The same awakening can feel blissful or terrifying, and Joe says the difference is not in the experience but in the relationship to it. “For some people that feels really good and for some people that feels really bad, which… doesn’t actually feel any differently. It’s just whether there’s resistance or not resistance in the system to it.” Two people on the same roller coaster have opposite rides — one with arms in the air, one gripping for dear life.
“Same thing with awakening. If somebody is resisting it, it’s going to be a very different experience for them.”
This is why Joe’s first move with anyone going through it is to normalize it: this is known, it has happened to hundreds of people, you are still operable, you can still function. When fear and resistance compound, they can escalate into something like panic attacks; the more someone resists and gets scared, the harder the integration. The labels matter too — when there’s no one around to say “this is normal” and someone instead calls it a disease, the experience becomes far more challenging.
The supportive stance is the same one Joe teaches everywhere: stop believing the fearful thoughts, get grounded in the body, and surround yourself with people who can be with your experience without needing you to be different or rushing to diagnose you.
Related Concepts
- Be in the unknown during identity shifts
- Enjoying the sensations rather than bracing eases the integration
- Resistance deepens the freeze
- Awakening is not a conclusion, just part of the journey
- The same experience can be terror or exhilaration depending on interpretation
- What shifts in awakening is the doer, not your capacity to function
- Awakening doesn’t erase your humanity — it makes you more sensitive
- Pleasure is the safe path to the gut awakening