Awakening is gaining awareness of something you weren't previously aware of. There are different types of awakening. The article Truth Rising outlines the process of awakening to 3D earthly truths. This article addresses awakening of the spiritual kind, which is an initiation of the ascension journey. Any awakening can have a massive effect on your life and impact your mental, emotional and physical well-being. Understanding the process can help us navigate it with more ease.
How and when we experience awakening is different for each of us. Since it is such an individual process, I believe the best way to discuss awakening is through personal experience. Mostly, only people who have undergone a spiritual awakening believe in its legitimacy. For this reason, it can be a very disorienting, isolating and scary process. Although I speak in generalizations throughout this article, know that this has been my individual experience and that there are countless other ways to move through this process.
What triggers a spiritual awakening varies. It could be a spontaneous occurrence happening for no apparent reason, a gradual experience, or one triggered by a major life event (often a challenging one such as losing a loved one, a near-death experience, hitting rock bottom, etc.). I believe our souls schedule a time/event sequence before incarnating with the specific purpose of initiating awakening. What we choose to do in response while incarnated is completely up to us.
Most people experience the ascension process in stages. The order and duration of these stages vary, and some may not occur for you, or perhaps you experience something not listed here. The complexity of this process is difficult to map. Just know that whatever you are experiencing is perfect for you.
THE STAGES
Stage 1: Awakened Bliss
When you realize the truth that you are an eternal multi-dimensional energetic being inextricably connected to Source energy and all that is, an elated state of bliss often accompanies it. For a brief period, you fully realize and see this truth (kind of like a positive psychedelic trip). Your frequency skyrockets to show you the potential of what could be.
Your search for answers to what is happening and likely stumble onto spiritual topics such as vibrational frequency, ascension, consciousness, starseeds, the Law of Attraction, etc. While in this phase, you may experience the uncontrollable urge to consume information at a voracious rate and then spread it to others so they, too, can experience this bliss. It is highly likely that people will think you are crazy and become concerned for you.
Stage 2: The Dark Night
The initial phase of awakened bliss can last days, weeks or months, often followed by an abrupt crash. It is impossible to remain at such a high vibrational state while still carrying around your old unprocessed energy; it was just a preview of what is possible if you do the inner work.
This is the dark night of the soul. It sounds ominous for a reason. It can be very disorienting, lonely, and confusing, especially if you've read a lot of "positive vibes only" content, and we can be tempted to skim over this part. It is here you will be faced with things you have not dealt with; repressed emotions/experiences, unresolved past life issues, ancestral trauma...the full gammet. This is necessary because it is impossible to sustainably raise your frequency while still attached to your heavy energetic baggage. This unprocessed aspect of ourselves is referred to as the shadow self.
It is a common misconception that our shadow is "bad" when in reality, it is just the rejected parts of self, the pieces that we learned to repress and hide due to past experiences and conditioning. The more we ignore these pieces, the more demanding they become, and we begin to experience issues in our life and with the health of our mental, emotional and/or physical bodies. The dark night is not about destroying the shadow self but rather becoming one with it. We exist in a reality of polarity, light and dark, one of which cannot exist without the other, and both exist within us. The dark night requires us to shine a light on our shadow and acknowledge what it is trying to tell us so that it may heal and integrate, consequently transmuting lower vibrational frequencies and releasing the trapped energy.
As we do shadow work, we will be called to release all we have created and accepted into our lives from the perspective of the shadow aspect. People, situations, environments, mindsets, belief systems, possessions, etc., will come up for review. Anything holding you back will come to the surface to be processed bit by bit as long as you choose to stay on this path. This isn't always done on a conscious level. For example, you may have the sudden unexplained urge to eliminate certain items in your wardrobe. You might scoff at yourself and put the perfectly good items back in your closet when releasing them may be for your highest good, and your intuition is guiding you to do so, but your rational mind can't find a reason, so you're choosing to override your subtle intuition with your loud mind. We don't always need to understand why we are guided to certain actions. Tune into your intuition to know what are the right choices for you.
The dark night is an extremely complex and important concept of which I am barely scraping the surface. If you are experiencing this, I recommend you do some research and reach out for help from a specialist if you require it.
Stage 3: Acclimation
You are moving through massive shifts that not every person chooses to experience. What you are doing is no small feat. Acclimation periods throughout the ascension process are necessary to allow all aspects of you to integrate fully and to ground new frequencies. Our energetic body is the first to shift, followed by the mental, emotional and physical bodies. This takes time. We cannot just accumulate knowledge and expect to evolve instantly. We must implement the new energy into our lives, practice with it, grow from it, release what it calls us to release, and take the guided action it prompts us to take.
