

Table of Contents

Our collective spiritual awakening

After WW2, the mentality had already changed a lot and the sixties and seventies were a time of great experimentation and defiance against the ‘system’. There has been many efforts to suppress that impetus and for a moment, it was lost. We’ve witnessed a revival in the 21st century, especially around the year 2012 which was the topic of many end of the world prophecies. The Mayan calendar being a famous example of an ancient civilisation that had foreseen the end of an era. In 2020 it seems we also entered the Age of Aquarius on the winter solstice. Evidently, the [coronavirus crisis] has also had a tremendous impact on people’s mental health, created a severe distrust in the current system and for many it triggered a profound existential crisis. For many it provided a break from the long held routines of adult life: get up, commute to work, spend 8 hours at the office, commute back and enjoy the few hours left at home.

Yes, it’s happening: a mass spiritual awakening is under way. The world is changing faster now than ever in recorded history. It’s happening everywhere. People are looking for answers and for a new way of relating to each other. Are you one of these people?

Are you spiritually awakening right now?

A common misconception is that you’d have to experience a sort of epiphany to be on the spiritual path. Although it happens to some people, it’s not required. Most often there are symptoms that range from the mild to the very significant.

‘Physical’ symptoms (that are in fact energy symptoms)

Due to science still denying the existence of subtle planes of existence and the subtle body, many physical symptoms will leave people unsettled. Because they are not truly physical symptoms! For many people, standard medical examinations will conclude everything is fine with their body, yet they will know something is going on. And that thing is happening at an energetic level.

Typical symptoms include discomfort or even pain in the chest around the heart. You will feel a sort of oppression in your chest and assuming you are subject to anxiety—another typical symptom—you may conclude the worst. No, you are not about to have a heart attack, your heart is fine. But your heart chakra (the energy center of your heart) is undergoing a transformation. It is awakening to a new energy. Some people who have shut down their heart during their entire life are suddenly feeling it. They may feel distressed, but it simply means they are alive! Also, your breath can become shallow when you feel stressed.

Then we have the headaches, the occasional dizziness, the buzzing in the ears that starts and stop for no reason. No, you have not developed sudden tinnitus; you are starting to perceive the higher-realms and hear them. Other symptoms include: surge of appetite with cravings for very nourishing food while at other times you barely have any appetite, low level of energy and the need to sleep a lot more than usual while still feeling tired in the morning. Tingling throughout the body (e.g on your forehead between your eyebrows), the perception of subtle vibrations, the sensation that something is changing in your brain like someone was poking you (especially when relaxed and falling asleep at night). You can start sweating a lot more than usual, especially at night.

All of that is normal. You are just becoming aware of your energy body, a body that you cannot see with your eyes but that you can feel. And you are getting an upgrade on your physical and energetic structure.

Mental symptoms

As already mentioned, a raising sense of anxiety is very common. You are starting to project fear onto the world and your ego feels very threatened by what’s happening to you: it doesn’t like at all that you are about to realise that you are much more than a physical body.

You are likely to experience episodes of high stress, and even panic attacks. That’s because the oppression in your chest can often trigger a fear of imminent death. The fight or flight response kicks in and your body goes in overload mode. You will feel like you suffocate, that your body is failing you, but in reality it is your mind that has created this episode. It’s your own fear and anxiety levels that are responsible. You may fear that at any moment you are one thought away from a panic attack. But what’s more important is to remember that whenever you feel very anxious, you are also one thought away to remain calm and breath normally.

Now there’s often a decline in mood levels, up to the point of depression. As you are assimilating the new sensations and understanding of the world in which you live, your sense of what is normal or not—even real or not—is being shattered. Your ego is being destroyed, you are in the process of being reborn anew. The full process will take years. But you are on the way.

You are becoming aware of a world that does not make sense any longer. Your own sense of identity is threatened. You’re not sure anymore of how or why you ended up where you are today: this job, where you live, your partner, your hobbies. What seemed to bring you pleasure or satisfaction yesterday now seems meaningless. You are going through a rollercoaster of emotions. You may start crying for the first time in your life and will shed tears for 20 minutes non-stop. You are processing emotions—maybe with a long overdue.

A deep need for answers inundate you. Understanding why the world and society are organised the way they are—and evidently your failure of feeling happy in such a dysfunctional world. And the inevitable metaphysical questions: who am I? Where did I come from? What is the reason for being alive? Where am I going? How can I be happy? Is there such a thing as a God out there or am I alone in a cold and indifferent Universe? You won’t get the answers overnight, but at least you’ve started to ask the important questions.

