"The world started to change, like a shift. People were different. It was like a vibrational switch, like an electric switch turned a light on in my brain. I was able to see through the trauma and past issues, taking responsibility for my reactions and myself, at some point we all have to take responsibility to heal." That's how soul consultant and tarot reader Tamara Gabbard describes her spiritual awakening.

While Tina Hnatiuk was on a retreat about a decade ago, her “brain broke.” “The mental construct I had of myself and the world around me fell away and it was pure awareness,” describes the life coach and yoga teacher. “It was almost like the Matrix where I entered into an altered reality, but the altered reality was the real one.” In that moment, Hnatiuk had complete peace, love, joy, and insight into the working of the universe and how we’re limitless.

For Mary Joye, a licensed mental health counselor, a spiritual awakening occurred after her brother’s death. “His tragic and early death brought me back to life. I had an epiphany in Sedona, Arizona when I went to get over the tragedy and got lost on a 7-mile red dirt trail marked with red rocks surrounded by red mountains and the sun going down,” she recounts. “I was sobbing and crying and wanted the grief to stop. It was so intense my nose started bleeding.” At some point, Joye heard a horse and followed the clopping of the hooves. “When I got to the horse there was a woman on it and I told her I was lost and she said, follow the horse sh*t.” In that moment, Joye had an epiphany that manure is what we make fertilizer from. “I could stay stuck in that pain and agony or I could have posttraumatic growth instead of posttraumatic stress,” she explains.

Spiritual awakenings can look different for everyone. So how do you know if you’re having one?

First, what is a spiritual awakening?

Spiritual teacher, metaphysical authority and author of Awaken & Grow: A Practical Guide for Your Spiritual Journey, Christine Agro, defines a spiritual awakening as when your view and experience of your life shifts dramatically. “I liken it to the difference between being asleep and being awake or being on auto-pilot versus being in control of your course,” Agro adds. “When we have a spiritual awakening, we have an awareness — oftentimes seemingly sudden — that there is more to being here than the life we were living.” Agro says that this occurrence can often come with an internal call to action to change your life or to course-correct. Those who go through a spiritual awakening will typically pursue a purpose or their “calling.”

Agro says there are two types of spiritual awakenings: One that’s more gradual, like a gentle nudge to live your life differently. These gentle nudges can be things like: small health issues, reoccurring challenges or disappointments, repeating a pattern over and over again, any general state to do something different really. Gentle nudges can also show up as signs, Agro claims, like seeing the same numbers or a certain animal, or hearing similar stories from different people.

And the other — what Agro calls a “grand awakening” — is like when you suddenly wake up from a dream state (or like you’ve been sleepwalking through life) and now you aren’t. “The suddenness of a grand awakening can feel like the carpet has been pulled out from under you or like the magic trick when a tablecloth is yanked and everything on top flies up off the table,” Agro explains. “The grand awakening is the moment when everything is floating above the table, and nothing has settled into its place yet.”

In a grand awakening, you will feel the demand to change your life suddenly.

colorful butterfly flying free in the middle of nature
janiecbros//Getty Images

What causes a spiritual awakening?

According to Agro, one can’t cause a spiritual awakening. But, sometimes a spiritual awakening can have important reasons, like getting you out of a dangerous relationship, lead you to fulfilling work, the start of a new partnership, or even the introduction of a child into your life.

“You can’t force a spiritual awakening because if you are forcing it to happen, then you are already answering some higher call to wake up,” says Agro. “It may feel like you forced it, but something got you to this point of awakening.” Essentially, if you are trying to be spiritually awakened, you’re already on that journey.

What are the benefits of a spiritual awakening?

The biggest plus to a spiritual awakening journey is the opportunity for more, well, awakening, say experts. Agro says it’s like living in a house and suddenly discovering new rooms or a whole part of the house you didn’t even know was there. As you awaken, you’ll discover new parts of yourself and how to live.

Another benefit to a spiritual awakening is that it can make your life easier. “The more you step into the power of who you are and the abilities you have, which come as you walk an awakened path, the easier life gets,” Agro explains. “It doesn't mean you don't have challenges, but the way you understand your human experience changes in a way that makes life flow.”

Gabbard was able to let go of alcohol and other vices due to her spiritual awakening. And because she was clear, she was able to help others. "It has brought me the ability to disconnect from the mechanics of the body and reconnect with the truth of the soul," she says.

