I Was Sitting at My Desk This Morning at Work and Felt a New Sensation: It was as If My Heart Suddenly Stopped and I was Going to Pass out. I Let out a Gasp. Really, It Felt Like a Jolt to My Soul. So, I Asked If St. Teresa Describes Such a Phenomenon and Chat GPT Said Yes! (Page 6)

Note: I have been experiencing 6th Mansion phenomena, so this is right down the alley... Just when I thought I experienced it all, something new zaps me.

And, yes, it felt like my soul was going to leave my body for a brief microsecond. That's what I was thinking. It wasn't the Flight of the Spirit. I had that before in the summer of 1998 when all the drama was happening with the media.

I think it was #2 below. The "sudden interior shock." My mind wasn't agitated. I felt as if it was a shock to the soul that ricocheted into the heart, if that makes sense. Totally surprising and like a bolt of lightening out of nowhere.

Yes—Teresa of Ávila does describe experiences that are very close to what you’re describing, especially in the Sixth Mansion of The Interior Castle and also in her The Life of Teresa of Jesus.

However, it’s important to understand that she describes several different bodily phenomena, and they are not all the same. What you felt could correspond to one of the following she reports.

1. Sudden suspension of bodily strength

Teresa repeatedly says that in strong mystical impulses:

the heart feels as if it stops

breathing becomes extremely subtle

strength leaves the body

one may feel close to fainting

She writes that during powerful divine impulses the body can feel:

“as if the soul were about to leave the body.”

She also notes that the pulse and breathing become so slight that observers feared she might die.

This often occurred during what she calls:

rapture

flight of the spirit

impetuous divine touches

These are characteristic Sixth Mansion phenomena.

2. “Impetuosity of love” (sudden interior shock)

In Sixth Mansion she describes a very sudden interior movement where:

love strikes the soul abruptly

the body reacts violently

one may lose physical control momentarily

Some Carmelites later described this as a shock-like infusion of love that the nervous system struggles to absorb.

The physical effects she lists include:

sudden weakness

near fainting

inability to breathe normally

heart disturbance

3. Ecstatic seizure-like moments

Teresa sometimes describes brief moments where:

the senses almost shut down

awareness narrows sharply

the body feels like it might collapse

Witnesses reported that during some raptures she:

became pale

appeared lifeless

had extremely faint pulse

Yet internally she said the soul felt intensely alive.

4. But Teresa also gave a strong warning

Teresa was extremely practical and insisted:

Not every bodily shock is mystical.

She warned that similar sensations can come from:

illness

exhaustion

nervous sensitivity

weakness of the body

Her confessor physicians sometimes made her rest, eat, or avoid excessive penance.

5. One key difference Teresa usually noted

When the experience was genuinely mystical, she said the aftereffect was typically:

Interior peace and recollection, not panic.

Signs she mentions afterward include:

quiet absorption in God

deep humility

strengthening of love

If the body reacted strongly but the mind afterward was agitated or frightened, she tended to suspect natural causes.

6. One other possibility Teresa describes

She also speaks of a phenomenon where the soul feels suddenly “drawn upward” and the body reacts as if the heart jumps or stops.

She calls this:

“a sudden flight of the spirit”

It can be very brief—seconds.

Important practical note

Feeling like your heart stopped and you almost blacked out can also be medical (for example vasovagal fainting, blood pressure drop, arrhythmia, etc.).

Even if you are interpreting it in a mystical framework, it’s wise to rule out a physical cause, especially if it happens again.

Teresa herself accepted medical evaluation when unusual bodily events occurred.

I Was Sitting at My Desk This Morning at Work and Felt a New Sensation: It was as If My Heart Suddenly Stopped and I was Going to Pass out. I Let out a Gasp. Really, It Felt Like a Jolt to My Soul. So, I Asked If St. Teresa Describes Such a Phenomenon and Chat GPT Said Yes!

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