I understand it to mean a time when the soul loses its ability to save itself from pain and discomfort.
All sons of God (male and female), if they love God, will be led through such an experience. The intent is for the son to experience death in the desert, so to speak. Long held traditions, expectations, biases, and imaginations are brought to their end and extinguished in our lives.
Jesus was led to the wilderness to fast and be tempted by the devil.
Peter and Paul had such experiences. Many other faithful in the Lord went through similar things.
The intent is to get us to obtain a place where the enemy can find nothing in us to hook onto.
This is Jesus: "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me."
Through this time, our spirits rise over our soul's desire to control our lives and our reliance on the Lord is strengthened. By this, submitting to and being led by the Spirit of God, our souls are saved from the ways and schemes of the world.