What Happens After Your First Glimpse of Awakening?

Evelyn Reed · 2026-09-15

Most of us have had one of those moments. Maybe it was on a quiet walk, or in the shower, or right after a really good cry. Everything just... softened. The usual chatter in your head went quiet. And for a few seconds, you felt completely at home in your own life. Then it faded. And you were left wondering: was that it? What now? That question sits at the heart of a conversation between host Michael Taft and meditation teacher Loch Kelly on the Deconstructing Yourself podcast. And honestly, their answer reframes the whole thing. Instead of chasing that glimpse again, they suggest something else entirely. ### Waking Up vs. Waking With The episode draws a line between two very different experiences. - **Waking up** is that first recognition. You notice openness, stillness, the absence of a separate self. It's a glimpse. Real, but fleeting. - **Waking with** is what comes next. Here, appearances—sights, sounds, thoughts, feelings—aren't obstacles to awareness. They're inseparable from it. Loch Kelly calls this "one taste." Think of it like this. Waking up is stepping outside a noisy room for a breath of fresh air. Waking with is realizing the noise and the air are made of the same stuff. You don't have to leave the room to find peace. You just stop fighting the noise. > "The first glimpse isn't the finish line. It's the door cracking open." That distinction matters more than it sounds. A lot of people get stuck trying to recreate the glimpse. They treat it like a prize they lost. But the real shift happens when you stop looking for the exit and start noticing what's already here. ### Flow States Aren't a Bonus—They're a Clue Taft and Kelly also get into flow states. You know the ones. Time bends. Self-consciousness drops away. You're just doing the thing, fully absorbed. Here's the interesting part: flow states aren't separate from awakening. They're a window into it. When you're in flow, the separate self thins out on its own. You don't have to force it. You just have to notice what's happening. So the next time you lose yourself in a project, a conversation, or a long drive, don't brush it off. That's not a break from your practice. That's the practice showing up on its own. ### Why This Matters for Everyday Life You don't need a meditation cushion to explore this. You need curiosity. - When you notice a moment of ease, stay with it for two extra breaths. - When your inner critic pipes up, ask: who's actually listening? - When you're absorbed in something, don't rush to label it. Just feel it. None of this requires you to be a monk. It requires you to be honest about what's happening right now. That's it. And if you've ever felt like you missed your chance after a peak experience—you didn't. The glimpse was never the point. The point is what you do with the ordinary moments that follow. That's where the real waking happens.