“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”
― Carl Jung, Psychology and Alchemy

When I first began my spiritual journey, I had this notion that it was all about “positive vibes” and cultivating that only. In fact, if you scroll social media there are countless posts about meditation, yoga and the perfect green tea to help you attain the positive vibes.

Listen, there’s nothing wrong with wanting positive vibes to flow through your being. However, we have to be very careful about what we are ignoring in that journey as well. Far too often there are motivational speakers, gurus, and influencers preaching about being a more positive person by making an active choice to just…be.

Let me tell you a little secret: attaining true peace through a spiritual awakening is not as simple as we make it sound. It requires a level of accountability that we can’t simply minimize to just attaining more “love and light”. The human experience is far too complex to be summarized into a type of tea or yoga pose.

When we are embarking on a journey into the unknown, we ignore our higher being and seek to grasp knowledge outside of ourselves. However, none of us have it all figured out. So, you have to remember to journey inward. Those positive vibes and love require you to face the darkest places of you: your shadow.

I made an active decision to acknowledge not only the light but my darkness as well. Which is why the vibe of authenticity resonates with my spirit. As we all know, there are polarities to everything. Life is one inseparable totality. When you study a flower, you do not zone in on the petals only. You view the flower in its totality and experience its essence as one. The same should follow for your life.

Your spiritual journey is deeply personal. If you want to uncover the beauty within yourself, then you will have to face the deepest places of you. That journey will lead you to your higher consciousness through self-love. You can not truly love yourself if you don’t love every petal that is on your flower.

You won’t be happy every day. There. I said it. It is deeply spiritual to allow yourself to experience every emotion. It is that level of awareness that truly begets mental and spiritual clarity through mindfulness.

You are still beautiful.

You are still spiritual.

You are still divine.

The beauty of spirituality is accepting and acknowledging every petal on your flower. You are not perfect and that is okay because you are still worthy. You are still enough. You are a spiritual being having a human experience. You are meant to feel every emotion that filters through your being.

When you first start to recognize that there is something missing, you will reshape your personal beliefs. In doing so, you will have to ask yourself the hard questions:

Are there any relationships that I should let go?

Do I need to change my lifestyle to better myself?

Am I in a place to let go of traumatic experiences to rewrite my way of thinking?

Do I trust myself?

Are there beliefs that I have that no longer serve me?

Am I open to seeing my pain and hurt as a lesson and not continuous trauma?

You will find that the answers to these questions will leave you stunned. The shock and realization that you have to uproot everything that you absorbed and taught yourself. The revelation that there may be relationships that you have to let go of for peace. The clarity in knowing that the answers were within you the entire time. Spiritual awakening is brutal and you may find yourself sitting on the floor crying from your discoveries. You may have to relive painful memories. Feel those emotions. Do not run from them.

In 2015, I embarked on a journey to reconnect with myself. However, the strongest spiritual awakening didn’t occur until the end of 2017. It required spiritual solitude to silence outside noise. The journey inward took time. When I slowed down to connect with myself, I realized that I was suppressing my personal truth.

You are a spiritual being having a human experience.

We are taught to suppress and move forward through material gain and physical productivity. I was excelling with each new car smell, luxury apartment, job promotion, clothing package in the mail and FICO updates. Yet, I still felt empty. I neglected the emotional aspect of my spiritual journey and felt depleted.

It didn’t matter that I went Vegan and drank green tea.

It didn’t matter that I created my altar in my living room and meditated regularly.

It didn’t matter that I talked about wanting only positive people in my circle.

Your spiritual journey will require that you face your past traumas, present-day shortcomings, and toxic conditioning that you adopted to survive. You will have to be real with yourself about yourself. The change will only come after you start to become curious about who you are today. To do that, you will have to face your shadow. 

I have reached the next level in my growth. To be frank, it feels damned good. I have developed a routine of mindfulness for myself and my household. It is easy to get caught up in consumption and trivializing our inner being, but not around these parts. I make sure we face truths regularly. Daily, I eat well to balance my mood. I check myself when I feel imbalanced. I do something creative and/or experience nature every day. Breathing has become a conscious and mindful act.

The journey to spiritual alignment is not linear. Therefore, some days I am not aligned. You can not have light without the dark. If your spiritual advisor is always aligned, then they are not being honest with you! Once you expose the darkness, the light can shine.

Purchase my short and simple eBook What Is Shadow Work: A Step-By-Step Guide To Enlightenment to start your journey today.

For years, I showed women how to look beautiful, but now I want to show you how to feel beautiful. Join me!