Your spiritual awakening can give you relief, joy, grace, and wisdom, for example. It can bring about a better understanding of who you are and other facets of your life. The awareness can bring about acceptance or manifest other good things.

How to know If you’re going through a spiritual awakening:

While a spiritual awakening can look very different for each person, there are some common signs that you’re going through one. Here are ways to tell you’re going through a spiritual awakening.

  1. When you realize your patterns. Are you repeating the same cycles over and over again? And have you been doing that for awhile without understanding what’s going on, then suddenly you do? You may be going through a spiritual awakening if it finally hits you what your patterns are.
  2. When your empathy increases. Those who have gone through spiritual awakenings say they noticed they became more empathetic than their usual selves. They started to care deeply and consistently.
  3. When you become content with things that would usually bother you. "Joy seeped in where it was not before. I had physical moments where my body felt changes and I could feel it absorbing energy from around me," recounts Gabbard. "I began to ask myself 'Is this mine?' when I would start to feel things that were off, or if it was that of someone else's around me or who I have come in contact with, if so, it would fade."
  4. When you become aware of everything. Gabbard noticed everything and her intuition was magnified. "My good, my bad, my emotional awareness expanded," she said. "I became more self-reliant and less in need. I began to connect with that power, the source of all life, in a way that I didn't think was possible. In a way that would take a real interview to explain because it has a lot of layers."
  5. When your intuition is heightened. Similarly to empathy, your intuition will become more prominent and stronger if you’re going through a spiritual awakening.
  6. When your senses are amplified. You will just feel deeply, and your senses will come along for the ride.
  7. When you stop gossiping. Because you’ll feel deeply, you’ll also strengthen your positivity, and that means you’ll do away with the negative talk, including gossip.
  8. When you live in the moment. This doesn’t mean you’ll put your phone away and just experience life for what it is. It means, you will stop the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” talk. No more “what ifs,” instead, you’ll live the “it is what it is” lifestyle — and actually mean it.
  9. When you pursue your goals. “The individual has a sense of responsibility which is awakened when they're on a spiritual journey,” explains Linda Berry, “angel whisperer,” spiritual coach and owner of the Spiritual Discovery Center in Southern California. “They will be inspired to pursue their goals and take on challenges that once seemed impossible.”
  10. When you use your heart. During your spiritual journey, you will find yourself dropping what Berry calls “love bombs” when no one is even looking. “This is shown through random acts of kindness, social activism, hugs, smiles, and kind words,” she points out. You might find yourself manifesting this in poetry, stories, photography, movies, blogs, and social media.
  11. When you harness your energy. Berry reminds that your energy is one of your greatest assets when you’re on a spiritual journey. In this case, the enlightened person leverages positive energy to create healing and transformation. You’ll leave toxic behaviors and negative thought patterns behind. “Energy is harnessed and infused with the power of one's thoughts to redirect overall health, high levels of happiness, and physical vitality. On the spiritual journey the individual transforms unrest, disorder and disease with mindful thoughts which transforms into energy of purpose, power, peace and well-being,” Berry adds.
  12. When you finally let go of attachments. Whether it’s an ex you are still pining for, or someone in your life’s validation that you’re waiting for, none of that will matter once you’re spiritually awakened.
  13. When you use affirmations. You will "affirm" to the universe what you want and watch your manifestations come to life, Berry says. “Noticeable changes in life include: breakthroughs happening when least expected, finances expanding, relationships flourishing, and synchronicity of grand opportunities,” Berry states. “The more the individual lets go, the more they attune to the frequencies of happiness and love, and the more space is created for one's desires to reach them.”
  14. When you recover from trauma. As you discover your true self and strengthen your connection to the universe, you can transform from a traumatic event. “From this personal transformation, [you] are now wiser and have a better understanding of how the physical world works as a spiritual being living in a human body,” Berry explains.
  15. When you become truly authentic. You will just be you — no apologies, no reservations. You will be who you are with abandon.
  16. When you stop being afraid of death. Don’t be freaked out. If you know you’re living a life well-lived and you are being your true self, the thought of death won’t scare you anymore. You’ll remove that fear and live life as it should be.
  17. When you find inner peace. After your spiritual awakening, you will feel a lightness. That inner peace will radiate.
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