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Spiritual Awakening Anxiety: Why It Happens & How To Overcome It

November 7, 2023

Spiritual awakening is often thought of as a glorious and mystical event full of bliss and happiness. And yes, that can be true. But the truth is that a spiritual awakening can leave you feeling anxious beyond belief. The path to awakening is NOT as easy and glorious as you might initially think. Yes, the process will eventually lead you to a better version of yourself and a better understanding of reality. But it will also be reality shattering. And let me tell you, reality shattering experiences can be mistaken for reality ending experiences. I’ve spent several sleepless nights dealing with the mind, body, and reality altering effects of spiritual awakenings. If you’re experiencing heightened anxiety from a spiritual awakening know that you’re not alone in this experience. With time you will come back to a normal state of mind. Understanding Spiritual Awakening Anxiety: Normal or Not? Let’s first determine if this is normal anxiety or spiritual awakening anxiety. Anxiety isn’t a single factor phenomena, meaning lots of things can trigger it. Not just spiritual awakening. Anxiety is characterized by: Having just these symptoms alone doesn’t mean you’re going through spiritual awakening anxiety. If you’re already prone to anxiety your spiritual awakening may just be exacerbating already present symptoms. However if you recently had a spiritual awakening and these symptoms are directly stemming from that experience, you’re most likely going through spiritual awakening anxiety. Identifying the Two Types of Awakenings To know how to work through your spiritual awakening anxiety you must know about the two main types of awakening: 1. Consciousness breakthroughs – spiritual awakenings that occur from heightened states of consciousness forcing you to see reality from a completely new paradigm. 2. Energetic awakenings – activation of powerful spiritual energy in our body such as kundalini awakenings and chakra opening. Both of these types of awakenings can cause anxiety. The first type of awakening (consciousness breakthroughs) will most likely cause general feelings of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty over your life and reality. While the second type of awakening (energetic awakenings) can be mistaken for full blown panic attacks. The symptoms of a kundalini awakening and a panic attack are nearly identical: If you believe you’re going through an energetic or kundalini awakening see my guide to handling an unexpected kundalini awakening. Why Spiritual Awakenings May Cause Anxiety ‎ 1. Surges Of Divine Energy Certain types of awakenings can create a lot of divine energy in your body. Energetic awakenings can be incredibly unsettling if you’re not expecting one. The sudden surge of Shakti energy through your body can be an unwelcome surprise to many. Some negative symptoms from this type of awakening include: Learn more about Kundalini Syndrome here. 2. Your Ego Is Dying One of the most terrifying experiences of spiritual awakening is ego death. Ego death is a very common experience during psychedelic use, but can happen for any number of reasons. Your literal sense of self is under threat of death. As you wake up, your ego starts to dissolve. But it won’t go down without a fight. This ego resistance causes fear and anxiety because it does not want to die. It’s important to realize this fear is all an illusion. Once the ego is finished off once and for all there lays only peace, love, and unity. 3. Awakening Can Be Shocking Some spiritual realizations can turn your world upside down. Everything you once thought to be true is now turned on its head. Insights realized from spiritual awakening can be reality-breaking. You may be forced to come face to face with a new reality that you weren’t expecting or even thought possible. These intense perspective shifts can cause a lot of personal and mental distress. 4. Heightened Sensory Perception Spiritual awakenings can put you into a state of high sensitivity. You may be vibrating at such a high level of divine energy that your consciousness is extremely sharp. Sights, sounds, and feelings can become overwhelming as you’re able to tune into every little detail with your heightened awareness. This can easily overload your brain and cause anxiety. 5. Healing Past Trauma Sometimes profound spiritual experiences will bring up past traumas that need to be healed. This is especially the case during difficult psychedelic trips. Though they may be extremely distressing, it is for your greater healing. To transcend into your highest self you need to dissolve many things holding you back. One of these things may be traumas. When traumas arise to be worked with and healed you may feel a lot of anxiety and resistance. See also “Struggling With Spiritual Awakening? Why It Can Be Lonely And Hard” Understanding Psychological Distress and Spiritual Awakening The #1 cause of spiritual awakenings happen to be psychological distress. Spiritual awakenings don’t just happen when we’re happy and cozy in life. They often hit us during our lowest points like a life preserver thrown to a drowning sailor. Spiritual awakening is the mind’s last resort in many cases. Life can get so painful that a break from reality is actually necessary. According to a research survey by Steve Taylor, psychological turmoil causes spiritual awakening more than anything else. More than prayer, meditation, and even psychedelics. Anxiety, distress, and psychological turmoil are often intertwined with spiritual awakening experiences. Spiritual awakenings and their reality-altering effects may offer some relief to those suffering from mental distress. But if your spiritual awakening experience is causing you extra anxiety there are a few things you can do to help. Coping Strategies For Awakening Anxiety ‎ The anxiety you encounter during your spiritual ascension is all part of the process. It will not harm you, it’s just really really uncomfortable. It’s important to realize that you’re not actually in any danger. You may feel like something dangerous is happening inside your mind or body, but I promise you will be okay. Let’s talk about how you can best deal with this awakening anxiety. 1. Surrender The first piece of advice

