The Outer, the Inner, and the Upper Me.

James W. Falcon, MSOL, CLSSBB

Written: Aug. 13 2023, 3am, EST | Published; Aug. 13, 12:52pm, EST

5.6 minute read 

     Over the past several years I have grown increasingly passionate about self-love.  I’ve combed through scores of articles, blog posts, and science journals.  At each sitting, I typically have multiple tabs open in each of the internet browsers I use with information on the topic that I toggle back and forth

between constantly.  I am convinced that self-love is the best catalyst for personal growth and development and the best, most effective means of performance intervention…period!  That said, I examined the definition of self-love from the Brain and behavior Research Foundation for the 1000th time to observe the same vase on the coffee table from a new perspective.  Here is the definition for ease of reading…

Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth. Self-love means having a high regard for your own well-being and happiness. Self-love means taking care of your own needs and not sacrificing your well-being to please others. Self-love means not settling for less than you deserve.

Borenstein, M.D., 2020

    A closer look at the sentence, “Self-love is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological and spiritual growth”  prompted me to ask the question why were those three areas grouped together that way?  And why were those three areas selected from all the aspects of what it means to be human?  So, I had another reason to do some digging and to open another 20 or so google tabs.  And here’s what I found.  

     It seems there is everything but a consensus on how many parts of the human make up there are.  From advisors to bloggers to physicians to practitioners across a number of disciplines to scientists and spiritual gurus.  Some say there are as few as 3 or 4 and as many as 9.  For the purposes of this post, I’m going to camp out at 4 based on the explanations of two sources.  Before I launch it is important to offer the following definition in order to properly frame the subject matter.  What I am referring to “as the parts of the human make up,” others are calling, levels, bodies, auras, dimensions or energy.  I’ll simply stick to levels.  Two sources in particulate stood out to me that I believe are worth mentioning.  The first, Kimberly Fosu, a blogger for the popular site, medium.com tells us that there are in fact 4 distinct parts of the human make up in her post entitled, The Four levels of the self in which she describes them thusly…

The human self consists of four levels: the, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies.  Each level makes up 25% of our being and wholeness.  In order for us to feel complete, balanced and fulfilled, we need to heal, develop, and integrate all four levels of the self without ignoring any level.

Fosu, 2021

     The second, Jill Willard, also explains humans as 4 part beings via her post entitled, The four bodies, in which she says definitely…

our “bodies” are actually made up of four distinct parts—physical, emotional, mental, spiritual—and while three of them seem intangible and ephemeral, they actually have a physical presence. “These are additional rings around your body…in fact, a lot of extra physical weight is actually in the emotional body—it’s as though the physical expands to eat up the space allotted to the emotional ring(Willard, 2015).”

Willard, 2015

I can’t help but to think that a human being, in all of our complexity can be reduced so easily into a summary assigned to any number, let alone 4. However, having found two authors describing 4 pretty credibly was enough for me to join the 4 club without much hesitation nor reservation. 

Another point that must be broached is why those four?  Keeping in mind the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation only mentions 3 part.  I am submitting a 2-part explanation for why I am comfortable with the number 4 and the specific parts Willard & Folsom chose.  The first part of the explanation I am drawing from Foso’s mention that the totality of the human self is being in 4 parts.  The second part of my explanation, I am also drawing from Fosu’s mention of the 4 parts providing the all important element of balance in that a masculine and feminine harmony are afforded us through which we must focus to obtain and live in optimum health and wellbeing.   Fosu describes the balance and the need for balance in the following manner…

The physical and mental levels are the masculine aspects of the self and emotional and spiritual levels are feminine aspects. Many of us are out of touch with our masculine and feminine bodies because we focus on two aspects of the self ignoring the other two. When we are solely in our masculine body, we are focused on the physical and mental side of things ignoring the feminine body. We assume showing emotions makes us weak and spirituality is crazy talk. When we are stuck in our feminine body, we focus on the emotional and spiritual ignoring the physical and mental. We allow our emotions to consume us and we spiritually bypass.

Fosu, 2021

But that stills leaves me with a matter to resolve.  My description of the human make up is the outer, the inner and the upper me.   So I must make the case for condensing 4 parts into 3.  Math was never my strong suit but I believe I can tackle this math problem quickly, easily and within a reasonable amount of time.  I was always and will always be the science guy and I make absolutely no apologies for that, at all!  

     So, here goes…there is not much wiggle room to make a case.  One author describes the parts as “rings around the physical body”(Willard, 2015). and one author refers to at least 3 of the 4 parts as being internal and speaks to a need of those parts as being “integrating in a way that facilitates healing and wholeness(Fosu, 2023).  That said I’m going to assign the emotional level part, and body to the  “outer me” because (Willard, 2015)  says, “a lot of extra physical weight is actually in the emotional body—it’s as though the physical expands to eat up the space allotted to the emotional ring.”

“Therefore my breakdown is as follows; the physical body is the “outter me;” which includes the emotional and the physical parts.  The mental or psychological  I’m going to assign as the “inner me;”  and the spiritual level I am tagging as the “upper me” because it is commonly referred to as the “higher self.”  

In conclusion, I now have a much better understanding of the 4 parts, why they were selected, linked together, and why.  There!  I think I can effectively call that a descent day’s work.  

_________

References: 

Borenstein, J. (2020, February 12). Self-love and what it means. Brain & Behavior Research Foundation https://www.bbrfoundation.org/blog/self-love-and-what-it-means 

Fosu, K. (2021, anuary 12). The four levels of the self. Medium. https://medium.com/mystic-minds/the-four-levels-of-the-self-7b5f09020678 

Willard, J. (2015, April 9). The four bodies – physical, emotional, Mental & Spiritual | Goop. Goop.com. https://goop.com/wellness/spirituality/the-four-bodies/ 

_________

All information in this blog post are the intellectual property of the author, James W. Falcon and his helps network, Encouragement Is Key, unless otherwise noted. Any information drawn from this post should be cited properly using standard scholastic writing guidelines and/or used with the express written consent of James or his Network.

_________

James W. Falcon, MSOL, CLSSBB, CMLC is Certified Master Life Coach and holds certifications in 15 different coaching areas, including a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. 

He is also the founder & principal life coach of A New Horizon Life Coaching Products & Virtual Services-a 5-Star coaching practice that provides coaching support for life, relationships, business and career related goal pursuits.  The practice is a subsidiary of his helps network, Encouragement Is Key, 2023.

Contact info:

James W. Falcon, MSOL, CLSSBB

email: anewhorizonlifecoachinglcpvs@gmail.com

Website: https://wp.me/PcGncE-5

Phone: 855.962.6324