20 Signs of a Spiritual Awakening

 

FYI, this will likely be a long blog! There is SO MUCH to talk about!  Stick with me though, because you'll learn a lot! 

If you have gone through a spiritual awakening, you know what I mean when I say that you will never be the same.  It changes your entire being...body, mind, and spirit.  You see things differently, you act differently...you are awake.

So what is a spiritual awakening anyways?  This can be a hard question to answer with a definite definition, but I will try.  In the simplest of terms, it is reconnecting with the divine.   You become aware that we are not alone and that there is something bigger and wiser out there that is guiding and leading you.  As a result of this re-connection, you change.  You become more of your truer self and you see life in a whole new way.  

It is a shift in consciousness.  And once it happens, there is no going back. You can unlearn the things you learn.  You will be a whole new, better version of yourself.

It usually happens without and forewarning.  You don't sit down and say, "Okay soul, today we are going to have a spiritual awakening! Ready, set, go!"  It just happens.  Sometimes it can be the result of life circumstances, a trauma, or just because it is time.  The unseen forces that move in our lives can orchestrate it without our waking knowledge because we have work to do.  All I know, is that it is a good, good thing when it does happen.

Being a Christian, I have always been aware that there is something bigger than myself.  However, through my spiritual awakening, my eyes were opened to just how intricately and thoroughly I am loved, protected, and planned for.  You can know it with your brain because someone tells you so, but when you know it because you have a first-hand experience, it is totally different.

So, without further ado,  here are twenty signs of a spiritual awakening...

1.  You may/will assess your beliefs and everything that you have been taught.  You may question the religion you were raised in.  If you weren't raised in a religious household, you may begin to seek out religion.  Personally, I was raised in a fundamental Christian environment.  While I am still a Christian, I personally think that much of "religion" today is what gives Christians a bad name.  

I love the church (which is US, not a building), but do not like most churches.  They can be legalistic, judgemental, and hypocritical.  There isn't much love to be found in most churches these days.  That isn't what God or Jesus is all about.  So, as I awakened, I gave myself permission to stand firm in my convictions and to separate myself from churches.

2.  You will likely develop a strong desire to be in or near nature.  Nature is grounding.  It has a very grounding energy.  It is peaceful and at one with God.  Nature's energy vibrates at a beautiful level and to be in nature is kind of a CTRL+ALT+DELETE for our own energy.  It resets us and grounds us.  Even if you don't know what that means, you can feel it.

I grew up loving the city.  I wanted to live in the city, right in the middle of it all.  But, since going through this awakening, my dream is to own several acres of land with trees and water with no one nearby.  That sounds like Heaven to me.

3.  You begin to crave meaning and purpose.  You want to make a difference in this world.  Suddenly, you are aware that you are here for a reason!  You may not know what that reason is yet, but you want to contribute, you want to know that you leave this world a better place than you found it.  You want to affect change and make lives better.  I want to spread love and hope as far as my voice can reach.  I want that to be my legacy.  I want to let people know that there is always hope and that each and every one of us is so loved.  We are not broken...we are whole and we are always enough, just as we are in this moment.

4.  You see that a lot of what you have been taught is a lie.  This kind of ties into number one, but with this I want to speak more to what we have been taught culturally and socially.  Most of us have learned by going through life (whether we admit it out loud or not) that it is important to keep up appearances.  We need to keep up with the Jones'.  We believe that we are what we purchase.

We have also been taught, "An eye for an eye."  And that it's okay to think someone "had it coming."  We can pick and choose who we can be mean to or be kind to based on our judgments about them.

These are only two examples of this, but I'm sure you all know what I mean.  I am guilty of these things too.  But, once you begin to awaken, you realize that we really are all connected.  

We are all just drops of the same big ocean.  See, you were part of God...part of the big ocean of God, if you will.  But once you were put here on the earth like a little drop of water washed up on the sand, all of a sudden you think you are on your own.  That you don't belong to anyone or anything and that we are all separate.  What happens at the end of your life when your little drop is dropped back into the ocean?  The drop disappears.  

There is NO separation.  We are all one and our energy is all connected.  If you look into someone's eyes without judgment, you see a spark of the divine in there.  You can see pieces of yourself and of God.  We are all part of Him and what we do to one is done to another.  Be kind and love one another...that is all that matters in this life.

