MAGAZINE - BE.ONE
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It can bring you power, it can make you<br />
miserable and it can cause you abundant<br />
happiness. Since you were born it has been<br />
evolving inside you and affecting every decision<br />
you make. You think you’re in control? Think<br />
again. Do you know your ego?<br />
The word ego is thrown around a lot in<br />
everyday conversations. To many of us the idea<br />
of an ego is linked to a superiority complex - I<br />
am better than / sexier than / smarter than /<br />
quirkier than / more spiritual than …<br />
Yoga and other cultures have taught for<br />
thousands of years that understanding and<br />
separating ourselves from the ego is our<br />
path to enlightenment. At the opening and<br />
ending ceremony of my yoga instructor<br />
course we chanted and threw spices into a fire<br />
symbolising the burning of our egos.<br />
I clearly remember sitting<br />
down afterwards totally<br />
perplexed, what did burning<br />
the ego even mean?<br />
I started to think that I should throw out my<br />
mascara, only wear boring clothes and ditch<br />
everything that made me feel good about<br />
myself. I asked my guru Mahesh after class<br />
if he could explain what the ego was and he<br />
very kindly spent our next philosophy class<br />
talking about just that. He explained the ego as<br />
comparing yourself against others.<br />
The ego is a build-up of memories, beliefs and<br />
opinions – we all have one. What matters is if<br />
our ego is healthy or not.<br />
An unhealthy ego is like a<br />
parasite,<br />
it lives within us affecting our behaviour and<br />
ultimately our health and although we may<br />
think we are under control it controls us.<br />
Caroline McHugh (Author and motivational<br />
speaker) describes two states of a fragile ego,<br />
the superiority complex and the inferiority<br />
complex. The inferiority complex is extremely<br />
common, it is a lack of self-love and refusing<br />
to accept ourselves as we are. A healthy<br />
ego McHugh calls an ‘interiority complex’ - a<br />
completely uncomparative state. Developing<br />
this interiority complex she goes on to explain<br />
is the art of being yourself. We are born<br />
into a particular environment with a specific<br />
biological blueprint. As young children we<br />
are ego-less. We have a unique identity right<br />
then and there which is everlasting, pure and<br />
constant throughout our lives.<br />
When yoga and other philosophy based<br />
systems teach us to remove the ego it is to<br />
remind ourselves that we are more than our<br />
egos, and to try glimpse this childlike and<br />
pure source. Has anyone seen those Natwest<br />
adverts “we are what we do”? I hate them! Your<br />
ego is what you do. Listen, this is important,<br />
you are not the clothes you wear, you are not<br />
Be.one - 52 - Wellness
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