This idea for a post has been sitting in my drafts for a little while now, I happened to be inspired to this idea a long time ago and to me it’s nothing sort of special. I have gone trough the initial beginning phases were you understand that changes are taking place, and you need to adapt to them as quickly as possible.

I understand how difficult it can be at the beginning, I have been there myself and I have come out of it alive. The amount of times I would try and find information regarding what is happening was astounding and started to become more depressing as it seemed there are no real answers out there.

The most difficult part for myself was the need to accept that everything develops with time and that hoping for things to happen that you aren’t ready for is causing more pain than happiness. I awakened in September, 2012. The total amount of time I spent learning and journeying the mind was exactly a year, I finished my initial awakening process in September, 2013.

While that seems like a long time – it was necessary to detox myself from my past memories and addictions, which I can proudly admit – I have dealt with.

I read plenty of books, and for example The Secret had such a huge impact on me I was grieving when I finished reading it. It was a one of a kind experience to read the book from start to finish while completely locked down and in detoxification phase of my awakening. I only want to advise you that this book is nothing more than a book and it holds no magic powers. It’s a tool to help you understand how important is positive outlook on life.

This understanding will take some time to sink in, so be gentle with yourself and let everything unfold naturally.

10 Signs of Spiritual Awakening

I am gonna finish rambling on from here on, and get to the list of symptoms you might be experiencing, but not exactly sure what they mean, and are they part of the awakening process.

The Awakening

This is the first stage, the awakening itself. It’s caused either by a strong emotional event in your life, or an event that has touched you on a soul level and you cannot forget such an experience. The most common awakening ways are loss of someone special, near death experience, spiritual enlightenment or other similar experiences. You can never know when it is going to happen – but when it happens, you will know.

I myself awakened trough an amulet that a girl I used to know had brought back with her from Paris. It was a beautiful Owl amulet and I instantly got attached to it when I saw it. I asked this girl to hand it over to me as I wanted to carry it around for a little bit, I liked it so much.

I cannot remember how much time exactly went by, but eventually I lied down for a second and all of a sudden I had an incredible rush of emotions and what I can only describe as higher power going trough me, experience. I instantly knew that this amulet was going to stay with me and if I had to give it back I wouldn’t be able to live my life.

I talked with the girl and she understood, it was meant to be.

This is a perfect example of how spontaneous our awakenings can be and there is no secret ingredient you need in order to awaken, it happens naturally.

Meditation

Awakening + Mediation go together like bread and butter. The first couple of weeks after your initial awakening you start being drawn to meditation. My own experience was incredibly natural and all I did was meditate and do it every day. It also, sort of just happened, I didn’t question anything – I just knew it is the right thing to do.

You may or may not have started meditating already, and I urge you to continue doing it or begin doing so if you haven’t yet. Meditation in the first six months is going to teach you a lot of valuable life lessons, while also drawing you closer to nature and establishing a solid connection with it.

If we listen, nature does speak with us.

The only guide I needed was this Wikihow page to start meditating. It’s the simplest tutorial you will ever find and it’s the only one you will ever need. Meditation is simple and should stay that way.

Change in Perception

Well, if you happen to doubt yourself and the two signs I mentioned above – the one thing you will notice for sure is the change in your perception of the World. This actually could be the only one sign you should know about in order to continue your journey. For the sake of helping people, I will continue listing the other 7 and what they mean.

The change in perception takes place immediately after an awakening has happened. We suddenly realize the gap between the now and the past. The hardest part is to forget the past and put it away, because if we choose to carry the past with us we will not be able to grow and move forward like intended to.

Spirituality is about loving yourself and others, and the change in perception makes you realize how dreadful our World is, and that we want to help it as much as we can, but we are not sure how. The need to change the World disappears with time, once we realize we have our own lives we need to build and only when we accumulate experience can we start helping others.

The change in perception means that you realize that everything in the man made World is an illusion, it’s a systematic lifestyle which doesn’t allow creativity or inspirational action to take place.

