Walking Between Worlds: The Practice of Expanded Awareness
Originally published July 23, 2021; thoughtfully updated in 2026.
Expanded awareness is the practice of being fully present in ordinary life while remaining open to the wisdom that exists beyond what we can see, touch, or logically explain.
In shamanic traditions, this is sometimes described aswalking between worlds. It is a way of maintaining awareness of the physical world while also listening to the subtler realms of intuition, energy, Spirit, and the natural world.
It is not about leaving this reality behind. It is about experiencing more of what may already be present within it.
What Does It Mean to Walk Between Worlds?
To walk between worlds is to live with one foot firmly grounded in everyday reality and the other open to spiritual awareness.
You remain conscious of your body, your surroundings, your responsibilities, and the life unfolding before you. At the same time, you become receptive to intuitive impressions, inner knowing, synchronicities, and communication from your guides, ancestors, Source, or the living world around you.
Shamans and spiritual practitioners have cultivated this expanded state of awareness for generations. Yet it is not reserved for those who identify as shamans. Many people experience it naturally without having a name for it.
Everyday Experiences of Expanded Awareness
Perhaps you are taking a shower when an answer to a difficult question suddenly arrives with complete clarity.
Maybe you are walking through the woods when you sense that the land, an animal, or a tree is communicating something to you—not necessarily in words, but through a feeling or an unmistakable inner knowing.
You may think of someone who has crossed over and suddenly feel their presence close to you.
Or perhaps you are speaking to a group and become so deeply immersed in the moment that the words seem to pour through you. You know you are speaking, yet part of you wonders,Where is this coming from?
You might call the source of this wisdom your guides, your higher self, the Universe, the collective consciousness, or God.
The name matters less than your willingness to listen.
Expanded Awareness Is a Grounded Spiritual Practice
Walking between worlds does not mean becoming distracted from your physical surroundings or surrendering your judgment to every impression you receive.
Grounding and discernment are essential.
If an insight arises while you are driving, for example, your attention must remain with the road. You can acknowledge the thought and return to it when you are safely parked.
Expanded awareness should help you become more present—not less.
With practice, you can remain engaged with the task before you while holding a wider awareness of energy, intuition, and meaning. This capacity becomes a natural and organic part of how you move through the world.
Holding More Than One Truth
One of the greatest gifts of expanded awareness is the ability to hold more than one truth at a time.
You can be sad and still see the beauty of a sunset.
You can allow sorrow to move through you while remembering that joy still exists.
Your heart can break into a thousand pieces, and each of those pieces can continue to hold love—for what was, for what remains, and even for what you are learning through the breaking.
This is not spiritual bypassing. You are not denying pain, covering it with positivity, or pretending everything happens for an easily understood reason.
You are allowing pain to be real without letting it become the only reality you can see.
Making Space Around Difficult Emotions
When we are consumed by an emotion, it can feel as though that emotion is all there is.
Expanded awareness creates space around the experience.
Instead of saying, “I am broken,” you may begin to recognize, “Part of me is hurting deeply, and another part of me remains whole.”
Instead of believing, “There is no joy left,” you might notice, “I am grieving, and beauty still exists beside my grief.”
Both truths can be present.
That wider perspective helps the emotional body move, breathe, and heal.
Finding Clarity Beyond the Thinking Mind
Expanded awareness can also bring clarity when the thinking mind feels trapped in circles.
Have you ever struggled with a decision, examining the same details repeatedly but finding no clear answer?
Our rational minds are invaluable, but they can only work with the information they already possess. When we widen our awareness, we become receptive to a larger view.
We may notice what our bodies are telling us. We may recognize a pattern we could not see before. A dream, synchronicity, shamanic journey, conversation, or quiet moment in nature may reveal something the logical mind had overlooked.
The decision may not always become effortless, but our relationship with it can change. We stop asking only, “What should I do?” and begin asking deeper questions:
What is most aligned with who I am becoming?
What choice creates greater freedom, integrity, or peace?
What truth have I already sensed but have been afraid to acknowledge?
What does my soul know that my mind is still trying to understand?
Sometimes clarity does not come from thinking harder. It comes from listening more widely.
Awakening to Your Spiritual Nature
When you become more receptive to your guides, ancestors, the land, Source, and the unseen world, your understanding of yourself begins to expand.
You may start to recognize that you are more than your roles, your history, your accomplishments, or the challenges of this particular moment.
You are a spiritual being having a deeply human experience.
Expanded awareness invites you to remember the eternal aspect of your soul while remaining fully engaged with your human life. It allows the sacred and the ordinary to meet.
This is the heart of walking between worlds: not escaping your humanity, but bringing more of your spiritual awareness into it.
How to Begin Practicing Expanded Awareness
You do not have to force a vision or wait for something dramatic to happen. Begin quietly and simply.
Open the Door
Start by extending an invitation:
Universe, I am willing to listen.
Guides, help me recognize what I need to know.
Spirit of this land, what would you have me notice?
Then pause.
Listen without demanding an immediate answer. Notice what arises in your body, your emotions, your surroundings, and your inner awareness.
Stay Curious and Discerning
Not every thought is a spiritual message, and not every coincidence requires interpretation.
Allow your experiences to unfold without rushing to label them. Notice whether an insight feels calm, clear, compassionate, and grounded—or urgent, fearful, and destabilizing.
True guidance does not require you to abandon common sense, personal responsibility, or healthy boundaries.
Let the Practice Become Ordinary
Expanded awareness strengthens when it becomes part of everyday life.
Practice while walking in nature, drinking your morning tea, tending your garden, journaling, or sitting quietly before sleep. Ask a question, become still, and notice what responds.
The answer may arrive as words, an image, a physical sensation, a memory, or a quiet knowing. It may come immediately—or several days later in a form you did not expect.
A Reflection for Walking Between Worlds
Consider a time when wisdom seemed to arrive from somewhere beyond your ordinary thinking.
Perhaps you suddenly knew what to do. Maybe you felt the presence of someone you loved, received insight in a dream, or experienced a meaningful encounter with the natural world.
Ask yourself:
Where and when am I most receptive to intuitive guidance?
How does true inner knowing feel in my body?
What helps me remain spiritually open and physically grounded?
What might become possible if I listened more deeply?
Where am I being invited to hold more than one truth?
Walking between worlds is available to all of us.
The first step is not mastering a complicated spiritual technique. It is simply becoming willing to notice what exists beyond the limits of your usual awareness.
Open the door.
Open your heart.
Then listen.