Taking the time to acclimate can be difficult because we may want to return to the awakened bliss state. Steps such as acclimation and the dark night aren't overly enjoyable, but they are necessary. The point of the ascension process isn't to be flooded with bliss all the time; it is to transmute what no longer serves you and elevate your consciousness.
Stage 4: Isolation
Any or all of the stages may include isolation, which can be self-initiated or not. It might help to think of it as cocooning like a caterpillar to allow for transformation. This entire process is very vulnerable, and isolation can serve as a form of protection from exposure to harsh energies that could impede you. This doesn't necessarily mean you physically isolate yourself, although you may. Isolation can be simply not disclosing to people what you are experiencing, for example. This may be necessary to avoid influence from others or the collective's energy. If you need to isolate, you will feel an instinctive urge to.
The extent and duration of isolation vary between people. You will still long for connection and possibly feel lonely and misunderstood. Know that you aren't alone and that many others are experiencing what you are. If nobody in your circle understands what is happening, find an online community for support. It is important to have someone you feel safe with, whether a loved one, therapist, or online connection.
Stage 5: Balance
As we mature through this process, the extreme highs and lows begin to level out. We will always oscillate, but we can cultivate balance in our lives by developing emotional and spiritual maturity. You will establish the ability to accept and allow what comes and find ways to respond to your experiences rather than reacting to them. This is how you know you are evolving and your consciousness is shifting.
You will begin to live life from a heart-based rather than a mind-based space. That is not to say we ignore or shun the mind, but that it becomes a tool rather than a dictator. The mind and heart become balanced in a symbiotic relationship which allows you to navigate your life from an entirely new and evolved place. Within this space, we begin to align with experiences that may have eluded us up until now, such as harmony, joy, peace, intuitive living, synchronicity, unity, self-acceptance, and unconditional love. This is existing within heart-based consciousness. This does not mean you never think, feel or experience anything "negative"; it just means how you perceive and respond to that negativity it will be different.
Stage 6: Rebirth
This is an emergence from the cocoon. You are a new person. Existing people in your life may not understand your shift or even be aware that it happened. You may feel pressure from some individuals to revert to your old self. When we shift our frequency, people who no longer match it subconsciously sense this and will attempt to pull you back to the former vibrational state. It is very uncomfortable for others to witness us shifting if they are not ready to do so themselves. Think of when we make a life change for our betterment, such as releasing alcohol or implementing healthy eating. How many people pressure you to resume old habits? Same concept.
Before and during this phase, your self-love and acceptance will strengthen. Sovereignty, confidence, authenticity and the ability to show up as your true self are birthed. You may not recognize the person you once were. It is common for feelings of regret, guilt or shame to surface due to past actions, but with your new perspective, you will embrace self-compassion, aware that you did the best you could from where you were at that time. Forgive yourself. If amends need to be made, make them and move on.
You have climbed a monumental spiritual mountain and undertaken a journey many choose to forego. Congratulations! This is a massive accomplishment, and you should take the time to pause and reflect on how far you have come. You have created a miracle.
Stage 7: Repeat
Be sure to spend adequate time in the rebirth stage before jumping to repeat the process. Find joy in rediscovering yourself and all you can co-create with the Universe from your new vantage point. Adventure, make connections, live! Awakening and ascension are not meant to be tasks we check off a list. They are a way of life. You can undergo this process while living a beautiful life that you love, and since it can take years, why rush it? There will always be periods of challenge (which are just inspiration for growth), but life isn't meant to be one long stretch of struggle followed by a bit of rest before you die, regardless of what we are taught. There is always another level of expansion if we choose it, but approaching energetic evolution from a mindset of reaching a finish line will only cause you to skip the joy. You are always evolving, don't forget to enjoy life while you do it.
Also, don't despair because the initial ascension cycle is typically the most intense, with each one becoming slightly less extreme afterwards. The higher we traverse on the vibrational spectrum, the higher our perspective grows and the easier it becomes for us to navigate this process. As long as we allow it, we will continue to spiral upwards in the never-ending evolution of consciousness.
Important to note that at any point, a person can choose to discontinue this process. While our soul may have scheduled the opportunity to initiate ascension, we always have the free will choice to opt out of that particular path.
TRAPS
There are lots of tricky little traps that trip us up along the way. They aren't "bad". Similar to other things we perceive as unpleasant, they are there to teach us lessons. These aren't the only traps that exist but are some common ones.
1) Redundancy
We can get stuck in thinking that we have to achieve healed perfection. You do not need to fix yourself, you just need to love yourself, but sometimes that can be hard to do when you're lugging around old pain and baggage.
