by Alan McAllister, CCHt PhD-phys
Are you experiencing new levels of awareness lately? either in the world or in yourself?
The summer I turned 12 I had a series of experiences that were strange to me and at times frightening. They were essentially shifts in awareness and how I experienced different physical senses. Not hallucinatory, but alterations of sight and touch as if distance and size were changing. Trying to communicate with adults around me was not very effective. Perhaps they were even more upset than I was at something outside of what was considered the normal range of human experience. Over the course of the summer as these experiences settled into repeated forms and I got used to them and learned how to turn them off when I wanted to, the fear gave way to curiosity and eventually the excited idea that they were some sort of “powers” like the ones my favorite comic heros developed as they became teenagers.
So what might, in another culture, have been welcomed as the awakening of the spiritual side of my being, was aborted due to a lack of understanding and postponed until much later in life. Perhaps due to the shifting relationship inside myself, or perhaps because there seemed to be no place for these things in the world I lived in, they eventually faded away. By the time professional “help” was arranged there was nothing really to work with and I was only left with the mostly unconscious belief that there was not room for all of me in this world.
A decade later I began to meet people who had experience with the spiritual side of life and were able to give me some understanding for what was in all probability a partial kundalini awakening, accompanied by incipient out of body experiences. I even found a book written for therapists which described both the experiences and my emotional response to them that were spot on. This was the beginning of a journey to find space in the world for my spiritual self. Eventually I found places where these things were understood and accepted and my spiritual and intuitive aspects had room to emerge and spread their wings. I am still releasing the buried messages of uncertainty and fear that were laid down about being who I deeply am and about there being a place in the world for all of that to breath freely and find acceptance.
It has been historically common that certain levels of awareness or consciousness develop in the teenage years, but is something that has also been possible at any stage of life. This is a natural part of being human. The changes in collective consciousness that are happening on the planet now makes it increasingly common for adults (and children) of all ages to find their awareness to be opening up and new experiences arising. For some this is within the context of spiritual practices and traditions, for others it may be just as unexpected as it was for me. I have talked with people who were even serious disbelievers who are now trying to learn to work with undeniable new perceptions and understandings of life as a human being. This is happening on a broad scale, unprecedented in human history, and even those of us who have been on this road for some time are finding things changing and opening faster and further than ever.
While there was no support for me when this first happened, this need not be true for you. There is now more awareness that this type of awakening is something to be joyful about and to welcome, however odd it may seem at first. I found a context in yogic practices, but there is a foundation in all the spiritual traditions for when we awaken to Spirit and begin to live with the awareness of the divine as a part of ourselves and active in our lives.
Whether you are new to the soul’s journey and flowering, have been keeping it to yourself for a long time, or are experiencing a “growth spurt” or deepening, there is no need to be fearful, or alone. There are so many who are ready to welcome you as you awaken, to support your journey and those who can safely guide you as you find how your spiritual self wants to express and experience this multi-dimensional life. Explore your new experience with curiosity and playfulness, trusting your inner sense of what is true for you. Know that while these new things are yours to master you do not have to figure it all out by yourself . There is space for your complete Self to live joyfully in this world. Well-come home.
(© 4/12)
