Holistic Wellness Nurse

The ego gets a bad reputation in general conversation, but in yoga, the ego is not believed to be either good or bad. That is the liberation found in living a life without placing judgment on oneself. The ego is considered to be the many roles we assume in our life. I am a mom, a wife, a nurse, the youngest child, a college graduate, etc. This is how I present myself to the world. These are the masks I use to participate and to provide my special unique expression of life itself. The problems come when we believe we are only defined by these roles. These limited roles we identify as can restrain our extraordinary potential as humans.

Asmita, the second obstacle in yoga, is the attachment to the ego. When the ego interprets the immediate experience of the self, as the true self, this will create false identity. False identification happens when we mistake the mind, body, or senses for the true Self. For example, a professional athlete may accomplish a lot within his limitations. When he start to seek gratification and validation from his accomplishments, this creates attachments. Attachments are limitations because one is only limited to the satisfaction he receives from what he is attached to outside of him. If he does not produce a gold metal, then this creates dissatisfaction. When you are attached to worldly things you will become a slave to its pleasures. This is suffrage. Yoga teaches us not to limit our satisfaction to what the world can give us, yet look to an abundant source that lives inside of you. For we are limitless beings connected to an infinite source of abundance.

When we don’t quit measure up to the roles we have given ourselves there is a tendency to invite feelings of unworthiness and doubt into our head space. The feeling of doubting oneself or not feeling good enough is what causes even more suffering in one’s life. This suffering dims and blocks your authentic light from shining through.  Yoga teaches us to embrace our unique qualities that comes from within us and find satisfaction in knowing that you are already enough. Instead of trying to be the best whatever, try accepting who your are right here where you stand.

Try this, the first discipline introduced in Ashtanga yoga is practicing Ahisma or the duty to do no harm. This will help you foster compassion for yourself, the people in your life and the world around you. Identify as a loving and compassionate person makes you limitless because this is a source of strength that comes from within. Practices like empathy, positive self talk and self reflection will pull the darkness away from your field of vision and fuel your light from within. Unveiling your masks and forging a relationship with your true authentic self is the key to shedding asmita.

Asmita and Suffrage

There are five Kleshas or obstacles in Ashtanga yoga. Asmita comes second after avidya, the ignorance of self or one’s light. The presence of the kleshas is believed to cause suffering in one’s life. In Asmita, the suffrage is being attached to “I am”. This creates suffrage because the things people attach their “I am” to, is not constant, such as roles or material things. This clinginess one develops with definitions of oneself, are considered limiting thoughts or thoughts that hold you back from growing as a person and reaching your fullest potential. Yoga supports our relationship with our true authentic qualities such as grace, humility, compassion, fearlessness and joy which comes from within us. These qualities are eternal and pure. They provide us justification, validation, or approval. You are this eternal light that shines brightly. You have to learn to understand that you are not a role, an achievement, or your possessions. You are an infant being. Capable of all things you can imagine. You are limitless. Now, isn’t that liberating?

Try this, taking time to build a strong restorative practice, a routine meditative and pratyahara practice, will prevent you from developing a false sense of self. Recognizing the unchanging radiant light within you will help free you from your limiting beliefs. Regular practice will help you develop a deeper sense of who you are. It will also bring out the true essence of your being which remains stable no matter what the external circumstances.

Conscious Personality

The ego is also described as the conscious personality. Over the years of your life, you have taken on many conscious personalities. All the roles we developed comes with a set of adaptive behaviors, conventional rules, and a pattern of self-speech. This makes up your personal narrative. Over time we can lose integrity when developing into these roles. Coming in first place doesn’t mean you have a happy life. Just like forgetting to pack your kid’s lunch doesn’t mean you’re a bad parent. Judging how well one is performing in their roles blackballs us into thinking we are more or less than who we truly are and dims the radiant light the shines within you. These roles do not make you more or less whole, perfect and complete. What defines you does not come from outside of you, yet from within. These roles cannot make you any more or any less you than who you already are, but who uniquely you are determines how you show up in each of these roles.

Removing our masks does not mean we are relinquishing these identities, roles, or possessions. It just means that we will cultivate a stronger and deeper sense of self-acceptance in which none of our personal narrative prevents our inner light from shining brightly. In other words, knowing who you are and fueling the light within will keep you humble, rooted, and focused.

Transformative Thinking

Just because you have always presented yourself a certain way doesn’t mean you have to be that way forever. You can always make improvements in your life. You can even make a new role or just loose the mask all together. I know you may have said or heard someone respond to bad habits as, “That’s just the way I am”. Well, yes, it may be who you are today, in this moment, but that’s not who you truly are. This is the person you have been conditioned to be. This is when it’s time to sit down an do some self-inquiry or Vichara. Atma-Vichara is the highest form Vedantic meditation which means looking beyond our ego and realizing our true, higher self. Through self-inquiry we can observe our thoughts and explore our behaviors to determine if we are being driven by the ego or the true self. With this realization, we are able to move past our petty concerns, release our judgments and get over our attachment to the ego. This allows us to move pass, “being a certain way” and towards “being who you are”. This is the very essence of yoga.  

The many roles you have accumulated over the years of your life have shifted or completely changed. That is why it is important to bring some attention to your ability to adapt, change, and transform. Try this, Take some time to write down the many different roles you played during life. Break them up in time. Such as 0-5yrs, 6-10yrs etc. Notice how much you have evolved in each role or identify if that role still exists in your life. So, when you hear yourself responding, “well that’s just the way I am.” I want you ask yourself why? Why are you that way? Have you evolved? Have you changed? Have you transformed? Do I like this person? If not, you have the power within you to change, adapt and transform.

When you start to pay some attention to your personal development over the years, you will be able to foster a more positive relationship with your conscious personality. You will be able to identify and shed some conditioning you adopted along the way. Your confidence will grow when you come to learn that you are indeed resilient, courageous, compassionate, successful etc. You may come to some questions that yield uncomfortable answers about yourself. Unveiling your mask though self inquiry is a radical move because of the courageous acts of exploring oneself with honesty and falling in love with every bit of you. We must shine light on our inner darkness to truly come to know our authentic self. This is your foundation to happiness. This is your road map to finding your bliss.