At some point in life, many of us ask ourselves:
Who am I, really?
We may search for the answer in our careers, relationships, personality, achievements, spirituality, and even our personal growth. We may try to understand ourselves through our past experiences: what happened to us, what shaped us, what we like, what we fear, and what we believe.
But according to Ilchi Lee, the founder of Body & Brain, these things are not our True Self.
They are information we have accumulated about ourselves.
Underneath that information, there is something deeper.
The Self You Learned to Be
From the moment we are born, we begin collecting information.
We learn our name. We learn what our family expects from us. We learn what brings approval and what brings rejection. We experience success, failure, love, disappointment, fear, joy, and many other conditions of life.
Slowly, these experiences begin forming an identity.
I am successful.
I am not good enough.
I am shy.
I am strong.
I need to prove myself.
This is just who I am.
Some of this information may be useful. Some of it may be painful. Some of it may have helped us survive or adapt.
But Ilchi Lee teaches that this accumulated identity is not the deepest truth of who we are.
Thoughts change.
Emotions change.
Circumstances change.
Even the story we tell about ourselves can change.
So if all of these things can change, what is underneath them?
Your True Self
At Body & Brain, we refer to the deeper, essential self that exists beneath thoughts, emotions, memories, judgments, and conditioning as the True Self.
True Self is not something you need to create. It is the original self that is already within you.
The True Self can be understood as our original nature: the part of us connected to life itself. It is associated with qualities such as love, peace, acceptance, gratitude, creativity, and a deeper sense of connection.
This is why discovering your True Self is different from trying to create a better version of yourself.
You are not adding something.
You are uncovering something.
Imagine a clear sky covered by clouds. The clouds may become so thick that you forget the blue sky is there. But the sky itself has not disappeared.
In the same way, fear, stress, expectations, judgments, and repeated thoughts can cover our awareness of True Self.
The Body & Brain practice helps people begin clearing away some of that noise through mindful movement, energy training, and creating a deeper self-awareness. As the body relaxes and the mind becomes more empty, you can begin to observe what is temporary and reconnect with what is deeper inside.
Living From Your True Self
Discovering True Self is not only about understanding who we are. It is also about how we choose to live.
Our thoughts, emotions, past experiences, and expectations will always be part of us. But they do not have to define us or determine every choice we make.
We can feel fear and still choose courage.
We can experience sadness without losing our center.
We can notice an old belief or pattern and recognize that it may no longer reflect the person we want to be.
As we become more aware of these patterns, we create more space to listen to something deeper within ourselves.
Little by little, the qualities of True Self — love, peace, gratitude, acceptance, creativity, and connection — can become more present in the way we think, choose, speak, and relate to others.
Living from True Self does not mean becoming someone different. It means allowing more of who you truly are to be expressed through the way you live.
A Question to Reflect On
Take a moment to ask yourself:
Am I living from my false self, shaped by the thoughts, emotions, and information I have accumulated, or am I living from my True Self?
This isn't a question we have to answer in our mind, rather, it is something we can explore by turning our attention deeper inward.
At Body & Brain, practices such as Qigong, meditation, energy training, and self-reflection help us become more aware of the thoughts, emotions, and patterns that influence us, and create space to experience something deeper within ourselves.
The journey to the True Self begins with where we place our awareness.
And sometimes, it begins with one simple question:
Who am I, really?
If you’d like to explore this question more deeply, we invite you to learn more about the Finding True Self Workshop. You’re welcome to speak with your local Body & Brain instructor or reach out to us at retreats@bodynbrain.com to see if it may be a meaningful next step in your practice.