Align to Your Most Authentic Self

Who are you at your most authentic self and why is this question important?

Our authentic selves are rooted in love of oneself, with the capacity and desire to extend that love creatively and gracefully to others and one’s environment.  Our authentic selves are an honest representation of who we are at a soul level.  When we operate from that space, we feel most at peace and fulfilled. 

We discover ourselves by exploring various roles, interests, ideas, relationships, and all other options that life brings our direction.  By exploring and experiencing life, we come to understand our likes and dislikes based on the emotions that arise from each experience.  Exploration of these emotions are key to aligning us with our most authentic selves.

It was Abraham Maslow, a known Psychologist with his theory on the Hierarchy of Needs that states, “ What one can be, one must be.”  It is within all of us the desire to self-actualize and create purpose.  To be in a state of self-actualization, is to be in alignment with our most authentic selves. 

In Maslow’s theory, one progresses through the Hierarchy of Needs pyramid by satisfying lower-level needs, such as safety and security, followed by needs of esteem and belonging.  Our emotions will rise to higher-level, more conscious emotions and states of being as we progress through the pyramid.

Self actualization is our need to become the most we can be.  When we achieve self-actualization, we find purpose and fulfillment.  For those that lack self-actualization and purpose, will struggle with lower-level ego driven emotions.  These lower emotions, such as guilt, shame, apathy, grief, and fear are depicted in David Hawkins’ Levels of Consciousness and are not in alignment with our self-actualized, most authentic selves.  Hawkins' emotions can be depicted in a pyramid, much like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  Climbing up through Hawkins' Levels of Consciousness, we experience the emotions of desire, anger, pride, courage, neutrality, willingness, acceptance, inner light, oneness, awareness, divine grace and love union, all the way towards full consciousness.  As we progress by satisfying our lower-level Maslow’s needs, we naturally experience higher-level states of consciousness and emotions within the Hawkins' theory.

Though Hawkins and Maslow’s theories are not meant to intersect, I find that both coincide nicely together. 

In more simple terms , if we want to feel good, we need to move towards experiences and thoughts that create positive emotions.  Experiences and thoughts that create unnecessary struggle or pain, we should move away from if we are to be in alignment with our most authentic selves.

At our most authentic selves, we will discover purpose by becoming all we can be, along with experiencing higher-level more conscious emotions.  This is what we truly desire at our most authentic selves, but struggle so much to attain. 

What keeps us from moving towards higher-level more conscious emotions?

Three main energetic blocks I have found working with Reiki clients that make it difficult for us to choose more positive emotions are feelings of powerlessness, experiencing fear, and our emotional wounding.  The extent and the reason for energetic blocks varies with each individual.  Reiki is a great tool in assisting with the process of unblocking stuck energy, but deep healing must be a deliberate path walked by the individual. 

Energetic blocks and steps to transform the blocks are as follows,

1. Powerlessness or feeling a lack of control : Where are you feeling powerless?

The free will of others is not always exercised for good and can affect us in negative ways.  Our first experiences of feeling powerless most likely stemmed from early challenges experienced from family and certain societal roles.  There are moments where we have felt powerless from challenging experiences. We may feel that life happens to us and we are mere pawns awaiting for the next disastrous event.  If this is our outlook on life, it is only natural to blame others and situations for our emotions and the way life unfolds.  It takes practice to recognize our part in creating the reality we are experiencing. There are patterns in our lives that have become our normal way of being, even if we desire the opposite.  We may even feed into creating more of what we don’t want in our lives because of the beliefs we hold due to our past experiences.

Some common limited beliefs around feelings of powerlessness that feed into repeating cycles that are not aligned with our authentic selves are,

“I’m not in control of my reality.”

“It’s because of people or circumstances that I am the way I am.”

“I can’t control my emotions, my emotions control me.”

“Bad things are always going to happen to me because that’s what usually happens.”

Do you struggle with any of these beliefs?  Here are some common ways to transform limited beliefs on feeling of powerlessness.

Expand beliefs by believing a new story

What if you believed the following to be true and how would this change your views and actions toward reclaiming your power?

“I can change my limited beliefs to create the life I choose.”

“My emotions don’t control me but reveal what beliefs are not in alignment with my authentic self.”

“I take back my power when I choose to focus on the good, the lesson, and the action needed to change my reality that aligns me with my authentic self.”

Set healthy boundaries

Set healthy boundaries from a place of self love.  The more we move towards our authentic selves, the more we see our worth and value and act from such a space.  Having relationships that honor our boundaries is vital for taking back our power.

Speak your authentic truth

Speaking your truth in a respectful and loving way honors your authentic self.  Exercising your voice allows the ability to overcome fears around expressing who you are at soul level.  

When you reclaim your voice, you reclaim your power.

Take ownership

Every relationship and every moment is always mirroring a piece of ourselves.  To truly understand and embody the action of taking ownership for our choices, thoughts, and emotions can be humbling, but  empowering.

It’s not always our fault when horrible things happen against our will, especially when we are in a vulnerable space.  However, it’s still a mirror, even if the only reflection is showing us our own vulnerability,  allowing for us to make necessary changes  to gain self-power from a powerless situation. 

When we own our emotions and the circumstances we find ourselves in, we reclaim our power because we gain conscious choice in how we are to move forward.

Open and align the Solar Plexus Chakra

The Solar Plexus Chakra is all about standing in our personal power.

We can work with an energy healer or try various ways to assist this Chakra.

