The 12 Stages of Spiritual Awakening – How to Navigate Them?
If you’re on a spiritual journey, you may go through different stages of awakening. There is always a lot of talk surrounding spiritual awakening, but it is not common to hear about what it entails and what you can expect when going through it.
I have gone through my own spiritual awakening, and although it is not over yet, I was surprised by some of the things. First of all, I did not know there were multiple stages that one goes through; I thought it was all just one thing. I decide I want to experience my spiritual awakening, it happens, and it is over.
Little did I know it would take a while and multiple steps to go through, but I am here to help you. This article will inform you of the stages of spiritual awakening you can expect and help you know how to navigate them.
I would, however, like to start by saying you don’t have to be afraid of yours, although it might not be easy.
If you feel like you are about to start your own spiritual journey, this article is for you. Let us go down this road together. Understanding this journey is important and can help you reach your destination. It will also allow you to be more prepared when your time comes.
Table of Contents
Stages of Spiritual Awakening
The following are the 12 stages of spiritual awakening. You might not go through them in the exact order I list them in, but you will encounter them one way or another, and it is necessary to be ready.
1. Disconnection or Detachment
This was the first stage of spiritual awakening I experienced. I started withdrawing from the people around me and the world in general. I could not stand being around people and did not understand why. It all just felt too overwhelming and felt too prickled, so I chose to hide away.
If you have experienced this, you might not understand why it is happening. You might even be scared or confused. It can seem like everything that matters to you is not important anymore, causing you to start questioning your life.
This is understandable, and you should not get too hard on yourself because of this. You have to remember, though, that this is not always true.
The best thing to do during this time is to give yourself space. Take all the time you need away from everything and reevaluate your life. This time is crucial to your spiritual journey; it gives you a chance to get used to everything that happens. It is also time to prepare yourself for the journey ahead.
2. Confusion
The detachment and everything happening around you can leave you confused. You don’t know where to go or what to do with yourself. Things can seem topsy-turvy, and it can all seem too boring or dull for you. You don’t know where to go and what to do with yourself.
Another thing that I realized during this time was that I started questioning everything. My interest in the things I held dear had waned so much that I thought I had picked the wrong path in life.
I tried to make sense of everything, but it was all everywhere. That made me mad because what was I meant to have done if I had been doing the wrong thing?
I am saying this to let you know that feelings like these are normal, and you should not let them put you under. Confusion can cloud your thoughts, but it will pass.
Give yourself time and grace, and let it run its course. Everything will become clear to you in the end, however hard it seems right now.
3. Going Through Relationship Changes
Relationships are hard to maintain on a typical day. You can no doubt imagine how much harder they can be when things don’t really make sense to you.
While going through your spiritual awakening, you can start doubting everything. This might not make you the perfect person to be around, which can strain your relationship.
Your partner might not be able to understand what is happening to you and is unable to keep up with the changes. You might notice that they keep their distance from you, this might be because you are not exactly pleasant to be around, but you are not to blame.
The circumstances are less than ideal, and it makes sense that there can be a change in the relationship. It is important to let your partner know what is happening during this time.
They will understand what is happening and should respect your changes. Give them some time to adjust as well because it will not be easy for you. You should also be ready to accept it if they cannot handle the new changes; it can be best to let them go.
We all have beliefs that we accumulate over our lifetimes. We get them from our life experiences and from observing others. Our beliefs can sometimes blind us to other things in our lives.
I, for one, did not analyze or revisit the accuracies of some things I believed.
This changed while I underwent my spiritual journey. This is one of the stages of spiritual awakening that you might need to brace yourself for. It is during this time that you might start questioning everything you believe.
It can be easy to block yourself from questioning your beliefs, but you should not let this happen. Do not let blind faith hold you back. Instead, do more research to cement your beliefs and open yourself up to more lines of thought.
5. Fear or Terror
This is one of the stages of spiritual awakening that caught me out of the blue. I was prepared for the detachment and the confusion, but I was not ready for the fear that came with spiritual awakening.
I started being afraid of everything that was happening. It was a weird experience for me because I am used to having some measure of control over my life.
During this time, you might start to notice that the things you were convinced of are not as foolproof as you thought. You can also be terrified by the coming changes and what that can mean for you.
Don’t let this put you under or scare you from pursuing your spiritual awakening. Take it as a sign to learn more about yourself and face your fears.
I would also like to encourage you to look for yourself and ask for help. There is nothing shameful about getting help from the people around you. It will assist you in facing the unknown and conquering it.
6. Darkness
It is an essential step that you might not be properly equipped to handle. The darkness will show itself as a dark night of the soul, easily one of the hardest things I had to face on my spiritual journey. I thought it would sweep me under.
You will feel alone during this time and like everything is falling apart. It is like all the stages we have talked about above, all wrapped in one. You will feel like everything is happening all at once, and it will be true for the most part.
Don’t let this time discourage you from your spiritual journey. Like everything in life, you will make it through. The road will not be easy, and you will go through several stages where you feel like you will fall apart.
Give yourself grace and space to explore what it could mean for you. Trust in yourself, too, and you will make it through your dark night of the soul.
