Identity Category- True Self

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What is the Purpose of the Ego?

The other day, someone asked me, ‘What is the purpose of the ego?’ At the time, I gave my standard explanation, about how the ego is the center of our attachments, the home of resistance and identity. I explained that duality resides in the ego, and that all emotions rise from challenging the ego and its power. To read the full explanation, check out this post. But after the conversation ended, I felt frustrated. The explanation I gave didn’t satisfy me, or even the person I was talking to. As I cleaned up the kitchen, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to the ego than I originally defined, and if there was a greater purpose than what I could see. Cut to me scavenging the internet, looking at various descriptions of what the ego is and why it exists. This quote…

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8 Ways to Release Limiting Beliefs: Moving Beyond the Box

We all have mental boxes we hold on to. These boxes can also be called limiting beliefs, negative cognitions, the pain body, emotional bean bags, or even samscaras (my personal favorite). Whatever you choose to call them, these boxes are exactly what they sound like: limiting. Limiting beliefs begin as a way to keep us safe. They may develop from traumatic experiences, social conditioning, or even having a parent tell you what to do and not do. When they begin, these boxes are a way for the mind, or the ego, to keep you safe. To give you a boundary that represents what is safe on the inside, and what is not safe on the outside. Because these boundaries are so helpful when they are first created, we often don’t realize when they begin to become destructive. Over time, these beliefs and boxes that…

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Moving Beyond the Mind: Let Go of Your Boxes

Human minds reside in boxes. We build these boxes ourselves, based on past experiences, societal programming, or outside influences. We create boxes around our identities, our life situations, and our beliefs, and we box in what should happen, what could happen, and what we want to happen. Every thought we have, whether we realize it or not, has a box. These are the boxes that create resistance. As you journey down your path to consciousness and step closer to enlightenment, the box that you create for yourself expands. As you open your mind and expand your consciousness, your box grows as well. So often we forget that these boxes are the product of our minds. Your inner voice, your soul, and your true self have no boxes. They have no limits, and no need to engage in the duality of the mind. But for…

Who we ‘used to be’: Stop defining your present by your past

Today, I was thinking. We spend so much of our lives thinking about who we were 'before'. Who we were in the past. For me, I 'used to be' a dancer. I 'used to be happy' when I was dancing. I 'used to' know exactly what I wanted in life. But what good do those 'used tos' serve? They make us feel as though our present moment, our now, is lacking something. Like a part of us is missing, off kilter, or just plain wrong. Nothing is wrong. Those 'used to bes' are an illusion. The past, truly, is an illusion. When you think about the past, are you reliving it? When you imagine something you used to do, are you actually doing it? No. It's an illusion, created by your mind. An attachment to something that is no longer there. it's over, done,…

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The Difference Between Soul Experience and Life Experience

As humans, we have a timeline. We are born, go through our terrible twos, and progress through the whiny kid stage. As we develop into teenagers, our lives are fraught with anxiety, depression, and rebellion. We get our first job and struggle to ‘find ourselves’. Once we hit adulthood, we reach traditional maturity, attain responsibility and 'earn our place in the world'. But then the scales tip again, and we become old, grumpy, and tired. We all know this story, the age old evolution of the human life. We know what to expect, and, for the most part, our expectations are met. But what about those people who are ‘old souls’? Mature for their age, or just too wise for common explanation? In these cases we tend to say that the parents got lucky, did a good job, or some other explanation to rebuild…

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Allowing Your Feelings in a World of Expectations

Feelings are the eternal human plague. They bring us up, and send us plummeting back to earth. In a way, they seem to symbolize who we truly are, and we often say that emotions reveal a lot about the inner self. But for as strong and tangible as emotions can seem, they often leave us feeling like we are lying to ourselves and to others. We may feel that a situation we are experiencing shouldn’t make us feel the way it does. Perhaps we are reacting too strongly when others seem calm, or maybe we are completely numb in times of emotional upheaval. Society has a tendency to standardize emotions, leading us to believe that we should feel xyz in this or that situation. We are led to believe that our feelings should fit in a box, with certain emotions or reactions deemed ‘OK’…

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What Is the Ego? Defining Attachment, Resistance, and Emotion

You’ve probably heard the term ‘ego’ thrown around by everyone from spiritual teachers to psychologists. Due to years of interpretation, the true essence of the ego has become elusive. Thankfully, this lack of clarity leaves the ego up for quite a bit of personal interpretation. To explore the ego fully, we first need to discuss resistance, attachments, and emotion. Attachment and Resistance Forming a mental belief about something creates an attachment. Attachments can be anything from the belief that your eyes are blue to the idea that your opinion is right. Attachments are typically formed from past experiences, and are a natural part of human existence. These beliefs form our self-identity, and create the lense through which we see the world. When the mind attaches to a belief, it creates a road map for the future. However, attachments can cause resistance. Resistance is a…

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You are the Observer: An Introduction to the Mind, the Soul, and You.

I am a writer, a nurse, a healer. I am 5’8”, a redhead, and an avid learner. These descriptions, however accurate they may be, don’t actually describe me, or rather, my self. When you describe yourself, do you ever stop to think of who is doing the describing? Who is the 'I' in your statements? Not all of the descriptions you use describe only your body, neither do they all describe your mental state. It is curious then, that we continue to use these ‘I am’ statements without ever thinking about who is doing the describing, and what exactly is being described. You cannot be what you are describing, so who are you? As a human being, you are composed of many distinct but interconnected selves. There is your physical self, the body through which you experience your life. You also have a mind,…

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