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How to Use The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT Tapping)

August 30, 2022

What is EFT? EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique. The Emotional Freedom Technique is a therapeutic method developed by Gary Craig that releases emotional energy and trauma by tapping specific acupressure points around the body. The tapping is often accompanied with a repeated mantra. EFT has roots in the ancient Chinese practice of “chi” and other “energy psychologies” often regarded as pseudoscience. However, EFT has been proven effective with hard empirical evidence from several well known studies. What is EFT tapping used for? EFT can be used for any emotional issue in your life. If there is an emotional charge behind it, EFT can be used. Some of the things EFT tapping can help resolve are: Some scientific studies found EFT to be particularly useful for relieving anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Although some practitioners claim it can even relieve physical pain. How to use the Emotional Freedom Technique This 5 step process is directly modeled after Gary Craig’s 5 steps for EFT Step 1) Identify the issue you want to work through In this step the individual should choose an issue or difficult emotion they’d like to work on. The issue should be specific and solitary. Don’t try to work on several issues at the same time. An example of an emotionally charged issue could be feeling anxious about an upcoming event such as a graduation or family gathering. Step 2) Test the intensity of the issue Start this step by asking the participant how intense the issue is in their mind on a scale of 0-10. 0 being no issue at all, 10 being the most intense it could possibly be. A memory or thought of the issue should be held vividly in the mind when rating the intensity. This number will serve as bench mark for later. The goal of EFT is to have the issue get as close to 0 as possible. We will continue to ask where the individual is on the 0-10 scale after every round of EFT. Step 3) Setting up the process Before you start going through a full round of EFT you have a little prep work to do. We must create a two part mantra/ phrase that will be used during the tapping: This looks a little something like this: “Even though I have (blank issue), I deeply and completely love and accept myself”. Using the example from step 1, this would look like: “Even though I have anxiety about my graduation, I deeply and completely love and accept myself”. Step 4) The tapping sequence The tapping sequence is the order of pressure points that you will tap on 5-7 times as you repeat the mantra created in the step 3. The tapping sequence is as follows: Before your start tapping repeat your mantra. Then as you tap each point, say out loud the issue. For example say “anxiety” or “anxiety about graduation” as you tap each of the 9 pressure points. Step 5) Test the intensity again After a full round of tapping, assign a number to the level of intensity around the issue from 0-10. This should show you if any and how much progress is being made with relieving the issue. Repeat the steps until the number reaches 0 or until it plateaus at the same number several times. If this happens it’s best to revisit the issue again later. Does EFT really work? Yes. Although many scientists have their skepticism over EFT, as any good scientist should, there have been many studies reporting statistically significant positive results from the Emotional Freedom Technique. One study found EFT helped reduce anxiety by 40%, depression by 35%, and cravings by 74%. Another scientific study showed that clinical usage of EFT was “highly effective in reducing depressive symptoms in a variety of populations and settings”. The results speak for themselves when it comes to the efficacy of EFT. EFT in PEAT The EFT tapping is sometimes merged with other therapeutic practices. One of these methods that sometimes uses EFT is PEAT. PEAT is a therapeutic technique that can heal and alleviate emotional conflicts (inner or outer). Both EFT and PEAT focus on relieving emotional charges around personal issues. The tapping of EFT can easily be used to heighten other talk therapies or psychological relief methods. Conclusion The Emotional Freedom Technique is a therapeutic method that releases emotional energy and trauma by tapping pressure points around the body while repeating a specialized mantra. How do you practice EFT? The Emotional Freedom Technique has been proven to be effective at relieving emotional issues by several academic and scientific studies.

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