4 Pillars Of Awakening Your True Self And Living An Authentic Life

When I sat down for my first meditation over a decade ago to control my stress hormone cortisol, I had no idea that it was the start of an awakening journey to a deeper understanding of myself, others, and the mysteries of life.

At the time, I was curious that my soul hunger (I didn’t have a name for it at the time) was the cause of my stress hormones being out of whack. I had been stifling my life force energy and had essentially stopped growing. This was not only very uncomfortable but also impacted my physical health. This became the start of a long, mysterious, and often confusing journey of self-exploration and discovery.

I began to question, What exactly am I awakening to? What does that even mean?

The wisdom teachings point to the realization that we are awakening to an experience of having a dual nature, meaning a personality/ego and a soul. Our personality is the energy of our conditioned self based on our past, which puts up a lot of resistance and keeps us stuck.

The other part is the energy that arises from our soul, which is the energy of our becoming and what’s calling us forward toward healing, growth and transformation.

Awakening and evolving are all about becoming aware of these parts of ourselves and establishing the right relationship with them. We shift from being constricted by our conditioned personality (ego) to being inspired by our soul (spirit).

I knew I was being called to grow into my true self, but I had no idea how to do so. After navigating my journey to find a path, coaching many others in discovering their future best selves, and years of study, I have identified 4 holistic pillars of awakening that enable us to visualize and become our true selves with a deeper feeling of inner peace, well-being and joy.

The four holistic pillars of awakening provide a framework for developing our soul superpowers: a calm body, clear mind, compassionate heart and courage to live an authentic life that feels good to our soul.

They enable us to step into who nature intended us to become and flourish as spiritual beings living stressful human lives. The four pillars include self-mastery, self-love, self-discovery, and self-expression.

Honouring these four holistic pillars ensures that we don’t spiritually bypass the messy aspects of being human, such as our health challenges, relationship struggles, and the like.

The four pillars of awakening our true selves also enable us to grow beyond the mechanistic view of human beings and create meaning around our challenges by drawing on spiritual wisdom that transcends religious dogma. In the article Embracing The Spiritual But Not Religious Path Of Awakening, I explore why many view themselves as spiritual but not religious.

The four pillars of awakening your true self are:

1. Self-mastery.

The first pillar invites us to learn how to calm our distracted monkey minds, focus our attention on the present moment, and begin to regulate our often dysregulated nervous systems.

Our nervous system knows whether we are feeling safe or stressed. Mindfulness of our inner states at any moment is the foundation for creating inner peace and the rest and repair state that promotes physical, mental, and spiritual health. The American Institute of Stress summarizes Easy Ways to Nourish Your Vagus Nerve to Become More Content.

Without the self-mastery pillar firmly established, progress in exploring and understanding the deeper sense of who we are is impossible.

I recommend starting with a simple, core meditation practice that integrates their bodies, minds, and souls. In the blog With SO Many Choices, What’s The Best Practice Meditation For Me? I provide practical tips on where to begin and links to helpful meditation and mindfulness resources.

2. Self-love.

Self-love, which includes self-compassion and forgiveness, is necessary for developing the right relationship with ourselves and growing into our future selves.

We need to learn how to develop wise and compassionate boundaries, clarify our values, hopes, dreams, and needs, and make empowered decisions that align with who we are becoming.

The journey is often challenging as we’re beginning to see our blind spots and take radical responsibility and courageous action in our lives.

The practice of forgiveness is a powerful step towards self-love as we let go of stuck energy that prevents us from stepping into our true selves.

I outline a 6-step forgiveness process and provide helpful resources in the post, Learn How To Forgive To Free Your Heart And Soul And Feel Peaceful.

This process recognizes that while we are spiritual, we are also human beings. It provides a structure and process for forgiveness that begins with telling our story and feeling the hurt and pain that the person or situation triggered in us. It creates space to release the stored energy and emotions that get stuck in our bodies and impact our physical and mental health.

3. Self-discovery.

This pillar requires that we discover who we are beyond our historical, conditioned personality.

It requires mindfulness and discerning the difference between thoughts, emotions and actions arising from our conditioned and true selves.

To be deeply happy and fulfilled, we need to connect with the part of ourselves that represents our true nature and who we’re becoming. Our soul energizes this part and includes a blueprint for who we will become. Much like an acorn, it will become an oak tree.

This pillar involves illuminating the limiting beliefs often imposed on us by our parents, society, spouses, and culture so we can replace them with ones that support self-expression and living authentic lives that feel good to our souls. The article, Why Women Need To Ditch Their Conditioning To Say Hello To Their Souls explores the impact that women’s conditioning is having on their health and well-being.

The Enneagram of personality is the most powerful tool I’ve found for illuminating the journey of self-discovery. With the wisdom of the Enneagram, we bring our gifts, shadow and growth path into awareness, enabling us to see what’s holding us back from becoming who we’re meant to become. In the article Deepen Your Meditation Practice By Using The Enneagram of Personality, I explain why meditation enriched with Enneagram wisdom is so powerful for awakening your best self.

4. Self-expression.

This pillar ultimately opens us up to navigating our lives from the inside out and tuning in to the higher promptings of our souls and what’s calling us forward.

It brings our soul’s energy to our actions and the ways we’re called to be of service and live a purposeful life that extends beyond survival.

The journey of transformation requires that we develop the capacity to use both sides of our brain, cultivate intuition, connect with our gut instincts, and get in the flow of life to be open to synchronicities.

The post 5 Tips To Connect With Your Soul If You’re Feeling Disconnected provides suggestions for cultivating a deeper connection with our higher selves. This enables us to get in the natural flow of life and live an authentic life that feels good to our souls.

Understanding and using the spiritual laws of the universe to manifest what wants to be brought forth through us for the betterment of ourselves and others is when we truly feel like we’re in the flow of life.

Our actions arise from wisdom and are fueled by love.

By integrating the four holistic pillars of awakening and discovering our true selves, we live vital, connected, and deeply meaningful lives.

If you feel called, please comment below. Our community would love to hear from you!