The Six Stages of Spiritual Awakening

The Spirit. Spirituality is the expanded understanding or awareness of what is beyond our physical realm. Your Spirit is spiritual and much grander than your physical body. A spiritual awakening, then, is an awakening of a dimension of reality beyond the confines of the ego. The ego is our exclusive sense of Self or “I.” The part of us identifies with our thoughts, feelings, and experiences as being separate from everyone and everything else.

The spiritual journey is the process of awakening to our true nature. It involves transcending the ego and discovering our connection to a larger reality. This can happen in many ways but often consists of a personal crisis or spiritual emergency that forces us to question our assumptions about life and who we are.

This awakening occurs when, for whatever reason, the ego somehow lets go so that a Higher Self or Spirit can arise within. The ego is mostly a collection of archetypes, programs, or set patterns of behavior. According to Jung, the average individual is more archetype (archetype is fundamental units of the human mind) than human.

The Taoists call this series of programs the acquired mind—a set of mundane conditioning we collect since birth, or in other terms, our belief system. Spiritual awakening implies returning what the Taoists call the Original Spirit, or what Jung called the Self. And it’s this return of Spirit that makes us truly human.

It is also important to note that not all humans will experience this awakening during their lifetime. For some, it will arise during old age when the preparation for leaving the body is near, and for others, this awakening can happen multiple times in a lifetime.

Let’s Explore the Stages of Spiritual Awakening Together

The First Stage

There are two ways we wake to a spiritual awakening: under chaotic circumstances & spontaneously.

A chaotic awakening happens when we go through significant trauma. Our ego steps aside because a big shake-up requires the soul to step forward. This can be from a disease, divorce, heartbreak, death, a significant life change…you get the idea. Something big happens in your external environment that shakes you up.

For me, my daughter’s death, followed immediately by the death of my business partner and best friend, was the trigger for my awakening. I became more open to believing that connection to the other side is possible, and therefore my channels of possibilities expanded and opened wide.

You can also spontaneously wake up…without warning, your consciousness decides to expand, and BOOM! As you can imagine, this scenario is a bit rare, but it’s happening more and more these days. You’re on your spiritual awakening journey.

How do you know if you’ve started an awakening? You might start asking existential questions like: “Is there more to life than this?”

You wake up from the slumber that most people on this planet are in and start to see things as they are. It’s easier to see through situations and understand the core of what is happening. While time is not as linear as we make it, this can last anywhere from a couple of days to a few weeks. Everyone is different and will have a unique experience and timeline in this stage.

This phase can be pretty overwhelming since our whole ideology diminishes. I can tell you from experience that this is a terrifying place to be. Everything you have been told throughout your life becomes a lie. Some become pretty angry; some become confused; some become numb…

The Second Stage

You will come back alive and feel so connected to everyone and everything in this stage. You clearly can see how interconnected everyone and everything is. This universe is one living and breathing entity, and we are all a part of it. We are all the same. We are an expression of the universe viewing itself. For example, when you look at a tree, you realize you’re looking at a part of yourself.

This stage is a powerful stage and so so so beautiful and empowering. You’re feeling all this bliss and connection because your heart is starting to awaken and open up. Your heart is the connection between this earth and the universe, and once your heart wakes up, so make your connection to the divine.

This will be the first time our hearts awaken for most of us, so the emotions and connection are so powerful. They overtake us and give us hope and beauty. Colors look more vibrant; birds chirping brings so much joy; the sight of a flower will transport you to ecstasy…

So many beautiful feelings that most humans don’t get to experience. If you have gone through this phase, you know what I’m talking about. My heart is fluttering as I’m re-living this phase. It’s also important to note that we start feeling guided by Source in this phase, and we can hear messages and “see” our path more clearly. Number sequences start appearing everywhere, and you begin to tap into the quantum world.

You realize that the spirit world is always trying to help us and communicate. That we are never alone.

This phase generally lasts for days or weeks.

The Third Stage

This is probably the most challenging phase of awakening because some of the shadows that surface for air are not from this lifetime and are only emerging so that your soul can heal from a previous life’s trauma. This phase is here to bring our shadows to light to start purging them. In other words, our soul begins to bring up all the things that need to be healed and released in this lifetime.

In this phase, you may feel: depressed, anxious, despair, lost, and it can feel like you’re dying. Because, in reality, a part of you is. You are changing physically and energetically. You are being born new.

This phase can last months or years. It all depends on how you address it and take care of yourself.

The Fourth Stage

The in-between-phase. In this phase, you’ll notice a lot of doors closing on you. These doors are mainly from your past life, and the closure is preparing you for your new life and making space for what’s to come. You’re becoming the latest version of yourself when you have purged some heavy shadows.

This phase may feel incredibly lonely, and you may feel guilty and sad—sort of like mourning a loss… in grief. What once felt great does no longer. In this phase, you may feel less connected to Source, and your gifts can be a little more challenging to use. Life is forcing you to rest so that you can implement all that has occurred.

Need not worry, my dear friend, if you feel like all the doors are closing on you and a cocoon is growing around you, then it’s time to let yourself rest.

The Fifth Stage

Now, in the 5th phase, the rooted-ness and grounding phase, we can step into who we truly are. You see, in the first four stages, our branches have been pulled up towards the sky, and the primary focus has been there. Still, once we’ve gone through the painful growth of stretching out and expanding, then our roots can fully dig into the earth so that they can hold up the extended version of ourselves that we’ve become.

In this phase, we can start implementing everything we have learned. Not just energetically but also spiritually. You may find yourself out in the open more. Excited to be a part of society again because you feel so grounded that other people’s dense energy can’t and won’t affect you.

The Sixth Stage

This stage is the best. This is where you realize your life’s work. Your purpose, your mission, your PASSION. It’s no longer about the rat race; it’s no longer about money, materials, status…it is now about what you came here to do. The light you are meant to become gets turned on. And real bright, I might add…

You have gone through so much: you’ve purged all the gunk, connected to the universe, grounded yourself, and became magnetic, and now it’s time to embody your hard work.

Don’t expect to know everything at this phase. Our life’s mission doesn’t unveil itself until our life ends, but you will receive clues that you will have to follow. The road opens up and becomes clear, but you won’t see the result until you get there.

This is the stage where you commit yourself and your soul to feed it what it requires. No more excuses, no more distractions, it’s time to GO! At this point, you’re very connected to the quantum field where outside influences don’t affect you anymore or sway you off your path. Obstacles will pop up and try to throw you off course, but they won’t succeed. You’re too powerful now.

This stage will last years or the rest of your life! As time goes on, your path becomes clearer and more transparent. You gain more and more power. Your soul will guide you, and you will nourish it by taking action.