5. Your sense of empathy and compassion deepen.  As you begin to awaken spiritually, you start to see the real state of human suffering everywhere.  You will feel a profound desire to have love and peace rule in the world and toward one another.

6.  You may crave solitude, especially if you are an empath.  You will start to be okay with quiet, alone time.  If you are an empath (which you can read more about here), you may become aware of other people's energy in a whole new way.  Because of this, you may crave solitude because crowds can sap your energy.

7.  You may develop gifts that you never knew you had.  As you awaken spiritually, often times that means your vibrations are rising and that you are taking time to take care of your "stuff."  As you begin to get into better shape (dealing with baggage and paying more attention to things above and beyond you), you may notice that you can see, hear, feel, or know things that you didn't before.  

Some gifts that you may develop: Seeing auras, being an empath, clairvoyant, clairaudient, clairsentient, claircognizance.

Sometimes, especially if you aren't expecting this, it can be a bit terrifying/disconcerting.  Other gifts are just exciting.  For example, after I had been meditating for a while and I was having a pretty big awakening, I read on someone's blog that they could talk to their spirit guide and they could receive answers back by feeling the energy in their body.  I was like *record scratch* WERRRT?

This blogger suggested seeing if you have this gift too (because not everyone does).  She said to sit quietly and feel the energy in your body.  Then in your head, ask for your spirit guide to show you a "yes" response and see if you feel anything.  If you do, then ask for a "no" response and see what happens. 

I sat quietly with my eyes closed for a moment and then asked for a yes response.  Suddenly, I felt this *ZING!* of bright energy shoot up from my heart toward my jaw! (When I say bright energy, think of falling or going down a roller coaster hill...you will feel a ball of really bright energy shooting up through your stomach toward your throat.  Get it now?)  My eyes shot open and I was like, "WHOA!"  So I giggled and asked for them to do it again.... *ZING!*  Amazing!  

Next, I asked for the "no" response.  This was a really dull energy (do you know how after you've been to the dentist and had Novocaine and then it has almost worn off but is still kind of dull and slightly tingly?  That's what it feels like) traveling from right to left across the bottom of my heart.  I was am still amazed that I can communicate like this and am so grateful for it.

Also, as I have discussed before, I am an empath (clairsentience).  I can feel other people's energy.  I am still working on developing this and learning how to make it into a blessing.

Two of my daughters, on the other hand, can see, hear, and feel (clairvoyant, clairaudient, clairsentient).  Some of the things they have seen and heard have been terrifying for them!  Because of this, at least one of them has backed off of the spiritual path and tries not to purposely raise her vibrations (avoids meditating, etc) because she doesn't yet know what to do with this gift.  She knows it is there and that it won't go away, but until she's older and can better handle it, she wants it to lay as low as it can.  Which leads me to my next point...

8.  You develop a healthy detachment and let others go down their own paths.  You begin to realize that we are all on our own paths.  We came here with goals to accomplish and lessons to learn and we have to go down our own paths whether the people around us agree with that path or not.  You will likely realize that you have become way less controlling and/or micromanaging (if you were ever that way to begin with).

9.  You will notice that your intuition heightens.  You may start feeling a stronger guidance or inner voice that directs you, warns you, etc.  Listen to it! It will never lead you wrong.

10.  You may have vivid dreams.  This is a BIIIIIG one for me!  I have always had vivid dreams, but these dreams were on a whole other level.  Our spirit guides use our dreams to communicate with us, teach us lessons, show us things about ourselves, and to "sharpen our tools" as they put it.  The dreams that you have during a spiritual awakening, as you quickly realize, are more than just dreams.  They are very life-like, they may warn you of things to come, they may teach you things (like actual skills.  My guide helped me learn to meditate better by instructing me in my dream), you may have memories of past lives (if you pay attention!), and they may be full of adventure and joy because your guides are trying to loosen you up.  

DREAMS are huge!  I'm so serious about this subject, I have actually considered writing a book about dreams.  Pay attention to your dreams!  Every dream means something.

11.  You develop a desire to leave toxic relationships behind and you develop a deeper appreciation for the health relationships you have.  Friends, family members, coworkers that are negative and drag you down?  Give yourself permission to set boundaries and put a healthy distance between you and them.  On the other side of that coin, you begin to see the kind, loving people in your life with a whole new appreciation.