You may also have a busier dream life where some messages are passed onto you, possibly even lucid dreams or out-of-body experiences . You will start noticing significant synchronicities in your life. It means that you will experience meaningful coincidences such as meeting people who are in the same process of awakening than yourself, receiving as gift a book about spirituality or finally landing the job you wanted 2 years ago but did not manage to secure. All these events will put you on the path. But only you can walk the path.

What to do to cope with the symptoms?

I want to re-assure you. You are fine. You are safe. Millions have already gone through this same process decades, years or just months ago. You are not alone.

What you should do is pace yourself and get ready for a period of uncertainty as you are un-learning what you took for granted all your life (which the older you are, the more painful it will be) and re-learning what truly matters.

Something that will help you a lot—and that you will naturally feel drawn to—is spending time in nature instead of staying between four walls all day long. Grounding will make you feel good and spending lots of time in nature especially walking bare foot on the grass will help you find a new balance.

If you are into yoga, focus on asanas that resonate with the root chakra (muladhara). You want to feel safe and grounded to process what you are going through. Learning breath-work (pranayama) and relaxation techniques would be time well spent. I also recommend learning to recognise the symptoms of a panic attack and how to shut it down, because either you or someone you love is likely to go through one in the future—if not already.

You should consider speaking about what’s happening to you to someone you can trust because it’s important to externalise how you feel. Ideally your spouse, a close friend or parent. But that may not always be possible because of fear or judgement or the unwillingness of these people to listen. You will find countless resources online and that should bring you comfort that many other people are walking the same path. OK, the outside world may not get what’s happening to you, but that does not mean you should deny your own truth. You know something’s going on, and you know deep inside you can’t escape it. Build yourself a ‘spiritual awakening support bubble’ and don’t assume you are isolated or unique.

Remember to laugh a lot. Laughter is a therapy in itself and purifies the body. Laughing at yourself especially and breaking with the pattern of an over-serious life and world will help you a great deal.

Finally, at some point you’ll realise that you need to do a lot of healing work to move on in your life. That is when you will likely feel you need help from other people who are trained. The good news is you will soon realise that around you many people are helping others: alongside the traditional psychologists, you’ll hear about the life coach, the shamanic healer, the reiki master or the psychic—and many others. When you’ll be ready, you will go to the one who seems the most in resonance with you and you will receive help.

Keeping an open mind and learning

You may find that a lot of esoteric or alternative theories are coming your way. For a time, you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information available out there that you were simply unaware of. Yes, you didn’t know what you didn’t know and that’s totally fine. However, beware of two things: 1/becoming overly gullible and 2/doing a burnout by consuming too many materials.

You will need to use critical thinking to navigate the material you are coming across. Not all deserve your attention. Not all have your best interest at heart. You should aim for a sweet spot between open-mindedness and disbelief. And remember that all good things take time so there’s no real way to rush your progression.

As you explore the spiritual topics, you will come across key messages. I just want to touch on some of them so you have some context.

Remembering who you truly are

Here we go with the famous message about the necessity of ‘remembering who you truly are.’ If we have to remember, it’s because we had forgotten! And what did we forget? Well, we forgot what’s happening on the other side: the spirit world. When we incarnated on Earth, we agreed to the rules of the game and that includes accepting that the material world is all there is.

Yet, at some point you will find out the truth for yourself. We are spiritual beings having a human experience on Earth; not walking bodies that by the grace of evolution have happened to develop self-awareness. Take it easy on that one, because it will take you quite some time to integrate this information.

Reincarnation

I refer you to this other article about the topic of reincarnation ; that topic is essential for you to truly understand who you are.

The Ascension

You will inevitably hear about the fact that this period of mass awakening was being foretold. The Earth is now traveling through parts of the galaxy that have higher energy. That means more and more people are awakening and we approaching The Event or Ascension which is when a critical mass of people will be awakened. Only then will changes at a species level become possible. You may also hear about things like: the Age of Aquarius or the precession of the equinoxes.

A different perception of time

If by now you haven’t realised yet, time does not flow at the same speed as it used to. And it’s very hard to measure because time is a subjective quantity unlike space. It’s all in the eyes of the observer. Depending on your age, try to remember how days felt like 2, 5, 10 or 20 years ago? Time is literally accelerating. You can’t do much in a day and it’s easy to get carried away just to find out that the evening has come and you’ve done a quarter of what you intended to do. It’s normal! Take a deep breath and look forward to tomorrow.

