Feeling discouraged, disconnected, or stuck in a rut on your (new) spiritual journey? You may be experiencing spiritual fatigue – a common yet often misunderstood challenge on the spiritual path, especially at its onset. Here we’ll take a look at what it is and how to deal with it.
We’ve all come (or will) to a point in our learning curve where we feel overwhelmed, weighed down, confused, even frightened by everything that ‘has to be learned’ and taken in. We sometimes come to a blocking, or it might feel like we’re actually losing insight rather than gaining it. This is bound to happen when you’re trying to unlearn a foreign worldview and (re)discover your own ancestral one later in life, instead of being raised with that understanding from childhood, as is normal. A lifetime’s worth of information being crammed in over the course of a few years will no doubt burn someone out at some point. The ardent and genuine seekers will persevere regardless.
In today’s hyper-connected society, where information and content is readily accessible everywhere, the sheer volume of spiritual material can become overwhelming. As you navigate new ideas, practices, and beliefs, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the flood of information, leading to a sense of information overload – also known as infobesity, infoxication and info paralysis – that blocks progress. The brain can process a certain amount of information presented in different methods. The brain processes the information you gather each day from reading a newspaper, following directions on a map or having a conversation with a friend etc. When there is too much information to process and as we attempt to learn and absorb vast amounts of spiritual information, the brain can only process so much before it hits a breaking point.
Spiritual fatigue is a type of exhaustion that arises from the constant pursuit of spiritual knowledge and growth. It’s common to feel spiritually drowned and as if you’re not making progress or that you’re stuck in a rut. Many people also face the struggle of distinguishing between what’s essential and what is simply more noise. In a sense it causes paralysis – where you’re unable to process or act on what you’ve learned. For those rediscovering an ancestral worldview or spiritual path later in life, this fatigue is even more common. You’re not just learning something new; you’re actively unlearning ingrained patterns and beliefs that have shaped your understanding of the world for years. For individuals raised in a religious or cultural framework that didn’t resonate with them, embarking on a quest for deeper answers later in life can sometimes feel daunting.
Spiritual learning is a positive and enriching endeavor, but the overload of information can backfire. It might feel like you’re falling short or losing ground. While learning and growth are essential parts of the spiritual journey, hitting this wall is often part of the process, it is a natural phase in the learning curve. The brain processes information through various stages: first, it absorbs the material, then it reflects on it, and finally, it integrates the new insights into existing knowledge. With time your brain will choose what information is crucial. Again, this is not a failure but a signal that your brain needs time to process and integrate the new knowledge. Realizing, understanding and accepting this is a critical step in fostering a more grounded, peaceful, and resilient spiritual life.
So what to do? How to deal with this spiritual fatigue and information overload? Here are six tips for how to overcome stagnation and get out of paralysis.
Acknowledge, admit, accept
The trick to overcoming information overload is distancing yourself enough from your feelings to acknowledge this. So observe your feelings without judgment. Realizing and understanding that this is the case is one of the most important steps. It’s always better to know what’s going on than to wonder what’s going on. Acknowledge and admit to yourself – and perhaps even to others who are on a similar path – that this is what you’re going through, that this is the stage you’re at right now. Seek community support! Others with the same experiences can provide valuable insights and encouragement when you feel lost.
Take a step back
The internet, social media, articles and books never say, ‘You’ve had enough, now go away!’ So you have to do that. One of the most effective ways to combat spiritual fatigue is to take a conscious break from reading, studying and consuming information. An hour, a day, a week, a month – it’s up to you and what you need. There’s no shame in stepping away from the endless stream of information. Just as physical muscles need time to recover after intense exercise, so does your cognitive and spiritual self. Recognizing the burnout and admitting it allows you to honor your limits and give yourself permission to rest, recharge and recover. Over the course of a few weeks or even months your subconscious will sift through and organize the information like it does during sleep, and you will come back to it with a renewed understanding and appetite to continue learning.
Meditation & mindfulness
Meditation is a powerful tool to combat information overload. It allows you to quiet the noise in your mind and center yourself. Mindfulness, too, helps you remain present and focused on the now, rather than being consumed by the pressure to know and understand everything at once.
Get out!
When facing information overload, stepping into nature offers a refreshing break. So take a break and get out in Mother Earth’s embrace. Seeing nature in action—whether it’s trees swaying, birds flying, or streams flowing – grounds us in the present moment.
In fact, paganism isn’t something else than life and nature itself, so getting outside and connecting with nature is one of the most tangible ways to witness spirituality in action, and learning that way instead. Unlike reading about spirituality or viewing it online, experiencing it firsthand engages all the senses, offering calm and clarity that screens or books can’t provide.
Do something else
Shift your focus to activities that bring you joy and peace, and that align with your purpose in other ways than intensely studying to deepen one’s spirituality. Engage in everyday activities, spend time with loved ones, enjoy your hobbies, reconnect with your body through exercise. Interestingly, spiritual truths often instead start revealing themselves in your daily experiences.
Integrate & internalize what you’ve learned
Sometimes in our learning we have that feeling of that we don’t understand a thing or that we’re even about to lose all the knowledge we’ve taken in. To integrate and fully understand insights it’s actually a great idea to share them. Write or speak about what you’ve learned. It helps the brain to find out what’s the most important, it helps solidify your insights and to see where you might need more clarification. Teaching others or putting your learning into practice is a highly effective way to overcome spiritual stagnation.