12.  You may develop the desire to up and move cities or jobs.  I did both of these things!  We are all here to accomplish something.  Sometimes we need to move in order to accomplish this and/or to get away from people or circumstances in our lives that are holding us back.  Something worth mentioning is that sometimes these things (moving or losing a job) can happen without our consent or planning.  If you're like me, I have a habit of staying too long in a place I know isn't suited for me.  Sometimes God has to uproot you and place you in the right place, even if you think it's a bad thing at the time.

13.  Your senses are heightened.  Colors seem brighter, sounds more beautiful.  You have a deper sense of awe .  

14.  You may become more creative or have a greater appreciation for art and music.  No explanation needed.

15.  You will notice synchronicities.  This is another big one.  Long before I even knew what it meant, I would notice repeating numbers on the clock.  And I don't mean sometimes, I mean often.  I would see 2:22, 3:33, 4:44, 11:11, etc.  It was happening so often that I said a prayer one day and said, "Lord I know this has to be from you.  It is too often to be coincidence!  So, whenever I see it, I will take it as a love note from you and the angels to me."  Once I began talking to my spirit guide (more on that another time), he let me know that indeed it is my guides that are sending me love notes.  Now I see them everywhere!  Billboards, license plates, the clock, etc.  Anything that repeats 3 times is fair game.

But you may notice other things too.  You may be thinking of how you'd like to learn something and the next day someone at works tells you that the thing you were thinking about is one of their hobbies (meaning they can teach you).  Or a book you think about suddenly appears on a table in the break room.  You're thinking about someone and a few minutes later they call or text you.  

One of the biggest examples of this is when I had decided to move home from Arizona.  I set the intention and because that intention was in line with what was highest and best for me, I got all of the help I needed to make that happen.  What I mean by this is that I had added it up and told God how much I would need to move ($10,000 in the next 3 months).  Suddenly, there was an unexpected bonus at work, a financial aid refund I had forgotten about, I got more back on my taxes than expected, etc.  By the deadline, I had exactly how much I needed (plus a door opened for an awesome job and I had an apartment waiting for me).  

None of these things were coincidences...there are no such thing as coincidences!  It was all spirit coordinating this for me.  God has given you a dream team that is here to help you, love you, inspire you, and to reach your goals.  They are your best friends!

16.  You develop a desire for higher-vibrational things.  This kind of goes along with what I said above about wanting to be rid of toxic people and environments.  But what I mean by this specifically are the things in our lives such as movies, music, books, etc. that vibrate at the lower end of the scale.  Garbage in, garbage out is the way I look at it.  Is this something that I want to be like or that I want representing me?  Because if I don't want to be angry, fearful, violent, etc...then I shouldn't watch movies that are. 

17.  You may feel lost and/or alone as you are going through this.  You may wander through your days wondering if you're the only one who has ever gone through something like this.  You may wonder who it is that you really are and what it is that you actually believe.  On the flip side, you may have always felt this way and now you realize just how NOT alone you really are and that you are insanely supported that it blows your mind.

18.   Your eating habits may change.  You may suddenly stop liking the foods you used to like and get a new taste for healthier foods.  You may have been a big meat eater, and now you have this overwhelming desire to become vegetarian or vegan.  I will post a future blog with more information about this, but rest assured that you are not crazy.  I myself am currently going through this.  I am not ready to become vegan, but I am eating more and more by vegetarian standards.

19.  You will develop an addiction/obsession with all things spiritual.  You find yourself craving knowledge.  Because you have seen the things happening in your life and seeing is believing, you want to know more, more, more!  And because the things you've learned and experienced are so incredible, you can talk about it for hours (and probably do).

And last, but certainly not least...

20.  You will have a newfound peace/joy/love that you've never had before.  The Bible refers to this as the "fruits of the spirit."  As you seek the divine and become more in-touch with the presence of God in your life, you naturally develop the traits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  They are not specific to a religion and no denomination has dibs on them.  They are a natural consequence of seeking God in your life.  You will become a kinder, gentler, more loving version of yourself.  And that is a beautiful thing.

I know this was super long you guys!  I tried to cut it down, but they are all SO important I couldn't figure out how to narrow down the list and still give a full picture.  I hope you stuck with it and that you learned something.  I will post plenty more on these subjects in the future.  If you have any questions or would like me to write about a specific topic, please leave a comment or shoot me an email!

XO, Veronica