When we speak of someone's ego, most people immediately think of it in terms of egotistical.  However, that is not what the ego is. According to the Oxford Dictionary, ego is “the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious and the unconscious and is responsible for reality testing and a sense of personal identity.” It is essentially how you see yourself, how you identify who you are.

What role does the ego play in a spiritual awakening?  A spiritual awakening is a time of deep transformation. A time when we have big shifts in self-awareness, our consciousness and often begin to question a lot of what we once believed to be true. When your view of the world begins to change, your view of yourself and your place within the world are inevitably going to change as well.

During an awakening, you begin to question your ego. You examine it and look at both its strengths and its shortcomings.  You look at what in yourself needs to heal in order to move forward and grow, to become the awakened individual you are meant to be. You work on figuring out how to evolve into the person you wish to become.

This involves breaking old patterns, letting go of who you thought you were, healing old wounds, reexamining your beliefs, and dealing with some loss of identity that arises from becoming the new you. 

Of course, it is to be expected that your ego will resist. These changes are threatening to it, after all. It can be scary existing in the space between the old you and the version of yourself that is being created. Couple that with the discomfort of the work you are doing and the ego may not respond well. 

The fear of the unknown, loss of relationships and identity, loneliness and other factors make the process of awakening challenging at best. Transformation is never easy, but it is extremely rewarding. It is important in the moments when you are struggling to remember that feeling overwhelmed and finding things difficult is a natural and necessary part of the spiritual awakening process.

It is important to be gentle with yourself and treat yourself with kindness and compassion. Trust the challenges you are facing are part of your journey towards growth and greater awareness. Your true, awakened self. Remind your bruised and frightened ego that things are better on the other side of this process, that it won’t last forever and it will be worth it.


Sacred Spirit Wellness is located at The Healing Hive, 21 Barton Street in Bradford, VT.  They can be reached via email at sacredspiritwellness1@gmail.com, on their Facebook page or www.sacredspiritwellness.com

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