Creativity

Another side-effect of an spiritual awakening is creativity. I now look back on my first couple of weeks and I remember how difficult it was for my parents to understand me and my thoughts. I would start to contextualize about life and philosophy of it, and the urge to teach others and talk about it with other people was truly strong.

I never mentioned I was a school drop-out, I began meditation last Autumn and I quickly realized I want to return to school in order to be part of creative activities like learning. I started reading books, which I had NEVER done – believe me, I was the guy who said reading books is what only nerds do.

I began my project “Love. Life.” which eventually turned into the website you are reading right now. I began going to the library and I began studying really hard in order to grow and gain much needed experience.

All of which I would have never done if I didn’t have had my awakening experience, I would still have had an addictive personality – dependent on one too many things.

Have you noticed you are doing things out of the ordinary?

New Friends, Old Friends

This like everything else is happening only because you are supposed to start working on your life’s mission, which you may have forgotten, but sticking around your old friends is not going to help that at all. I am speaking from an experience where my past was focused a lot around drinking and drug abuse. This made it incredibly easy to realize the benefits of leaving the old behind, while also making it extremely difficult to transition. At the end of the day, you considered them your friends.

New friends, new people and new experiences based on how prepared you are is what comes after you start putting the past behind. I had the privilege of meeting a spiritual person that has grown and evolved spiritually, enough to teach and mentor others. This person helped me and took good care of me while I was rehabilitating.

I have no idea who are the new friends that so many people talk about. I kept a handful of friends from my past because of how close we were, and even then – I believe in steady growth. I believe we are meant to move forward, not look back and keep pondering if I am ready to change and accept a new way of living and doing things.

Making friends when you’re in your twenties is not the same as making friends when you’re just five years old.

Writing

I could not decide if this should have gone under creativity sign or not, but it’s definitely a big one and happens to many human beings after awakening. You begin to think a lot more, observe a lot more and there are certainly a lot more ideas going trough your mind. You begin writing.

Writing, like other creative activities (singing, drawing, etc,.) are a tool, and a pathway of pure inspiration and creative expression. When we write in our personal diaries or notes, we don’t write for anyone but ourselves and so the language flows freely and we feel as if we have lifted a burden of ourselves, if it happens so that you are writing about something emotional. Which, when awakening happens, is going to be the only thing are gonna write about.

I spent two months last year, November & December, writing down all my emotions. The amount I was writing down every day was beyond my understanding. Some days – 5 pages, others 10. I could just write and write and never stop. This diary that I had written fully, I carried it with me for a 11 months until I decided to get rid of it as it didn’t serve me any purpose anymore. I realized I have grown out of my old habits and memories, and I can now move on freely.

Like writing, I also picked up poetry around the same time. Who would’ve thought that I could be a poet, certainly not my friends or family members. It grew on me so much, it’s my favorite creativity activity. It goes to show you just how much people are able to push themselves in order to change and live better lives. It all starts with a single thought.

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

I love Eckhart Tolle and his books, and the way he presents himself on several talks, which can also be found on his website.

He is the modern age spiritualist who has been gifted with a force of enlightenment that has helped millions of people worldwide to change their lives and the direction their lives is taking. Reading “The Power of Now” left a lot of positive insights in my mind and also affected my life on a personal level.

I have already said it once somewhere, but when you realize that you want to return back to the moment which is now, that is when you understand how powerful the concept is and how it can change the way we live our lives. The moment you focus back on your body and look around to realize it’s all here, it has never been anywhere else. Just like I am writing this in the moment, more or less, by the time you are going to read it – it’s already in the past. You however, can now establish a connection with your body and be present about what you are readying and learning.

This book is possibly the one I would take with me on a lonely island, if I was given the choice to take one book with me. It’s a book that has helped many understand their true inner-selves and their true potential. I remember my first glimpse of living in the now, I was standing outside (still a smoker I used to be), and I looked up when I noticed this magnificent bird and how it flew around.

It struck me right there that for the bird, his “space” up in the air is very similar to what we call our space down on the earth. He just flew there and I realized how beautiful it is and how all of the birds movements have been thought about, he is not mindlessly flying around – he is an creature that hasn’t been conditioned by the modern world. He truly is a free being.

