5 Ways to Move Beyond Your Ego and Into Your Soul

Without our ego, we couldn’t exist in this world because it allows us to have a sense of self. Our egos govern our desires, so even our basic needs couldn’t get taken care of if we didn’t have at least a little concern for ourselves. However, when our egos get so big that we discard the needs of others or trample on them to get what we want, it becomes a problem.

Ideally, we should use our egos to care for our needs and extend a helping hand to our communities. Today, we suffer from an overabundance of ego caused by greed and selfishness. Many of us have forgotten that we don’t need much to survive – anything more than food, water, shelter, and a few clothes goes beyond our basic needs. To tap into our soul nature, we must move beyond the “I” mentality and remember that we exist as a collective.

Of course, as most of us have been operating from our egos for most of our lives, changing our entire mentality won’t happen overnight. It takes the consistent practice of selfless habits to effect change. The human ego doesn’t have to cause destruction, but it certainly can if we don’t tame it and learn to see others as a reflection of ourselves.

Here are five ways to move past your ego and get in touch with your soul:

Below, we’ll go over a few ways to move beyond the limited ego-consciousness and into soul awareness. This mindset change involves looking at everyone and everything in existence as part of yourself.

1. Make sure your actions include the well-being of others, not just yourself.

The ego says, “What do I need/want?” However, the soul cares about others just as much as the person housing it. In other words, the body simply serves as a vessel for our souls, so to get in touch with the soul, we have to enhance our awareness to include others. Imagine how different the world would look if everyone took actions that only helped, not hurt, their fellow human beings.

Instead of working only to earn more money for ourselves, we should use our jobs to facilitate meaningful change in our communities. If we don’t take care of each other, we can’t survive as a collective, so we must learn to act selflessly and overcome differences. The overblown ego seeks to destroy everyone and everything in its path, or simply use people to achieve a particular goal. It doesn’t care about what happens to people, as long as it gets its way.

Selfish actions go against our true nature, but we must tap into our souls by going beyond the realm of restless thoughts and desires. In the land of silence lies to the keys to our soul, so if you want to move beyond the ego, learn to meditate, and practice mindfulness.

As you gain deeper soul awareness, you’ll start to see other humans as mirrors of yourself, and have the desire to treat them as your brothers and sisters.

2. Only focus on your basic needs.

The ego never feels satisfied, always wanting more to fill the emptiness. However, you can tame the childlike ego by only giving it what it needs to survive. As we said above, you don’t require much to maintain your mind and body. If you have a job, a roof over your head, food on the table, water to drink, and clothes to wear, you have what you need—giving the ego too many results in selfishness and greed, which only leads to misery in the end.

You need to tame your desires to get in touch with your soul. Simplify your life as much as possible in every facet.

Eat simpler foods with fewer ingredients, as processed foods taint the soul’s expression. Keep the body in shape with exercise, but don’t obsess over it. Body consciousness won’t allow you into the kingdom of the soul, as being overly concerned with one’s image relates to the ego.

Don’t buy things you don’t truly need to survive. Instead, give away any extra money to charity or to a family that needs it. When you help others more than you worry about yourself, you will move beyond your ego and into your soul.

3. Practice gratitude.

The ego always wants more, but the soul feels fulfilled with what it possesses already. Every day when you wake up, make a list of a few things you feel grateful for. The following can help you get started:

• Waking up to a new day.
• Friends and family.
• Food, water, and shelter.
• The beautiful nature surrounding you.
• Having eyes to witness the world around you (it sounds silly, but the simplest things sometimes get overlooked in the grand scheme of things).
• The ability to walk, talk, breathe, hug loved ones, etc.

You get the point. You can add anything to the list you genuinely feel thankful for, and it doesn’t have to be extensive. Just take a few moments each morning to jot down your thoughts on paper or in a journal. Studies have shown that gratitude offers many health benefits, such as lowering stress, reducing depression, improving sleep, and even lessening aches and pains. No matter what you’ve been given in life, it will feel like you have the world in your hands as long as you extend your thanks.

4. Reduce time on technology (especially social media).

The soul can’t transcend the ego if you spend too much time comparing yourself to other people, which happens far too often these days with the advent of social media. Of course, technology exists as a tool for us to use; it only becomes a problem when we get too attached to it. As Buddha said, “Desire is the root of all suffering.” So, by reducing time on social media, you won’t have as many distractions and can focus more on soul improvement.

Researchers have linked excessive social media use with poorer mental health, ADHD-like symptoms, and lower self-esteem. Social media encourages us to focus too much on ourselves rather than engage with others in our communities. It also creates too much mental chatter with endless amounts of information, which hinders you from tapping into your soul.

5. Do everything from a place of love.

Before you do anything, ask yourself if it will benefit you or someone else. If not, then why engage in that action or behavior? This rule can apply to anything, from the foods you eat to the work you find yourself attracted to. Make all your thoughts and actions wholesome so your soul can radiate fully. If you create your whole life around the feeling of love, you will never feel empty a day.

Life doesn’t have to seem as complicated as we make it; our egos just run wild and create problems for ourselves and the people around us. You can either live from fear (ego) or love (soul). The ego continually feels threatened because it knows that love can overpower it quickly, and when you focus more on those soul qualities, it can’t survive. The ego, left to its own devices, will destroy its host just to get its way.

We see this every day when people make poor health choices based on fleeting thoughts or feelings, which can result in chronic health problems. However, the ego doesn’t care as long as it gets to take the reigns. Soul qualities take effort to display in the beginning, simply because they’ve been buried in most of us for so long. With time, though, the soul feels at ease and calm when bad habits transform into good ones.

So, in conclusion, if you treat yourself and others with love and compassion at all times, the soul can start to express itself naturally. Then, the ego will dissolve because it can’t exist as prominently with the soul in the driver’s seat.

Final thoughts on how to tap into the soul and starve the ego

We suffer from an overabundance of ego in this world, but by using willpower and reason, our soul can show itself more fully. It all starts within us, based on our dominant thoughts and actions. Practices such as meditation, following a healthy lifestyle, showing love and kindness to others, and keeping our needs simple can help you touch your soul.

While the ego can seem persistent, one can tame it with persistent actions in the right direction. Every desire first plants seeds in mind, so your efforts will become more soul-oriented by getting the mind under control. We all have to do our part in elevating the consciousness of this planet, which begins with us. We are consciousness. But we’ve forgotten this and live in a place of fear. We can create a better world for everyone by choosing loving thoughts and actions.