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A spiritual awakening does not necessarily have to pertain to religion, though it can for some. However, we are all spiritual, in our own ways, whether or not we express those through going to a place of worship, or identifying with any sort of organization or group. You are a spirit and a body. Life has a way of making us very focused on the body. If you think of the things that usually consume your mind, you’ll realize, it’s about your physicality. Even when you think about your career, that has a body element. You may have a strong emotional connection to your career, and it may be part of your bigger purpose, but there’s a reason you need a career, and a reason you charge for what you do: you need to buy food and pay the rent. Like everybody else does.
It’s not your fault if you’re mostly consumed with thoughts about the here, now, and somewhat superficial. Society conditions us to be that way. And it’s even a part of human survival. But we humans can pick up some habits along the way that make us lose touch with our spirituality – our bigger why. But, if you’re lucky, you’ll have those times in life when you go through what feels like a spiritual awakening. It’s a time of a new, heightened awareness in which you begin to understand how to navigate many areas of your life that seemed stuck before. We spoke with two mental health experts, Marline Francois-Madden, LCSW, the Founder of Hearts Empowerment Counseling Center, and Latsha Matthews, LPC, author of “The Dumping Ground,” about signs one is going through a spiritual awakening.
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You dismiss toxicity
We asked both experts how one’s standards for how others treat them can change during a spiritual awakening. Francois-Madden said, “When going through a spiritual awakening, you may find that your discernment has heightened and you start to set boundaries on what will be acceptable to you. Some treatments you may no longer tolerate may be name-calling, disrespect, and toxic positivity behaviors.”
