Issue No. 10

Dedicated to helping you learn how to enhance your life by honoring your soul and spirit while living day to day.

Article

Who Do You Think You Are?

It’s been a while since my last newsletter and I’d like to pick up from where we left off as who we think we are is a rich subject that can be deepened infinitely.  As you may recall, (or not!), in July I wrote about those forbidden parts we hide from others and even from ourselves.  When we allow these parts to emerge, becoming conscious about and beginning to understand and own them, we embark on the path to becoming a more complete, authentic human being.  This month’s topic is on who we think we are and how our attachment to those ideas, images and identities actually prevent us from fully experiencing our true identity.  

So, who do you think you are?  Where you ever challenged with that question by a parent, authority figure or even from within yourself?  Usually it is in response to doing or demanding something that seems extravagant, out of place, exploitative, rude, eccentric or offensive.  It can be an off-putting question meant to put someone in their place.  The context I’m asking it in is off-putting in that who you think you are in no way even comes close to your true identity.   

Who we think we are is influenced by what we do, our various roles, birth order, sex, social status, educational status, geographic location, body type, what type of car we drive, our beliefs about life, and so on.  We all have images of ourselves that we present to the world and other images we live with internally.  While none of these images is who we really are at our core or essence they color how we see the world and ourselves.  It’s as though we put on a pair of glasses at birth whose lenses are shaped and modified as we grow up by all the influences we are subjected to by our parents, society, family and culture.  We see the world through these lenses and think that the image of ourselves as seen through these lenses is who we really are, the true reality.

It is important to become aware of who we think we are so we can begin to tease apart and understand how these ideas limit us from expressing our true potential.  I lived this experience as I was suffering through the last 6 months of my corporate experience, wondering who I was without the role, responsibility, title, salary, image and 20+ year history in the industry with all of its attendant meaning.  Parents experience this when their kids leave home, retirees experience this at the end of their careers; we all to some extent experience this at pivotal birthdays, at significant deaths, in those moments when life throws us a curve ball.

We can loosen our hold on who we think we are by looking at our lives from a fresh perspective, beginning to notice how we feel, how we think, becoming aware of ourselves moving, responding, reacting throughout the day, moment to moment; raising awareness by exercising the spiritual muscle- that capacity to be in the moment and present to each moment’s experience.  As we begin to understand the identity structures we overlay on our selves we give our personality room to shift and become more pliable, flexible and responsive to the soul force moving through it.  This creates the capacity for deeper understanding and more expansive consciousness.  We contact more of our essence and begin to experience our true nature more fully.  This courageous journey yields the path that provides the food that satiates the hunger that nags at so many of us today. 

Here are a few questions to help you get started on your deeper inquiry into your true identity:  I’d love to hear what you discovered so please share your thoughts and experiences with me!

Inquiry Questions:

• How do you identify yourself?
• What roles, images, and fantasies form how you think about yourself?
• Who are you beyond these roles, images and fantasies you play?
• How do they define and limit you in your life?
  What would be possible if you let go of these limitations?

What is the song your soul wants to sing?...

Listen to the voice of your soul...

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New at Sonoma Spa in North Quincy, MA

Monday Evening Guided Meditation
A Gift for Your Spirit
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At The Healing Tree Yoga and Wellness Center

Letting Go of the Need to be Perfect!
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Introduction to Meditation
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"Soul Full" Moment Mini Meditation

Stop.

Take five deep breaths, breathing slowly into your belly and releasing.

Listen.

What are you sensing in your body?

How are you feeling emotionally?

What is your mind thinking?

Who is the you that is reading this?

Sense the presence of your breath as you ponder this question. Imagine your roles as if they were masks, laying each one down….
Who is left? Breathe that you in….

Now, take five deep breaths, breathing slowly into your belly and releasing.

Go on with your day.

Be with your self where you are because that’s where you are!

© Soulworks Coaching

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