I love hearing people’s stories of awakening – those powerful moments when something within us shifts and we begin to see life, and ourselves, in a new way.
- Awakening to self-responsibility – the realisation that no one is coming to save us, and that true change begins from within.
- Awakening to something greater – a presence beyond the physical world we’ve been taught is all there is.
- Awakening to the truth that we are not our thoughts – but rather, the mind is a construct shaped by conditioning, not a reflection of our true essence.
Each person’s life experience is a unique blend of circumstances, choices and inner landscapes. No two journeys are the same – and yet, we often discover deep similarities in our stories.
For me, hearing the experiences of others has been profoundly healing. These stories have helped me feel less alone, offered new insights, and reminded me of what’s possible.
And so, I offer you my own story of awakening. Not because I have all the answers, but because I hope it may support and inspire you – to trust your own unfolding, and to honour your unique path as it reveals itself, in its own perfect timing.
From Fear to Inner Freedom.
Awakening often emerges from adversity, when life feels at its most challenging.
I had read about this idea before, and on reflection it became clear to me that that is how it happened in my own life.
The hardest time for me – and my point of awakening to something other than the physical life that I had known – came about when I made the decision to leave a toxic 15-year marriage with two young children.
I was driven by a fierce desire to create emotional safety for them. Deep down, I knew that if I wanted my children to have a real chance at happiness, then as their mother and role model, I had to find a way to embody it myself.
The problem was, I had no idea how to be happy. I only knew that happiness didn’t exist inside an abusive relationship.
At that time, I could barely function. I was alone, without emotional support, and after I left him, my ex-partner was doing everything he could to make our lives harder. I had no idea how we would survive.
I was consumed and paralysed by fear—fear that I had carried for as long as I could remember. Fear of not pleasing others. Fear of getting things wrong. Fear of failing my children. Fear that I wasn’t enough—or that I was too much.
In psychological terms, I had what’s called an external locus of evaluation. That meant I measured my worth through the eyes of others, relying on their approval and opinions instead of trusting my own values, needs, or truth.
But I didn’t know that back then.
It often seemed like others were in the driver’s seat of my life. It felt like I had no control. Sometimes it was like I was a marionette puppet, my strings pulled by everyone around me. Other times, it felt like I was strapped into a straitjacket—suffocated, unable to breathe or move.
The reality was, I had no self-esteem, zero self-worth, and no capacity to hold healthy boundaries.
I didn’t believe I had the power to change my life.
What changed all of this for me was a string of seemingly synchronistic and unexpected events.
The first was that I awoke one morning from a vivid dream. This dream seemed different. When I awoke, I heard a loud, clear voice in my mind.
“He will never change Therese. It’s you that has to change”
It was like an instant download. In that moment I unequivocally understood I could no longer wait for others to fix my life. I had spent years begging my husband to change but it was me that had to change. I had to take responsibility if I wanted things to be different.
The next event was an unexpected meeting with an old school friend who I bumped into on the other side of the world when I was visiting family. I told her what I was going through, and she shared a simple practice that had helped her during hard times.
She asked me to pause for a moment and feel into the palm of my hand. “What can you feel?” she asked.
At first, I felt nothing. But as I stayed with it – just gently paying attention – I began to sense something: a faint tingling, a subtle aliveness.
“That’s your body’s natural energy,” she told me.
As a former research scientist this blew me away. I didn’t begin to understand what I was feeling but what I could feel was tangible.
She suggested I try a practice when I got home: lie down for about 30 minutes, play soft music, let my body relax, and simply tune into that energy.
Coming Home to Myself
It took me about a month to actually try it. But when I did, something unexpected happened.
It felt like coming home. For the first time, I felt a deep sense of connection—to myself, to life, to something greater. I felt grounded. Present. Calm. At ease.
As I began to practice daily, something remarkable happened. The more I tapped into my body’s energy the stronger it became. The tingling grew into a high-speed buzz or vibration.
I found that in tuning into it, I was like I was turning it on. My awareness became sharper. I became sensitive to all energy: from people, from plants, and objects.
I remember one night while sitting on the sofa, my whole body started to vibrate. I realised I was resonating with the amethyst crystal I had placed on the windowsill behind me. I know that sounds crazy but that was my experience.
Bursts of Bliss and Healing
One day, without warning, I began to experience what I can only describe as delightful random bursts of bliss moving through my body, which felt profoundly relaxing. The scientist in me chalked it up to endorphins. But the emerging mystic within me sensed these were energetic blockages dissolving – clearing the path for a new way of being.
How good I felt – and the subtle yet powerful changes I began to notice – became my reason to keep my practice going.
At first, the effects of the practice would fade after an hour or two. But over time, the calm and clarity stayed with me throughout the day.
My fear began to melt away and I found I could meet life differently – I felt stronger, more grounded, more open, more resilient.
This practice led me to discover the truth of who I really am – not just a mind, not just a body, but an energy. A consciousness. Perhaps a spark of Source itself.
And through it I found a sense of inner freedom – the freedom to be me.
A Roadmap to Awakening
What began as a desperate attempt to soothe anxiety became something far greater: a roadmap to healing and awakening.
Now, I share these simple tools of healing and awakening with anyone who is ready to listen.
Happiness is available to us when we know where to look for it. What I found is that happiness can’t be found outside of us – it’s something we come home to within ourselves.
