How many Selves are in there (inside you)?

How many selves are in there (inside you)?

Can you tell me how many selves are in there?

Well, first of all, you need to understand that no one knows exactly what it's like to be you.

There are many selves inside of us. It is hard to say for certain how many selves are inside of you because it is a subjective experience.

How many times did you catch yourself with conflicting chats inside your head?

If you ever wanted to embrace change, you heard plenty of complaints inside your mind. Plenty of selves complaining about your age, security, future, etc.

Trying to be in the present moment is another trigger for many of your selves start worrying. Worrying about your problems, to-do list, opinion of others, etc.

Are you sure about who you are? Even in a simple way. As a professional, partner, friend or human being?

Have you ever felt surprised by the number of conflicting ideas, moods and reactions you had? (Besides what you could consider rational or normal)

Do you feel as if there are several conflicting and competing parts inside you? 

All trying to "win" your actions and reactions:

• Should I buy it?
• Should I move?
• Will I regret it?
• Better safe than happy?
• Did I say that?
• I would if I didn't have children.
• I would if I was younger.
• I would if I had time.

So, that thing you call "I" doesn't seem to be so uniform and whole. With so many competing forces inside you, it is surprising that you have a sense of Self and continuity.

Who or what are these selves inside me?

Psychoanalysis has a peculiar terminology to deal with this subject's nuances.

I will use spiritual teachings to complete or change some psychoanalytic concepts. It is my belief that soon those definitions will be part of mainstream science.

The selves are energies inside us, inside our subconscious. They behave as tiny brains for all practical means, thinking alongside each other.

Some of those selves are very clear:

• You develop a separate self for behaving in the workplace, family, sports, social life, etc.
• You can also think about an animal self (although psychoanalysis wouldn't name it as self).
• You have selves produced by traumas and attachments from this life.
• You have selves that come from past lives.
• You even can "receive" selves that others impart on us.
• You also have playful and gifted selves, not only hurt ones.

The interplay of all those selves is what we call Ego. 

Patterns of stability in the Ego behaviour are what we call Personality.

We also have something we can call a Master-self, a Divine Spark, or our Inner-Child.

All those forces or energies are in your subconscious, competing or interplaying.

There are many more elements, but in this article, I will limit my explanation to those.

What are the practical influences of all those selves in your life?

Those selves influence all your life, happiness, realisation, sense of purpose, etc. They affect, to some degree, any decision, feeling, and emotion you have.

To treat the hurt selves is essential to allow your Master-self (Inner-child) to take care of your life.

Otherwise, the noise coming from the hurt selves will obliterate your Inner-child. This noise is a sure recipe for being unhappy, confused, losing joy in life, depression, etc.

If you decrease this noise, the expression of your Inner-child will blossom. So, your Ego will be more aligned with your Inner-child (Master-self).

But why is the Ego alignment with the Inner-child necessary for my practical life?

The Inner-child is a pure expression of your essence. It is you without the programming and traumas imposed along your life (and past lives). This all-knowing child understands what would make you happy, healthy and realised.

From a spiritual point of view,  the Inner-child represents the Divine Spark that is you. But this will be the object of future articles.

How can you heal your hurt selves and better align your Ego with your Inner-child?

There are several techniques to do that.

Using some of those techniques can result in immediate effects. See the post on "How to raise your vibration", for example.

But it would be best if you kept in mind that we are talking about a way of living. You can compare it to taking care of your health. Although some measures can have an immediate effect, you must keep working on them for good.

So, subscribe to our Free Newsletter to keep updated with tips and tricks on how to achieve that.