Being lonely is one of the things you can expect more than anything when going through your spiritual awakening. You already have a hard time understanding what you are going through on your own, so you can imagine how difficult it will be for those around you to understand it.
We would like to believe that the people we love will understand us, but this is unrealistic. For example, there was a time I got laid off from work, which knocked me off my feet for a while.
I know I was miserable during that time because I did not know what to do or where to turn. Thankfully, I had a good and strong support system to help me out and see me through that time.
While I was happy to have them, I still felt alone. All they would talk about was how things would turn out alright. I knew this, but it felt like they did not understand that I needed some time to feel my pain. They were all too happy and positive at a time I was anything but.
This can happen to you, too, while you are going through your spiritual journey. Not anyone will understand what is happening, and you might feel alone. Don’t worry; however, you are not. Your people will understand you, or you will find those who do to make things better for you.
8. Realization / Clarity
Not all stages of spiritual awakening will be hard. Things will eventually take a turn for the better towards the end of the journey. During this time, you will start noticing that you gain more clarity, knowing the best way forward and how to go about your life. I make it sound easy, but it might not be as simple as that.
The first stages we have covered talk about how your life will be turned around, and you will have a lot of questions. This will not always be the case. Life will not always be that hard, and the closer you get to your awakening, the more answers you will get. You will start gaining more clarity about your life and your beliefs.
It will not happen out of the blue, but it will take time. Do not rush the process because you will crash if you force things. What you can do is ask the universe for help.
Pray and trust your reasoning to a higher power; you will get your answers. You can also ask those you are close to or a trusted advisor for advice on how to get that clarity.
9. Synchronicity
Déjà vu is something we all experience at least once in our lives. Most of the time, we chalk this down to coincidences. However, how many times would you put things down to coincidences before you notice there can actually be more to it?
During spiritual rebirth, synchronicities can start happening more than usual, and that can happen for a reason. During your journey, you will notice these things with new clarity. The synchronicities can be more frequent, and you should note them down because therein could lie the answer to some of your problems.
One of the ways this can show yourself to you is as angel numbers. So now you know, seeing the repeating numbers or other synchronicities is something you need to be more aware of. They are a sign that you are experiencing a spiritual awakening.
One of the things you might notice after going through a tough time in the beginning stages of spiritual awakening is that your lifestyle is not exactly healthy.
Take me, for example. I would eat all the junk food you can think of, which is not to throw shade on those who eat junk food. However, this was not healthy for me, especially considering how much junk I ate.
I noticed during my spiritual awakening that I needed to change how I lived. It was the answer I needed to fix my life, starting with my diet. I also had to incorporate more exercise into my routine; not an easy feat but one I accomplished as time passed.
The urge to change your lifestyle is one you should embrace. It will lead you down a better path, one that will help you succeed. I am not saying your life is not in the correct direction; this is something you will discover with time.
Only you know what is going on with your life; if the urge comes to change it, do not ignore it.
Find what you can change about your lifeand give yourself the grace to do it. It will take time, but it will also help you become a better person. It can also help you feel more fulfilled.
11. Gratitude
The closer you get to your spiritual awakening, the more grateful you are for everything. You start realizing that everything that happened did so for a purpose.
It all starts making sense; the sadness you went through, the time you felt your world was falling apart, this all happened to prepare you for a better turn in life.
You finally see that you have a higher purpose, and you work your way toward achieving this purpose. This stage also encourages you to research more. You have a new view on life, and you want to do all you can to live it as you were meant to.
Research into the metaphysical will give you a better understanding of why things are happening, enabling you to appreciate your life and the things surrounding you even more.
It is also at this stage that you realize the strong connection we have to each other and to nature. You realize how much it feeds your soul, which pushes you to explore this more.
Show your gratitude by learning more about what happened and finding a way to improve your life and surroundings.
12. Higher Consciousness
The more you become secure in yourself and your spirituality, the more you want to do for society. Your consciousness is now elevated to new heights, giving you the chance to see and appreciate what you have.
As we have seen above, this pushes you to do more for others and the world in general. You understand that we are on this earth for a short time, which pushes you to do as much as possible to leave the world a better place than you found it.
The progress you make during your journey shows you that you can do more for those around you than you have been doing before. It pushes you to do your part to benefit society and make it better.
Your heart will be more open to this because you want to spread positivity. You now understand that helping others will help you become a better version of yourself. It can be scary to venture into the public after this, especially because you had been closed off before.
However, take your time and find better ways to help those you can. Do not overstretch yourself to help others. Find those you can help and do what you can do to that.
Doing your part for society can mean being there for those who need you. It is also equally important to find people with the same mindset as you and work together to make the best of the situation.
They can even open you up to new ways of helping the society, fulfilling the urge to help others.
These stages of spiritual awakening we have covered are not the only ones you will experience. These are just part of them; you might experience a few or more of them at once.
Do not let the possibility of facing hardship scare you from pursuing your spirituality. Instead, read through these points to help you prepare for what is to come. And always remember, you are not alone, and do not be afraid to ask for help from those who can help you.
Is a digital marketer, yoga teacher, and writer. She's fascinated with the power of words and ideas to change the world. Kathleen loves exploring new philosophical insights from various spiritual traditions as well as popular psychology and holistic wellness practices.