The multidimensional nature of reality

In science it is well-known that in the past we’ve made some major errors of judgement. Thinking that the Sun orbited the Earth was logical a few centuries ago, because we are in a static referential and we perceive the motion of the Sun from where we are on Earth. Yet, the truth of the matter is that it is the Earth that orbits the Sun—and also rotates on itself, giving the alternance of days and nights.

Ask yourself: if we were wrong about that, what else could we be wrong about that today we take for granted? Are you so sure you really know the world in which you live in?

Then reflect on this: those people who knew about the truth back in the days, they were seen as heretics (some of them imprisoned of even killed for daring to challenge the status quo), mentally ill or at best dreamers and unrealistic people. Think about the amount of energy it takes to change the common beliefs of an epoch.

We have reached a time when the materialistic view of the Universe is about to collapse and make way for a new reality: there is much more in this world than we can see and have been told. We are multidimensional beings living in a multidimensional reality.

I’ve already written on the power of belief as a key to understanding our reality . The kind of awakening to the spiritual realms that can happen is illustrated in the movie ‘Doctor Strange’. In this impressive scene, the main character who is rigidly attached to mainstream science—as we still know it today—is being shown what lies beyond the reach of his five senses. A very inspiring video indeed!

 

That scene in the movie is very powerful. In a way it’s an accelerated spiritual awakening that is described (but make no mistake, it takes years or even decades to achieve that for most people). Within a few minutes, a man who was arrogant and presumptuous about so many things in his life suddenly realises his mistake. Here’s the transcript:

The Ancient One—Don’t like that map?
Dr Strange—Oh, no. It’s really good. It’s just, I’ve seen it before…in gift shops.

[…]

The Ancient One—You’re a man looking at the world through a keyhole. You’ve spent your whole life trying to widen that keyhole to see more, to know more. Now, on hearing that it can be widened in ways you can’t imagine, you reject the possibility.
Dr Strange—No, I reject it because I do not believe in fairy tales about chakras or energy or the power of belief. There is no such thing as spirit! We are made of matter and nothing more. You’re just another tiny, momentary speck within an indifferent universe.
The Ancient One—You think too little of yourself.

[…]

The Ancient One—Open your eye! You think that this material universe is all there is? What is real? What mysteries lie beyond the reach of your senses? At the root of existence mind and matter meet. Thoughts shape reality. This universe is only one of an infinite number. Worlds without end. Some benevolent and life giving. Others filled with malice and hunger. Dark places where powers older than time lie ravenous and waiting. Who are you in this vast Multiverse, Mr. Strange?

[…]

The Ancient One—Have you seen that before in a gift shop?
Dr Strange—Teach me.
The Ancient One—No.

I love cinema and how it can convey spiritual messages while people are relaxed and highly receptive. This scene is much more than fiction, it carries a universal truth. A truth that each one of us must discover for themselves.

Final thoughts

While you are reading my words, thousands of other people are also looking for the same answers… The change is coming and we are living in a fantastic moment in human history! We are inevitably heading towards a collective spiritual awakening.

You are a key player in that collective project. You, by your behaviour, beliefs and sense of open-mindedness and acceptance are influencing the outcome for the collective, for the entire planet. Take care of yourself, love yourself and forgive yourself and others on the way, and you will move gracefully through this difficult age as we transition to a different world.

In 2020, the [coronavirus crisis] has triggered and accelerated the spiritual awakening of millions of people. It’s certainly not what those who instigated this pandemic expected (yes: the virus was artificially created then released). But that’s how it backfires at them! Every day more people awaken to what it means to be manipulated by the media and how much they’ve been lied to and abused in the past. They will seek deeper meaning in their life. They will question the entire societal system in which they live.

Oh yes, spiritual awakening is very real even if you don’t hear about it on the newspapers or magazines—yet. It’s not just some obscure thing that happened to monks living in monasteries during the middle-ages or sages who went to a cave for years. By now, an all continents, more and more people will show symptoms of spiritual awakening—to the point that it may become a public health issue. I actually suspect some symptoms are being hidden by the coronavirus. I know for example of people who go through panic attacks as they are told they tested positive to Covid-19. And other people who are taking their own life (yes, even some with partner and kids) because they can’t cope with this world any longer. What’s really happening out there? Time will tell, but we are about to witness some real transformations in the world. The looming perspectives of global change are a source of great hope for our collective future.