Why Do I Feel So Different Right Now? Early Signs of Spiritual Awakening (Transcript)

Episode transcript, ShelbyRADIO · 29 minutes

Short answer: If your life suddenly feels off, if you're more emotional, questioning everything and outgrowing people and routines that used to fit, you're most likely going through a spiritual awakening. Nothing is wrong with you. Your beliefs and perspectives are expanding, and your life is reorganizing while you're still living in it. It isn't peaceful at first, but unrest comes before clarity, and you are not going backwards.

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Key takeaways

• Awakening often starts suddenly, like a meteor that blasts your normal routine wide open.
• Common signs: feeling disconnected from your normal life, questioning everything, outgrowing people and routines, emotional waves and craving deeper meaning.
• Awakening isn't peaceful at first. There's usually a breaking down before the peace and the magic.
• Sleep changes and feeling other people's energy more don’t mean you’re “too much.” They mean you're more aware.
• You can awaken more than once. Each time, it happens at a deeper level.
• You're not losing your life. You're outgrowing the parts that no longer fit.

Full transcript

Lightly edited for reading.

If your life feels off right now (00:00)

Have you ever felt a calling, something deep, something you can't quite explain, that's urging you to step into a higher version of yourself? Hello, welcome to ShelbyRADIO. I am Shelby Carino, and today's episode is "Why does everyone feel different right now?"

Today we're going to dive into the truth about spiritual awakening. If your life is feeling off right now, if things that used to make sense to you no longer make sense, if you feel emotional, overwhelmed or even a little bit different, then I need you to stick around and hear this episode.

Nothing is wrong with you (01:25)

Trust me, nothing is wrong with you. You are awakening. Changes in perspective are happening, and I guarantee you this is beyond your control. It is happening. We have to embrace it, accept it and bring awareness to it. And ultimately, we have to bring education to it, because that is how you move through the feelings you're probably experiencing right now.

That's how awakening feels. One minute you're doing life and everything is on a schedule, a routine, the normal. Then all of a sudden, it's like a meteor falls out of the sky, hits you and blasts you wide open. You start having all these feelings and you don't know what happened.

Why does everything seem different? (02:50)

You start asking, "Why does everything seem different right now? Why are all of these things changing in my life?" That's what I want to talk about, because I have been through spiritual awakening more than one time. Yes, it's possible to do it more than once, because you're always doing it at another level.

My story: when everything shifted (04:10)

So let's talk about some real-life symptoms of awakening. From my own experience, when I began awakening, I felt very disconnected from my normal life. One day I was doing my normal routines, having the same conversations, going to the same job, and everything seemed steady. Then one day it just changed. I felt very disconnected from the life I had built, and I began searching for why, because I felt that shift inside of me.

Are you experiencing that? Or have you experienced it before, and you're noticing it again in a different stage of your life? A lot of that is going on as well.

The questions that come up from within (05:35)

Another real-life symptom is questioning everything. Do you have people in your life right now who are mirrors, who question everything you say? It's probably because something inside of you is questioning what you're doing. You start asking questions you never asked before. Why do I have to live in the same neighborhood I grew up in? Why do I have this belief about relationships that I don't even believe? What's the difference between religion and spirituality, or is there one? They don't have to be big, woo-woo questions. They can be everyday things you begin to question.

Feeling unfulfilled in old groups (07:00)

Another huge symptom is outgrowing people or routines. Maybe every Friday night you hang out with the same crowd at the same restaurant, but when you're in the energy of the group, you're just not fulfilled. You'd rather be home on the couch with your animals, watching your favorite show. You're outgrowing people, and it's not a bad thing. Your routine is being tested, and the circle you keep is being tested. It's a symptom of the process.

Emotional waves and craving meaning (08:25)

Another big one, especially for my female clients, is emotional waves: crying, frustration, confusion, anger and then joy. It's not bipolar, and it's not only perimenopause or menopause, though those can be linked in. You have these emotional waves in the process of awakening.

Then you start to crave more meaning. I call it going down the rabbit hole of information. Things you didn't find interesting before suddenly become interesting. You find moments in your day to research things you wouldn't say out loud, especially to people you don't think would believe them. That's the beginning of "I want more meaning in my life. Why do I have all these feelings?"

Integrating new information (09:50)

When you're ready to be supported with perspectives that help you find your answers, that's why education matters. It walks you through the real-life symptoms of awakening and explains them, so you don't spend so much time in your head trying to figure it out. Your energy body just has to integrate the new information.

It also helps you feel like you fit somewhere, because when you begin waking up, you often feel like you don't fit anywhere anymore. You feel like the outsider: "I'm not supposed to be here. I don't want to be here." I want you to have a safe space to know that you do fit, and that there are people just like you going through this.

When you begin waking up, a lot of the conversations around you can start to feel shallow and surface level. You're looking for depth and richness.

A deeper calling (11:10)

Another symptom is feeling like there's a deeper meaning to life, a deeper calling that's calling out to you, but you have no idea how to get there. You don't even know what it is. That's a time when a one-on-one session can help us move through that calling, so your awakening process can be put back into some kind of order.

When I found my mentor and went through her processes, it was so much easier than trying to piece it together with free research online. There's a lot of information online, and it often confuses you more. There is a process to these symptoms, and understanding them is what makes it easier to walk out your experiences here.

What awakening actually looks like (12:35)

All of this is what awakening actually looks like. I talk about it from my own perspective, from what I've lived. When you're looking for information on awakening, look for someone who has lived it, integrated it, created something from it and continues to live that path, not someone who studied it in a book and repeats it.

