An increasing number of people are finding themselves unexpectedly "awakening" from the life they knew into one that is much more expansive and sometimes disorienting and overwhelming. It can be spurred by a challenging life situation (e.g, significant loss or drastic change) leading to a dark night of the soul, or it may be through an emergent experience (sometimes called a spiritually transformative experience/STE) that changes one's understanding of this world and our role in it. Some of these experiences can occur in a non-ordinary state of consciousness/NOSC (through psychedelics, meditation, breath work, a near-death experience, etc.) or spontaneously (such as a sudden blissful state of oneness).
If you find yourself in this situation, know that you are not alone and that a supportive space to integrate these experiences into a new sense of self can be very helpful. Dr. Lorna Busch is a certified spiritual emergence coach through Integrative Mental Health University and received training at Spiritist Hospitals and Centers in Brazil.
Research reveals that the world in which we live includes what is beyond observable through the five senses. It may be helpful (for yourself or family/friends supporting you) to explore the growing scientific understanding of consciousness, such as through the organizations below.
The Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium (EPRC): https://theeprc.org/
Institute for Mystical Experience Research and Education: https://imere.org/
The Scientific and Medical Network: https://scientificandmedical.net/
Sometimes circumstances can strip away roles, masks, and previously held beliefs. As life-shattering as it feels, you can allow your truth to emerge as you walk the path to wholeness. While each path is unique, it is honored and supported.
"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin