Who Am I?
The age-old question on the path to self-realization is “Who am I?”
Seekers and philosophers often say that by simply asking this question you can have profound insight into not only your True Nature but the nature of all things. While this may be ultimately true, I have found that this type of inquiry can cause confusion and self-doubt as we begin to realize we have no idea who we truly are. Those with a history of trauma and/or chronic illness can experience even greater resistance to the unraveling of identity.
Why would we resist knowing who we truly are?
Why would we be afraid of our True Self?
Why would we unconsciously resist or even sabotage that discovery process?
It comes down to identity preservation. Simply put, we are programmed to prove our core identity and belief structures right, even if they are destructive. Most of us have false core beliefs that were imprinted as children such as “I can’t have what I truly want” and/or “I will be rejected by others”. As I wrote in Part 1 last month, our protective identities form early on and become so familiar that we “claim” them like us. If we try to change our core sense of ourselves, or our identity, the unconscious protective mechanisms can kick and scream a bit...aka “limbic resistance to change.” We protect ourselves from fully expressing that free, beautiful True Self that we may have lost in our childhood.
For those on the journey of true transformation, there comes a time when they must decide to discover their true nature and relinquish these false beliefs and identities. This choice requires a willingness to risk both failure and rejection. It requires facing the unconscious resistance to change head-on. And it will most likely result in a period of “identity disorientation” where you know the false protective identity is not how you want to behave, but you don’t yet have a clear sense of what you do want to feel, believe, and behave like in the world.
Sift Your True Self Out of The Dross
So how do we get reoriented to our True Nature? We must go on a quest of self-discovery and develop keen discernment between protective identities and our healthy adult main personality.
This quest of True Self Discovery is what I love to teach others in my programs and here's what I think this discovery process includes:
1. Thought- Using our mind to inquire
a. What do I like? What adjectives describe me? What do I value? What are my favorite hobbies? What did I like to do as a child? What do I want to do in the future?
2. Emotion- Using our creativity and will to self-generate emotions
a. What emotions do I want to experience when I’m in my True Nature? Specifically, focus on discovering your unique emotional personality signature- You must practice creatively finding a way to self-generate this emotional state to teach your old identity how the True You feels about yourself. This also includes the process of developing "emotional literacy."
3. Somatic Body Feelings- A felt sense of your unique “I am” presence
a. What does it feel like in your body when you are in our alignment- which is your True Self-resonance. There is a specific way your body will feel to you when you are centered on your truth. (This is what I really focus on in the somatic aspect of my Primal Trust mentorship). This requires a willingness to be in the body to recognize through developing "interoception skills" or the felt sense of one's True Nature.
4. Purpose- A desire to pursue our passions
b. What is it that your essence wants to do and experience in this precious human life? How do you want to serve humanity or nature? What makes you feel most aligned, authentic, and filled with passion? What gives you the most sense of self-respect and appreciation for your gifts and talents? We will explore this step in particular in greater detail below.
5. Courage- The willingness to withstand adversity in the process of expansion
a. What does it feel like to be willing to experience resistance while at the same time deciding to pursue your truth of being who you are meant to be? The pathway of transformation will always entail both internal and external resistance as well, and you must decide that you no longer feel powerless in those situations. This is the process of developing deep self-trust, which I call “Primal Trust” and living your life by deciding you are a resilient, capable being who deserves to be able to live a life you love.
Do you know the good news for most of you?
The good news for most of you that are reading this blog is that you can do this with the brain retraining practices you are already skilled at doing. And brain retraining is a great way to address the issues I first identified in this blog. Through creative visualization and practicing creating better feeling emotional states, you can attune your perception to a new reality where you deserve to and can have what you want. (For those that are not brain retraining you can learn more about what that is at my website or a brief explanation of the brain rewiring method I created on my YouTube channel. Some of the other skills I mentioned above, such as emotional literacy and interoception, are somatic awareness practices that I teach. I recommend my clients combine these skills with their current brain retraining to deepen their healing practice.)
The deal is (and this is something I wish I could broadcast loud and clear to you all)-
You need to know what you are rewiring into!
Let me repeat-
YOU MUST GET CLEAR ON WHAT YOU ARE REWIRING TOWARDS
This discovery is unique to YOU.
Without a clear understanding of who you really are, what you really want, and how you truly want to feel, your efforts to retrain might literally lead you in circles, like a ship without a rudder.
Yes, practicing brain retraining without a true sense of self or direction can and will reduce symptoms as it decreases the limbic threat response. That said, it is unlikely to produce real changes in your life if not done with a clear sense of purpose and outcome.
The brain needs a clear direction on which emotions, actions, beliefs, and personality traits you want to create. If you want your “True Self” to become a dominant neuropathway, you must discover who and what that is, and set a CLEAR INTENTION in your practice.
So now that you are aware that a specific focus is important, and I’ve given you a list of what is involved in the True Self-discovery process, I’d like to highlight what I believe the most impactful action you can take to “sift your true self out of the dross” is.
PURPOSE...PASSION...MISSION...CREATING
Did you know that studies show that living your purpose is a HUGE indicator of your health and wellbeing? In fact, I would say in my personal experience it is the magnet that pulled me out of the lifelong history of chronic trauma patterns, Lyme disease, mold toxicity, and a host of debilitating conditions beyond that.
Your purpose is your MAGNET that pulls your True Self out of the dross
I also believe that living your purpose and passions is what ultimately resolves trauma. The old identities simply cannot exist when you are creating a life you love. This is why in my work I am so focused on getting people to focus on creating rather than fixing. That’s one of my cornerstone teachings in my mentoring. You have to decide that what matters more is discovering your True Self and carve your neural pathways around creating a life that your true self desires.
You don’t have to be healed to live your purpose
The irony is that those I work with discover that it is in living their purpose, they feel healed!
There is something magical that happens when our identity shifts to the feeling like “I really can have what I want in life and I really can be my True Self and be loved, even if my body is imperfect.” Living this proclamation requires cultivating that Primal Trust- the innate sense that I am inherently okay. As we align with this deep self-trust, we create a felt sense of safety. It is in that sense of self-discovered inherent safety that we allow for our precious True Self Essence to shine once again in our life. We can use our amazing neuroplasticity practices to create this sense of safety, this clear focus for rewiring, and overcome our resistance to living our purpose.
When we are connected with purpose, we have a sense of direction, and we can be even more clear of what to rewire our minds towards. When you are living by being focused on purpose, or creating, rather than fixing, you will feel a magnetic pull into a life that is almost beyond your will! You will feel in a flow and you will notice synchronicity in your life that feels like you’ve stepped into a magical dimension at times. And when you rewire your focus to this aspect of True Self-alignment, you will notice that the health or relationship problems that once consumed you, simply are not dominating your life experience anymore, because you have found meaning.
I’ll be describing more of the magic unfolding in your life as you choose to focus on True Self-alignment and creation rather than allowing your false identities to be in the director role of your life. Stay tuned for part 3 of this series soon.
In the meantime, my most popular Primal Trust Mentorship for experienced brain retainers is available now to join anytime as an online recorded training. It is my personal purpose is to help awaken others to their true multidimensional nature and bring freedom from chronic illness issues. I’d love to have you join me in my mission.
Our healing is already inside of us, and it's in living aligned with our True Nature.
The old protective identities from part 1 of the blog simply cannot understand this. You must expand your consciousness above that old mindset to experience this freedom.
I hope this helps to reorient your brain retraining focus to discovering your True Nature. This was the great liberator from chronic Lyme disease for me, and I know it can help you as well. This video is part of my FREE online resiliency training that is guided meditation to start discovering your True Nature.
I have more free resources and brain rewiring practices on my YouTube, my Instagram @drcathleenking and my website
Dr. Cathleen King's “True Self” Bio
“I am a multidimensional woman of unbridled joy. I experience myself as a magical, disruptive, oracle of transformation. I love to create adventurous experiences for my family, and I am called to assist in awakening humanity to their true, multidimensional nature. I could play all day in the waters of the planet and pretend I’m a dolphin. And I get deep fulfillment by connecting deeply with others through thought-provoking conversations about the nature of reality. I dream about living in a co-created community focused on creating healing on this planet for people and nature.”
What about you? I’d love to meet your “True Self”- Introduce yourself to me in the comments below.