Here's the truth: when you're awakening, when you start to feel different and disconnected from other people and from your life, awakening is not peaceful at first. There's a lot out there that says, "My awakening was so peaceful. I found God." But when you truly go through an awakening, a breaking down of the old self, it's usually not peaceful and it's usually not very magical. You may have moments of magic and moments of peace, but there's usually a breaking down that happens first. People don't talk about that because it's the uglier side of awakening. But it's an important side, because you have to learn how to navigate it.

Awakening is a disruption in your life. Raise your hand if your life feels disrupted right now. The whole planet is being disrupted, and the collective is feeling everything that's shifting. So somewhere in you, something is being disrupted. You're questioning something in your life, no matter how awake you are, and you're probably having emotional releases in some way, because we're all in this stage together.

Your life reorganizing while you live it (15:25)

Awakening is really a reframe of your life, your relationships and your belief systems. It's like your life is being reorganized while you're still living in it. Where a lot of people get caught is, "How do I reorganize my life without information on how to do it?"

No one ever told me, "By the way, when you're spiritually waking up, it means your unconscious mind is expanding, which means your beliefs and perspectives are changing, which changes your job, your relationships and even your self-care routines." That's all part of it. I get excited when I meet people going through it, because even though it looks messy, we can straighten it out and make it smoother.

Losing interest in your old life (16:50)

So have no fear if you've lost interest in your old life. You're moving into an alignment shift, and that brings emotional waves, because you're releasing. You're not breaking down.

If you're questioning life more than you ever have, and you're having shifts in your relationships, your career and your identity, know this: there's a collective awakening going on. More people are waking up at the same time, and that creates more frequency, more vibration and more energy. If you woke up alone on a mountaintop, you wouldn't feel as much pushback. But we live close together, in the middle of everyone else's energy, and everyone is feeling this. So it's hard to get away from it. This isn't only happening to you. Don't feel like you're on an island by yourself.

Emotions are energy in motion (19:35)

Let me break this down in simple terms. Your body is processing emotions differently. Emotions are just energy in motion. We are made up of energy, and that energy carries memory. Memory carries emotion, because we've all been hurt, we've all had joy and we've all struggled. Your body processes emotions based on those memories and how it chose to store them. That awareness brings expansion, so you can realign with your original energy, the energy you had before the hurt came in.

Your tolerance for misalignment is dropping. There's less tolerance for things that are out of alignment in this higher energy.

If your sleep is changing, if you're waking up at odd hours, if you're feeling people's energy more than ever and becoming more sensitive to emotions, it's not that you're becoming too much. You're becoming more aware of what you never felt before. Let me say that again: it's not that you're becoming too much of something. You're becoming more aware of the energy around you.

Awareness brings integration (22:25)

When you bring awareness to something, you bring integration. If you haven't yet moved through the stages of awakening, that's when you feel it at a deeper level, because your awareness is saying it's time for the education. That's when you go looking for teachers and mentors. When it happened to me, I didn't have a step-by-step path the way I wanted one. So I created it for others, because I knew that's how I would have wanted to learn.

Outgrowing what no longer fits (23:50)

You're not losing your life. You're outgrowing the parts of your life that are no longer in alignment with your expanding awareness, even if you don't understand it yet. Whether you're at the beginning of awakening or in your tenth one, you're understanding it at a different level.

The old version of ourselves can never come with us. You can keep the positive learnings of the past, but the version of who you were isn't who you are now. You break up with that old version because you're creating a new one. That's why the old stories have to stay where they are. When you feel lost, that's your identity shifting. You're creating a new identity.

Unrest comes before clarity (25:10)

Awakening begins with unrest and dissatisfaction before clarity arrives. If you're listening to this today, good for you. Fill your feed with content that means something, because it helps calm your nervous system. Binge it the way you'd binge your favorite show, and start pulling that energy toward you. At the right time, you'll be ready to become the student of yourself who wants the education and the understanding, because it's a process.

You are not going backwards (26:35)

If this is you, you're not alone, and you're not going backwards. I tell my clients this all the time. I know it can look like you're going backwards, even feel like it, but you're not. Re-listen to this episode as many times as you need to, and share it with a friend who needs it, because we need more people coming into this conversation. From the conversation comes the education, the desire to learn and grow, and the shaping of a new identity. There's no other choice but to move forward.

Remember, the journey doesn't end here. It's only the beginning. I'll see you on the path.

Frequently asked questions

What are the first signs of a spiritual awakening?

Common early signs include feeling disconnected from your normal life, questioning beliefs you never questioned before, outgrowing friends and routines, emotional waves that come and go, sleep changes, feeling other people's energy more, and craving deeper meaning.

Is it normal to feel worse before you feel better during an awakening?

Yes. Awakening usually starts with disruption, not peace. Old beliefs, routines and identities break down before clarity arrives. It can feel like you're going backwards, but you're moving through a necessary stage.

Can you have more than one spiritual awakening?

Yes. Many people awaken more than once. Each time, the awakening happens at a deeper level and in a different stage of life.

Why am I suddenly so emotional and sensitive?

As your awareness expands, your body processes stored emotions differently, and you notice energy you didn't feel before. You're not becoming "too much." You're becoming more aware. If emotional changes feel overwhelming or come with physical symptoms, talk with your doctor too.

Where to go next

• Start here: my free 16-minute audio, When You Don't Feel Like Yourself
• The course: Expanding Consciousness Fundamentals, a step-by-step guide to what's happening during a spiritual awakening
• Listen next: The Moment Your Old Life Stops Making Sense
• Work with me one-on-one: private sessions