While many people today choose to focus on the negative aspects of our modern society, there is one positive change that we can all reap the benefits of… We are talking about the absolutely unbelievable amount of knowledge that we literally have at our fingertips! We walk around all day with the equivalent of a supercomputer in our pockets and yet many of us are confused about what is real and what is not, what can be believed and what lessons to take with a grain of salt.
This is definitely the case with Spiritual Awakenings. In our modern world of social media and 24 hour “news cycles” many spiritual topics get thrown around haphazardly or, on the other hand, they get “swept under the rug” altogether. With so much raw emotion and energy attached to a single life event, there is bound to be some confusion and a plethora of questions about what exactly is a Spiritual Awakening (SA)? So, let's just start at the beginning and break down a few of the different ways to help nurture a Spiritual Awakening.
A true SA can be one of the most earth shattering, mind-blowing, important and impactful events that can happen in a person's life. While also being one of the most exciting, weirdest, scariest, loneliest, and wild rides we ever take! Like the name suggests, you are literally “awakening” to a whole new life. The dissolution of your ego combines with a magical paradigm shift that can cause a person to look at their life and everything in it with new eyes.
Now I know what you are saying, “Whoa hold on… that sounds intense!” While it can be, the path to a spiritual awakening is different for everyone and there are no rules when it comes to this kind of deep work. The one thing we want to keep in mind is, small changes can lead to some pretty big results! So let’s talk about some of the more subtle things that you can do to help open your mind, body and spirit on your journey of enlightenment.
Like we talked about earlier, our modern society has a way of sensationalizing the idea of a Spiritual Awakening. We see the idea of it being an “all or nothing” kind of deal and that is just not the case! Sometimes a person may just have a feeling or they may get the sensation of a major change happening. Sometimes a person may get a “peek” behind the veil of life. Maybe it happens without your knowledge, maybe it happens with lots of hard work or none at all… The bottom line is that we are dealing with something greater than ourselves when we talk about Spiritual Awakenings and a lot of it is still a mystery, even to the “experts”. But one thing we can all agree on is that there are a few things we can do to help encourage the right climate for SA.
After all, what do you have to lose?! Absolutely nothing! Fostering these skills and practices can do nothing but relieve stress, increase happiness and overall dramatically benefit your life, regardless of if you ever achieve a Spiritual Awakening or not!
1) Slow Down- Take time every day to leave our modern world behind and just slow down! Many of us go months, even years without taking the time to stop, observe, be in the moment, and reflect on the moment before us.
2) Meditate- Regulate your breathing and your thoughts to help unwind and get in tune with your inner self. It doesn't take much time and will greatly reduce stress and anxiety in your daily life!
3) Nature/Grounding- One of the most powerful ways of fostering the right conditions for SA’s is to spend as much time in nature as possible. Spending time in nature is one of the best ways to slow down and really get in tune with ourselves. We were created hand in hand with nature and our bodies instinctively know the power that brings. Grounding can physiologically lower our stress, increase our energy and generate more well-being!
4) Dance/Laugh- Both of these habits help increase the mind-body connection, lower stress, bring more oxygen into the body and foster positive mental outlooks. Dancing can help release trauma and mental baggage that we carry around on a daily basis, while laughing can release endorphins and benefit our immune system.
5) Volunteer- You know that feeling when you have done a good deed or helped someone in need? It’s amazing, right!? Try and actively pursuevolunteer work to keep that energy flowing! Your body will literally be buzzing with good vibes! Who doesn't want that?
There you go! Our top five, simple ways to foster the right environment for a Spiritual Awakening! If you work on incorporating these into your daily life, you are sure to have many positive benefits!