What Is the Dark Night of the Soul and How to Move Through It

There is a type of crisis unlike any other. It isn’t just sadness, it isn’t just exhaustion, it isn’t just a rough patch. It is the feeling that everything that was holding you up is collapsing at the same time, and that nothing new has yet arrived to take its place.

It is a state that is difficult to explain to those who have never lived it, but unmistakable to those who have. That stage is known as the Dark Night of the Soul. I went through it at a certain point in my life, and I remember it with great clarity. In this article I want to tell you what it is, why it appears, how to recognize it, and what can help you move through it.

What the Dark Night of the Soul is

The Dark Night of the Soul is a deep crisis that touches the very meaning of your life. It is not a rough patch that resolves itself by changing something external. What shakes is your identity, your way of understanding the world, and what was giving direction to your days.

In that process, what once gave you meaning fades, and a feeling of emptiness, disorientation, and loss appears that is hard to put into words. At its core, it is a passage between two versions of yourself: the one you no longer are and the one that has not yet fully emerged.

The term comes from St. John of the Cross, a sixteenth-century Spanish mystic who used it to describe the process the soul undergoes on its path of inner transformation. Over time, the expression spread far beyond its religious origin.

Today it is understood, above all, as one of the most intense stages of a spiritual awakening. It is not a final destination or a bottomless pit, but a stretch within a broader process of transformation. And understanding that it is part of something larger is often precisely what helps you move through it differently.

Why we go through a Dark Night of the Soul

This stage is not consciously chosen. It tends to appear when the soul is ready to evolve, and it often does so through losses, ruptures, or breakdowns that force you to stop and look at yourself differently. It does not come to harm you, but to move you from a place where you could no longer stay.

For something new to be born in you, what is old must first dissolve: the beliefs that no longer represent you, the relationships that have become too small, the image of yourself that you held for years. That letting go feels like a real loss, and that is why it hurts so much.

What you are feeling is not your end, but your transformation, even if it is hard to see it that way while you are in the middle of it.

Signs that you are going through a Dark Night of the Soul

These are some of the signs that repeat most often in people going through this stage. You don’t need to have all of them: identifying with several is enough for it to be likely that you are moving through a Dark Night of the Soul.

• Loss of meaning: What once gave direction to your life stops feeling significant. The work, goals, and routines you held begin to feel empty, as though you no longer know why you do what you do.
• A sense of deep emptiness: An internal hollow appears that nothing fills. It is not exactly sadness, but a kind of absence, as if something essential has switched off inside.
• Disconnection from your previous life: The people, places, and activities you once enjoyed begin to feel foreign. You sense that you no longer fully belong to the life you were living.
• Questioning everything: Enormous questions start to appear about who you are, what meaning what you do has, and where you are headed. Nothing you took for granted remains standing.
• A need for isolation: Social situations drain you and a strong desire arises to be alone, to lower the external noise, and to stop having to pretend you are fine.
• A sense of not belonging anywhere: You know you do not want to return to who you were, but you do not yet know where you are going. It is the discomfort of being in the middle of a change, with no firm place to hold on to.

Dark Night of the Soul or depression: how to tell them apart

This is an important distinction, because from the outside both can look similar: low mood, loss of interest, a desire to withdraw, lack of energy. However, they are not the same thing, and confusing them can lead to not seeking the help you need.

In a Dark Night of the Soul, even in the midst of pain, there is usually an undercurrent of searching: something in you keeps trying to understand, keeps looking for meaning, and over time the stage shifts and transforms. And it is important to know that one does not exclude the other: sometimes they coexist, and a spiritual process can unfold alongside a condition that needs professional attention.

That is why I want to say something clearly: if sadness and low spirits persist almost every day for weeks, if you have lost interest in nearly everything and struggle with basic daily tasks, or if thoughts of not wanting to go on appear, it is essential that you seek professional help and tell someone you trust. Spirituality and psychological support complement each other.

What to do when you are going through a Dark Night of the Soul

The first is to stop fighting what is happening. Resistance multiplies the pain: the more you cling to the version of yourself that is leaving, the longer the suffering stretches. Accepting is not resigning yourself; it is stopping using energy to halt something that is already in motion.

If it is possible for you, leaning on some form of support can make a great difference. It can be professional help, a trusted friend, a family member, or someone who has been through something similar and can listen without judging.

It also helps a great deal to keep up your basic habits and take care of your body. Sleep, eat, go for walks, maintain small routines that anchor you in the present. When everything large is shaking, attending to the simple becomes a very real form of self-care.

Another thing that can help you enormously is learning and informing yourself about what is happening to you. Discovering that what you are living has a name, and that many have been there before you, helps you feel less alone.

In my case, it was precisely in the middle of my own Dark Night that I arrived at the Akashic Records. The information I received helped me understand that behind the crisis there was a meaning, that it was not a punishment or a mistake, but part of a broader process.

What comes after the Dark Night of the Soul

Although while you are in it it seems eternal, the Dark Night of the Soul is not permanent. A moment comes when the intensity drops, the stage settles, and you begin to see with more clarity. It does not happen all at once, but little by little, almost without noticing.

And what appears afterward is not a return to who you were before, but something different: a more authentic version of yourself. Those who move through this process often notice a more genuine peace, a mental clarity they did not have before, and a sense of purpose that begins to order their decisions.

I say this from my own experience: that stage I felt as the end of everything was, in reality, the beginning of who I am today and the work I do. It was not quick or easy while it was happening, but with time I understood it was exactly what I needed to go through.

If you feel you are going through a Dark Night of the Soul

If you identified with what I described in this article, it is likely that you are moving through a Dark Night of the Soul. I want you to know that no matter how dark it feels right now, this process has a meaning and has an end. You are not lost or adrift: you are in the middle of a profound transformation.

None of them lasts forever. If today you are in the middle of yours, give yourself permission to move through it at your own pace, without demanding immediate answers or quick solutions. What now seems like senseless chaos will, with time, often reveal itself as the starting point of a life more faithful to who you really are.

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