Various crystals, mantras, essential oils, visualizations, foods, and so on that are associated with this Chakra can be of benefit.

2. Fear: Where is fear present in your life?

The most commonly found energetic block is fear.  We may feel fear of abandonment, rejection, loss, failure, poverty, ill health, death, a lack of control, and so on.

Fear may stem from our egos, environmental conditioning, and emotional wounding.  Fear can be triggered when our ego perceives external stimuli as unfamiliar and uncontrollable for survival purposes.  However, if we are to align with our authentic selves, personal and spiritual development is found within the unfamiliar and outside our comfort zones.

Secondly, we are pressured and conditioned from external influences to avoid or behave within certain societal roles and social norms, even when it  may not align with our authentic selves. These expectations may create struggles and distort the process of aligning with our authentic selves.

Lastly, our emotional wounds create a need for protection and creates energetic blocks towards forward movement and transformation.

When our fears become known and are preventing forward movement, here are some ways to unblock this energy. 

Shift focus to positive emotions

Focus on the potential desired emotions from the movement that you seek instead of the fears you may feel.

"I will feel fulfilled, powerful, creative, happy, at peace, when I take this step forward."

Recite “I am” statements

Along with reciting I am statements, find ways that you believe the statement to be true. 

Examples:

“I am capable of anything I put my mind and action towards.” 

Where have you already achieved your goals and what did that feel like?

“I am abundant and have the resources I need for success.” 

Where are you currently experiencing abundance within relationships, finances, career, etc?  Feel gratitude and gain hope from a space where current abundance is present.

“I am brave enough to try new things.”  

Recall times where you felt success and happiness by stepping out of your comfort zone.  Focus on what you can do instead of what you can't do.

“I am supported by the universe when I align with my authentic self.”  

Seek out ways you have been and are supported by family, friends, and the community.

Trust the Process

When we move towards our authentic selves, we receive support from our higher selves, Source, and our physical and non-physical “tribes”.  When we trust the process our character grows, we feel more calm, confident, grateful, and purposeful.  If trusting the process is difficult, focus on the small ways in which you can develop trust. 

Ask for help

Accountability and guidance from a trusted friend, family, or community member can help motivate and offer guidance as we work through energetic blocks. If one feels led, calling on Source, angels, ancestors, or their spirit team can assist.  A trusted energy healer or therapist can be a great support.  

Sometimes we need a reminder that we are not meant to do life alone.  We are part of the whole collective consciousness and some healing requires another source outside of ourselves.  

3. Emotional Wounding: What emotional wounds are blocking your ability to align with your authentic self? 

Emotional wounding is a natural occurrence within the law of duality that constructs our physical reality.  When the law of duality is fully grasped and understood, accepting challenging pieces of ourselves becomes possible. There are two main reasons the law of duality is essential to our human experiences.

• 1. We discover our desires by experiencing the contrast of opposites. We must understand that without experiencing the contrast of opposites, we would not have the understanding of either aspects of the contrast.  For example, we would not understand what light is without experiencing darkness or understand justice without knowing injustice.  We must experience the contrast of each opposite to compare the duality.  We become aware of what we desire through the emotions that arise from such duality.  
• 2. Free will. Without the law of duality we would not have choice.  With choice there are always consequences and limitless potentiality.  Free will allows us the ability to create and establish a sense of individuality, a sense of self.

We experience the challenging aspects of duality’s contrast when we feel rejection, abandonment, physical harm, shame, exploitation, betrayal, judgment, violated, and so on.  All these wounds create lower-level emotions, keeping us believing limited stories about ourselves and the environment.  When we choose to act from our lower-level emotions, we hinder the ability to move towards our authentic selves.  Because we experience challenging emotions from this contrast, it propels us to seek out higher-level emotions.  These higher-level emotions are felt the more we align with our authentic selves.  For us to experience and continue in a state of higher-level emotions, we must first bring awareness to our emotional wounding.  With this awareness, brings the ability to heal and transform our energetic blocks. 

How do we bring awareness to our energetic blocks around emotional wounding?

Explore challenging emotions

We are conditioned to escape or avoid our more challenging emotions and are not taught the emotional intelligence skills needed to process such emotions.  We may find ways to escape these emotions, mostly to obtain more desirable emotions.  Escaping to a more desirable emotion is only a temporary fix and fails in comparison to a more authentic, self-actualized way of feeling and being.  Avoiding our emotions altogether will result in a lack of self-awareness on who we are and what we desire out of life.  It takes the self-awareness that is gained from exploring our emotions to transform our limited beliefs and align with our authentic selves.

Meditation practice in how to explore challenging emotions

1. Find a quiet space.

2. Practice breathing techniques while focusing on your breath.  This slows the heart rate and any racing thoughts.  You may try breathing in slowly through your nose, expanding the diaphragm.  Hold for a few counts, and exhale slowly through the mouth.

3. Stay in the now.  Keep bringing your attention back to your breathing and body when your thoughts drift.

4. Allow emotions to surface, so to be acknowledged and released. 

5. Honor how you are intuitively being guided to release challenging emotions.  Some ways to release emotions can be through crying, journaling, sharing with someone you trust, movement, breathwork, and so on.

6. Observe emotions from a neutral space by releasing any resistance or judgment around beliefs, emotions, and or past actions.

In summary, when we begin to unblock energy from our limited beliefs on personal power, fears, and emotional wounding we make room to explore new experiences and higher-level emotions that align us with our authentic selves.  Our authentic selves can only begin to be explored once this blocked energy is released, creating space for new. 

(January 2022)