Has the disruption of 2020 left you feeling a bit out of sorts – and not necessarily in a bad way? Many of us have been shaken out of our routines this year, and Karen Maloney explains why this has offered the perfect nursery for burgeoning spirituality
by Karen Maloney
Do you feel a bit different, like you’ve outgrown certain areas of your life? Are you seeing things in your life in a different light? Does it feel like a fog has lifted and you can see or think clearer? Or maybe you feel absolutely bamboozled, not sure what exactly has happened?!
Don’t worry, you haven’t lost your mind or gone insane – it’s quite possible you have had a spiritual awakening. It’s happening for more and more people nowadays as they are being called to ‘wake up’ to a higher reality of truth and living.
Your experience may have been a jolting one, where you heard a voice that spoke clearly to you, felt the sensation of new energy running through your body, or had a sense of being enveloped by a deep inner serenity or feeling of love. This can happen, but also it can be much more subtle.
Perhaps you feel like you’ve outgrown certain situations, people, foods, conversations, activities, music, locations, your job, certain ways of being and so on, but you’re not really sure how or why. This can often lead to feelings of uncertainty, confusion, exhaustion, and a sense of ‘limbo’ – you're just not quite sure where you fit in.
No longer feeling part of your ‘current’ world, you also may not have landed in your new location just yet. So you’re wondering where do you go, what do you do, who do you talk to, or what has happened?
I see you. I feel you. I hear you.
What is a spiritual awakening?
A spiritual awakening is an invitation to another way of being. A way that doesn’t require you to plan and control all aspects of your life from the level of your mind, but instead learn to surrender control and lean into your own inner guidance and intuition. To loosen your mental grip, so to speak.
Now, for most people, this sounds terrifying because we are taught that if we can think, plan, strategise, execute, rationalise and logicalise all aspects of our life, then we will be in control and can prevent any disasters from happening. While there may be some tiny thread of truth in that statement, the actual truth is that even with all the best planning in the world, we will have no idea how anything will turn out. It’s impossible for us to know, as things always happen in the ‘now’. A spiritual awakening enables you to grasp this truth a little better, but it is also just the beginning of the process! It is just the tip of what is usually a life journey.
You see, once an experience like this happens, our spirit, our soul, our light has been activated - that part of us that lay dormant within us has been sparked and now the journey of remembrance begins. Remembering the truth of who we are and how we are so much bigger than our physical body and the physical material world. This remembrance doesn’t always happen instantly though. It’s a journey we have to undertake to unravel all the threads that cover this inner knowing.
So, today, I wish to share some tools and tips to help people navigate this life-changing journey:
Tip 1: Welcome it
First of all, welcome it all. Welcome every emotion, every experience, every feeling, every frustration, every moment of confusion, and just observe it. There is no need to judge, criticise or analyse ‘why’ this is happening, or try to make sense of it all. It’s vital as a first step to accept it all, exactly as it is.
Tip 2: Acknowledge it
Acknowledge how you’re feeling. Sit with your emotions. Allow them (again, with no judgement) to pass through you. Notice where in your body you feel them. Get curious how they feel (like a heaviness, tightness, density etc) and name the emotion. We have to feel it to heal it. Often before a spiritual awakening, we could have spent years running or denying ourselves, or feeling afraid to express ourselves. These feelings have all been stored in the body and need to be seen and felt. Simply acknowledging, naming and allowing them, can help release them.
Tip 3: Daily practice
Start a daily practice. Now, more than ever, it is super important to make your self-care a priority. Find a practice that helps you feel centred, grounded and connected. You will need to explore what works for you. It could be journaling, breathwork, yoga, mantras, sitting in nature, meditation, chanting, dancing, painting, singing and so on. Anything that helps you feel more aware and connected to your body and inner stillness.
Tip 4: Let go of the pressure
Have lots of patience and compassion for yourself. This may be a first in your life, but take the pressure off. Release the constant need to nit-pick at yourself. It probably never served you in the past, and it certainly will not serve you during this transition. Speak to yourself as tenderly as you would a child under the age of five. Start to give yourself some loving attention. When we know better, we do better, so during this relearning period, lots of patience is required – Rome wasn’t built in a day!
Tip 5: Believe it
Start to believe this is all happening for a reason. Begin to open your mind to the idea of a higher power at play (whether this is new to you or you already have a spiritual faith). Use whatever word aligns for you – be it God, Universe, Infinite Intelligence, Higher Consciousness, Source, Great Spirit or anything else that resonates with you. Lean into it. Develop a relationship with this essence. Talk to it, ask for support and learn how your messages or guidance comes for you (it could be an image, a feeling, a voice, body tingles, a gut sensation etc).
Put these tips into practice and shifts will begin to happen in your life. You will feel more settled and you will get comfortable in your new mode of being. There is no such thing as coincidence and if you’re going through, have gone through, or continue to go through this experience, know that it is divinely guided and perfect for you, no matter how it appears or what your ‘mind’ or anyone else thinks.
Continuing on this path, you will get to a point where you will see the perfection of everything that has been in your life, the good and the not so good. Keep going!
About the author:
Karen Maloney works as an Inside Out Coach for women, helping them to cultivate self-approval from within. Her passion is helping them to remember who they are and empower themselves to live out their dreams and desires, free from the expectations, or the constant need to ‘edit’ ourselves for others.
Karen has had many spiritual awakenings of her own, and loves to guide others during this shifting time. She also hosts a a podcast called Curiosity & Consciousness.
www.soulpowerlight.com
