If the idea of following your dreams or listening to your soul is almost immediately pushed down by a stern voice in your mind, then the chances are you are in conversation with your ego.

But what do you picture when you hear the word ‘ego’?

Before you go into self judgement and think of your ego as something selfish or self absorbed, or something to be ashamed of, consider this.

From the psychology standpoint, the ego is just a construct that we create for ourselves as we grow. I think that over the years, society and popular culture has distorted the definition to be more about self importance, when really it’s about self preservation.

If you go back to your conception, when you are in your mother’s womb you don’t yet have an ego. There is no you and ‘her’, meaning ‘other’. It’s all about oneness.

It’s not until after birth that you become ‘separate’, and then out in the world you are a lone being.

From a psychological viewpoint, when we start to develop your own consciousness and self awareness, we begin to learn about cause and effect. For example, you don’t receive nutrition from the umbilical cord anymore – you have to cry out for food.

Of course with age, life becomes more complex and so do our needs. We also begin to understand that others have their own needs, and sometimes they are different to our own. We gravitate towards what makes us safe, happy, and gives us pleasure.

This is the story of the ego! Our sense of self becomes more complex as we learn and grow. So of course, by the time we are fully formed adults trying to navigate adult responsibilities and careers, our ego has not only become more complex, but has very firmly taken root.

We know who we are, what we want and what we need.

So how does that stop us from listening to our soul?

Well, it’s not uncommon for the safety-seeking ego to disagree with the adventure-seeking soul about what’s good for us. For example, if our soul tell us to paint and become an artist, the ego will likely step in with reasons why that’s not ‘safe’. Financial security would be an obvious point for the ego to argue. Then there are concerns about what our family will say.

The Soul’s Awakening

What happens then, when those of us on a spiritual path start to realize that we are all one, all from the same source, and we once again start to feel that sense of connectedness that we first grew out of as little children. What happens to the ego then?

I like to think that there is a clear difference in consciousness that we have shifted across. When we are in ego consciousness then we are thinking of ourselves as separate. We are likely to be more stressed about resources and living with a sense of lack. We may feel disconnected from the world, and possibly a bit numb.

Sometimes, due to the discomfort of the separateness, we might choose to numb ourselves with food, drink, TV binges, or anything that works for us.

Then there is soul consciousness. That warm, connected sense of “hey, we’re all in this together.”

In soul consciousness we understand that we all come from source. When I do well, you do well, and we all support each other. Life suddenly stops being a competition for resources, as we realize that there is enough to go around.

If you watch the news on TV, you can’t go for even a few minutes without seeing how unevenly wealth is distributed right now. But the resources are there! I believe what we need is more people stepping into their soul consciousness and realizing the importance of sharing – realizing that we are all one after all.

Personally, I’d love to see more people like redistributing their wealth, just like Warren Buffet, and Bill and Melinda Gates.

 “Sounds great – but I’m stuck in my ego consciousness!”

Okay, so let me start by suggesting that you be kind to yourself, and to your ego, it’s only there to protect you!

The term ‘ego’ has such negative connotations, so it’s worth remembering that firstly, we all have one, and secondly, it’s about self preservation, which does serve a purpose.

A great thing you can do to start gently moving from ego to soul, without feeling unsafe or being unsafe, is to build a meditation practice for yourself.

Sitting quietly with yourself, looking within and listening can bring about big shifts for you when done consistently. But the key words here are ‘gently’ and ‘patiently’. Meditation is a skill that takes time to build up – just like it takes time to shift your perspective.

If this sounds good to you, then I would like to invite you to take my free 21 Day Compassion Meditation Challenge.

Studies now show that compassion can be increased through targeted meditation exercises. By practicing for just a few minutes a day you can increase in compassion and joy. This is a great step away from the usual stress-driven, scarcity-based thoughts of everyday life driven by our old friend, the ego.