The healing journey never really ends, so where are we rushing to? We do it in many areas of life; once I quit smoking, lose weight, get the job, the partner, the house, the money...I will have "made it" (whatever that means). We spend our lives waiting for things to improve before allowing ourselves to be content. This often happens on the spiritual journey, and we get stuck in a healing/victim mindset and repeat, repeat, repeat.
Another way we can get trapped in redundancy is an addiction to extremes, especially if we are used to being in survival mode, which the majority of us are. When we feel low and finally overcome/heal/transmute/release the thing, we can experience a very intense high. Some people get addicted to this and get stuck in a never-ending cycle of digging into themselves to uncover stuff to heal (we usually do this subconsciously without realizing what we are doing). You don't need to go digging. Anything no longer serving you that is ready to be released will rise to the surface on its own. There is no need to force, but also don't suppress.
Avoid putting yourself in some non-existent race to "get there". In truth, this is just attempting to outrun our pain and get to some endpoint where we think we will finally feel better. This will get us caught in a loop of repeating cycles because we haven't actually learned the lesson or transmuted the energy; we just denied its existence and ran from it. This isn't a race, you aren't being graded, you aren't in competition, it's not about achieving, and there is no getting "there". Learn to enjoy the process and release striving for a destination. Where ever you are in your experience is the perfect place to be, even when it sucks.
2) Repression
Everything we repress will inevitably surface one way or another. The longer we ignore it, the more it strengthens, attempting to gain our attention. Repression only prolongs the inevitable and makes the eventual release more destructive. Many of us are still taught to repress our emotions, and this is the cause of a large portion of the mental health conditions and physical dis-ease in our world.
The tendency to repress can also develop from misconstruing spiritual teachings, which prompts us to believe that feeling or thinking something "negative" will attract more of it into our lives. This is inaccurate. Our thoughts are a barometer of our inner and subconscious states, and our emotions are a guidance system; they are here to inform you and should be addressed. However, it is possible to swing to the other end of the spectrum and become overly identified with our pain and trauma. We must learn to become aware of our emotions and wounds without becoming hyperfocused on them. Feel the feeling, don't become it. Observe the thought, don't necessarily believe it. Acknowledge your trauma, don't relive it. Process, don't repress. It is all a balancing act.
3) Righteousness
Righteousness is when we adopt the viewpoint that we are above others because of something we know or have experienced. It is very common in the spiritual and truther communities. The key is remembering that every soul comes with a specific life path intention, and that intention is none of your business and is not yours to manipulate, even if you think you know better. Attempting to control someone else's life creates energetic karma better left alone. Adopt the motto "to each their own" to assist you in releasing righteousness, judgment and controlling tendencies.
TOOLS
There is a never-ending list of tools to help you along this journey. What works for one person doesn't for another. Find what works for you and utilize it. My favourites are journaling, music, walking in nature, salt/crystal baths, wild swimming, exercise, meditation, being creative, energy work, grounding techniques, breathwork, EFT, herbs, good nutrition, quality sleep, and energetic hygiene.
Don't be surprised if your daily routine fluctuates, especially your eating and sleeping habits. Your diet may change, or you might go through phases of eating significantly less or more; the same goes for sleep. Trust your body and don't listen to the haters who shame you for your choices. Also, spend time developing your intuition and discernment, which will be integral to supporting you through this.
You will need to master self-care. Self-care doesn't always look like taking a walk and having a bath. Everyday practical things pull on our energy in subtle subconscious ways, potentially draining us. Wrap up loose ends, pay your bills, organize and clean your house, establish boundaries with the people in your life, etc. You will need your energy as you move through this process so be very picky with how and with whom you spend it with.
If you want to learn more about your energetic health and how to maintain it, read about it here: Energetic Hygiene Basic or attend one of our workshops here: Workshops.
INNER WORK FOR OUTER CHANGE
The state of our world is a reflection of the collective inner state of the human species. Only when we have processed and transmuted our pain and trauma will the world shift to match our raised collective frequency. Each person that makes this choice matters. Working on yourself is the most influential act you can take to create planetary change. This creates a ripple effect that will energetically influence the collective consciousness of humanity. You have no idea how powerful you are. You do not need to wake others up forcefully. Your shifted energetic vibration has more effect on more people without saying a word than you can imagine. As you heal, awaken and evolve yourself, you heal, awaken and evolve humanity.
If you want to understand more about the shift humanity is currently undertaking and learn about concepts such as ascension and consciousness, read about it here: The Shift: Unity Consciousness is Here.
And always remember:
You aren't crazy, even though other people might think you are.
This process can be lonely, isolating and difficult, but it gets better.
You are impacting the world positively in ways you can't even imagine.
Reach out for help if you need it.
You are not alone!
You are loved!
You got this!
Written by: Lacey
This content was originally posted on April 4, 2023.