If I really think about it, my awakening began 6 years ago in a small coastal town on the west side of South Korea. I had connected with a couple from my home town and they introduced me to a YouTube channel called Spirit Science.
I watched the videos with fascination for all the concepts they’d explored and this lead me down the path of questioning the nature of reality and all I perceived to be truth. The exploration then ushered in a deep dive into quantum mechanics over the following years, and eventually to me deciding the rabbit hole was far too deep and I needed to snap back to reality. So I did.
About 6 months later, I found my life turned upside down with an overbearing anxiety that had me changing jobs 3 times in the space of a year, moving apartments each time, getting a second puppy in Korea, and falling into a deeply unhealthy romance that ultimately ended up being the catalyst to my spiritual awakening experiences.
About two years after this process began, I was abruptly dropped into a pool of depression that I didn’t recognise at the time as The Dark Night, as I had known nothing about awakening or enlightenment or any of these other spiritual topics that very quickly became something I would entirely embrace.
It was really dark as 15 years of trauma all resurfaced at once. Sometimes I look back in amazement at how I made it through that period.
How The Dark Night Is Different From Other Forms Of Depression
The Dark Night essentially forces us to deal with all/most of our trauma in one go. It unearths the experiences that ultimately drive our interactions with life. It is a period of deeply questioning who we are, what the purpose of all that we do is, and many will go through an existential crisis at the same time as the Dark Night. I did.
Basically, all of our experiences of life form a layer onto the lens from which we see and interpret the world. Those experiences become what we would call in the broad sense, our ego.
The Dark Night unearths these major driving factors in order to bring awareness to them, so that we can be free from the influence they have over us, or at least be aware of their influence in order to give us the option to decide not to operate within the confines of the psyche.
Why Is Healing Necessary For Awakening?
The reason for healing being necessary is that as long as our ego plays the major role in our lives, it doesn’t leave much room to learn who we really are at the deepest levels, what we’re doing here, or how to connect and use the power of greater consciousness to become active participants in our own evolution.
Healing makes space for us to respond to life from beyond the limited view of our lens of perception.
What Can We Do To Ease The Ache Of The Dark Night?
The Dark Night can be really difficult. I had made the decision to end things on more than 1 occasion. Eventually I was introduced, step by step, to methods that helped me cope and eventually turn all that darkness into light, love and creativity. Here are a few tips and tools that you can use to help lighten the load.
- Accept that this is where you currently are.
- Acceptance removes the element of resistance. Resistance makes everything more difficult than it needs to be. Sometimes simply through acceptance, we’re able to allow things to move more fluidly rather than forcing them in a certain direction.
- Meditate.
- If you’re an advanced meditator then you probably already know what meditation techniques work for you. But if you’re just starting out and it seems daunting, just search for a beginner meditation on YouTube and choose the one that calls out most to you. As little as 5 minutes each time you sit down is perfect until you feel ready to sit for longer periods.
- Try to eat healthy, even if it’s just once a day.
- Your body is processing a lot as you relive many of the traumas that have been trapped inside your subconscious as well as in your tissue, nerves and in other areas of your body. Giving your body a little extra help will really support your mind as well. I started with just introducing a daily morning green shake.
- Spend some time in nature and in the sun.
- This will help ground you in the present as your mind keeps disappearing into the past. Nature is incredibly healing and intuitive. It will give you what you need if you ask for it and open yourself to receiving it.
- Work on your chakras.
- Chakras helped me do the healing work in small chunks. It was all so overwhelming as there was something big to be done across all the 7 major chakras. Even if you don’t connect with the energetic principles, you can still use chakras as a map of all the individual areas of yourself to bring your attention to. It makes the healing journey less broad and daunting.
- Find a book, a website or YouTube channel that talks about The Dark Night, healing and awakening and begin informing yourself.
- Knowledge makes the journey far more palatable and you will eventually see the necessity of your struggle.
- Lastly, listen to music that inspires/calms/restores you.
- There are many groups and individuals that sing about awakening and healing. Find those. Alternatives are also using sound healing like binaural beats, Tibetan singing bowls, Solfeggio Frequencies and so on. Find something that works for you.
Awakening is an incredibly empowering journey, but for many it can be really painful and difficult before they come into that empowerment. Practicing presence and mindfulness are great tools to use at any point along the journey.
I wish you well along your path of self-realisation.
Feel free to reach out for support.
Namaste