This breed of birds are now like my reminders and I happen to see them everywhere I go.

TV, News, Gossip

And everything else that falls under the same category of negativity and mindless activity. Thankfully, I was never a big TV enthusiast and since early teen years I never have watched TV for long periods of time. News, and gossip, those two things stuck with me for a little while. It’s funny how you realize that everything you say does matter, and people who have built their lives around gossip will have a hard time healing from such a condition.

I strictly believe that we are meant to build our lives in an unique way, so that we always have stories to tell to people – real stories from real experience, stories about love and stories about sadness. I am not interested in talking of others peoples successes or failures.

I chose the picture of a landscape for this part because I would much rather (and I am) be blown away by a spectacular view out in the nature, than be blown away by a reality TV show which soon enough will turn into a pornography industry. I am pretty sure you are going to have a hard time trying to prove me wrong. :)

The point I am trying to make is that TV, news, gossip and everything else that goes into these industries, they exist only because they make money. People like money, some like it more than others and so they will try harder to get the message to you. All you have to do is stop using these “services” and rather go outside and hang out with a couple of trees, they will teach you more than anyone else ever will.

It happens naturally when you awaken, you happen to know that it’s bad and so you avoid it. Has it happened with you? Are you more focused on building your own reality or you still find yourself living someone elses?

The Need to Learn, Grow, Teach

I think after all that have have discussed and learned about, it’s the perfect time to mention a spiritual awakening symptom and a sign that is possibly the most magical of all – the process of never ending learning. I haven’t stopped learning since my initial awakening and I don’t have any plans to do so, not for a very long time. I see no point in stopping, and doing nothing at all. What. is. the. point. of. that.

I am not sure if I would love to dedicate my whole life right at this moment to spirituality, and spirituality only. I do enjoy writing about it as you may have noticed, but I also have other passions and interests that I wish to continue learning about and teaching about. It’s strange how you go from someone who takes advice, to someone who gives advice.

I finally understood what it means to give back to the World, I understood that only learning isn’t gonna work and that teaching is an essential part of the whole process. I began blogging and writing more, I began remembering the things I learned in the past without having attachment to them.

Attachment is like poison that isn’t going to kill you, but it will always be there, trying to confuse you and trying to force you make the wrong choices. I don’t care what people think of my writing or my thinking, I care to a certain extent – but not as much to begin doubting my own work. I can only speak and write of what I have seen and experienced, unlike many others I have encountered.

Goals, Projects, Dreams

In other words – a plan for your life. I do feel like I have discussed most of what I intended to discuss and there is not much more to say about spiritual awakening signs that people experience once they awaken. They are almost the same for everyone, with the exception of activities we take part in. We may choose to go to a monastery and join it for a couple of years or we may choose to forget our fears and build something special for ourselves and our family.

Spirituality is a gift that teaches you how important it is to know what you want, essentially teaching you how easy it is to achieve those things that you want. I myself needed a long time to understand that concept, but I wouldn’t have it any other way now. This post for example was a goal I had to do, and so I have done it and I am very proud that I have. This actually is the longest post I have written since I started writing a year ago.

It was not an easy road to get this far, I have no intention of lying to you about it. It was a journey that will stick with me for the rest of my life, a reminder that there is more to life than a bottle of scotch and a pack of cigarettes will ever show me. There is much more to life. We can never finish exploring, but we can come back to try experience something different each time.

10 Signs of Spiritual Awakening from Personal Experience

This post suddenly turned into a three thousand word experience report of an spiritual awakening. I understand that you way be frustrated, or perhaps you needed real facts to learn from, I understand how hard it can be, but I can only tell you one thing: never give up!

There are plenty of awakening signs information available out there, it will give you tiny sentences that will explain the general idea but never go in detail about. I have read them all, believe me, I was stuck with my initial awakening and I had no idea what to do.

This was a real experience report that I hope will bring some light in your heart and make it easier for you. It’s easy to believe all the spiritual gifts stories, etc,. They are real, don’t get me wrong – but one day you realize that your own happiness is far more important than chasing the dogs tail.