Every one of us carries innate spiritual gifts – intuition, healing abilities, multidimensional awareness, the capacity to sense what lies beyond the veil. But too often, without realizing it, we get in our own way and engage in habits or patterns that block the full expression of these gifts.
In this episode of INNER WORK, we explore five common (and often unconscious) habits that delay spiritual awakening and keep you from fully activating and living from your gifts… plus how to recognize each one with compassion, not judgment.
This is a deep, honest look at the inner and outer obstacles that we often run into as humans on the spiritual path. There’s no toxic shame or self-blaming here, just an open invitation to expand your awareness of these old patterns, release what doesn’t serve, and reclaim your full, authentic power.
In this episode, we cover:
- Impatience & self-doubt — how fear-based doubt about your gifts (and your healing journey) can quietly sabotage your progress, and why meeting self-doubt with clarity — rather than believing it — is essential
- Slipping into unconsciousness or ego mind — the old coping mechanisms (overworking, people-pleasing, numbing out) that pull you out of presence, and how ego convinces you that you or your gifts “aren’t enough”
- Spiritual bypassing — using spiritual tools, places, or practices to escape reality rather than integrating it, and why true growth requires grounding your spirituality in everyday human life
- Outgrowing or mismatching your support systems — how to discern when therapists, healers, or other guides are (or aren’t) equipped to support you through a genuine spiritual awakening
- Energetic discernment — why being selective about who and what you allow into your inner circle and energy field directly impacts your ability to stay aligned and let your gifts flow
Whether you’re just beginning to awaken to your gifts or you’re deepening your existing spiritual connection, this episode offers grounded, compassionate guidance for recognizing what’s been holding you back… and reclaiming your full spiritual expression.
For additional support, here’s my “Activate Your Spiritual Gifts” Guided Meditation in the Akashic Records: https://youtu.be/Gdkqguu1kY0
I mentioned author, spiritual teacher, and psychiatrist Stanislav Grof in this episode. If you want to explore his work further, I recommend his books Spiritual Emergency and The Stormy Search for the Self.
Thank you for being here, doing your inner work, and leading the way for others with your light. It makes a difference!
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Get the FREE Akashic Records Mini Course + weekly newsletter: https://josephinehardman.com/akashic-records-intro/
Explore YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@healer.josephine
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Contact: me@josephinehardman.com
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Inner Work 2026 All Rights Reserved.
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Thank you, Josephine, this podcast appeared at the exact time I needed to hear it (of course)! I appreciate the way you explain and provide examples, to make it more comprehensive, especially when ego mind wants to over complicate things. I’m grateful for your wisdom and insight!
I’m so glad this arrived at the right time, Tamara! Thank you for being here and for letting me know it helped. You’re so right that ego mind will use that tactic of over-complicating (and overthinking/overanalyzing!) things to pull us out of the present moment and stop our expansion. That’s a powerful insight and reminder.
Dear Josephine, thank you so much for this podcast. I attempted to follow along with your latest meditation to recognize our spiritual gifts and my mind kept telling me I am not qualified to be here. This podcast has been so helpful for me. The meditation was beautiful as well. I may try it again.
I truly appreciate all you do us.
Hi Kelly, thank you for being here as always! What you said there is a big thing: “my mind kept telling me I am not qualified to be here.” That’s an important and clear recognition of how your ego mind tries to convince you of your unworthiness (which is a LIE, not based on the truth of who you really are). Being able to catch that and see it for what it is – reminding yourself in the moment, “this is my ego telling lies again, trying to keep me safe and small” – is an incredible step towards growth and to shifting out of that false belief. I trust that, if you keep going back to the meditation and doing little bits of it at a time (or however it feels right!), this mental pattern will eventually dissolve. I believe in you & your capacity to expand!