By Alexx Shaw
Spiritual Enlightenment, Ego Death, Awakening…all destinations that we aspire towards, yet simultaneously intangible and abstract in our modern world. Where do we find these destinations? What are the differences between them? How do we awaken when we have a mind, an Ego, a brain that keeps us trapped in our perceived reality? If you’ve ever fallen into the depths of despair, been lying in your bed wondering what’s the point?, felt like you were losing your mind, or went through a period of time in which your entire life changed based on an alteration of perception, you have gone through an Ego Degradation…and you have begun to awaken. Ego Degradation is the journey; it’s pulling back the veil of illusion to see how your mind’s been programmed; and it’s a complete understanding that none of what you encounter is real, but only created by the Ego.
Scientifically, everything is the same. Everything in the universe is made up of energy, and it is only through the senses that we differentiate. This makes it very difficult for the Ego to understand Oneness, because it creates dualities: I and Other, light and dark, right and wrong, good and bad. Due to this creation of duality by the mind, humans identify themselves based on the characteristics of their personalities and physical attributes, subjective value systems, and societal programming, believing it’s who they are. Your physical body may be brunette, tall, and culturally perceived as beautiful or handsome. Your Ego’s personality traits may be viewed as funny, intelligent, and spontaneous. Your Ego’s value system could be societally or religiously viewed as moral, upstanding, and honest. However, all of these perceptions are not who you are, but instead programmed value systems placed upon the Ego. Who you are is who and what everything is: the universe manifested in physical form. It is only the Ego that is telling you otherwise.
The Ego likes to play tricks on us, telling us that what we see and feel are ultimate facts, when in reality, they’re simply programmed beliefs. One of these tricks that the Ego plays is to create judgments, and judgments come from two things: biological systems in order to keep the body safe and the species going, and persuaded value systems. When you look at the examples presented, perceiving a physical body as attractive can have different outcomes both biologically and socially. Biologically, the response will either be ‘I am attracted to them and want to procreate,’ or ‘Their attractiveness lessens my possibility of procreation and now they are a threat.’ This isn’t cognitive, but purely biological. However, when you add in the Ego’s judgments, you have a completely new set of feelings, thoughts, and actions, and these feelings, thoughts, and actions can overtake your life if you’re not mindful about them. In this particular situation, the feelings and thoughts could be jealousy, envy, admiration, awe, appreciation, triggering, assumptions, expectations, comparison, humility, and scrutiny. The fear is no longer solely about not having the best options for procreation, but also not feeling worthy enough, loved enough, and the Ego’s newfound desire for your body to be just like this other body, claim this other body, or find fault with this other body and ‘prove’ both externally and internally why they are not a threat. The issue is not inherently with judgments, but when the Ego attaches to these judgments so strongly that they effect mental peace, and ultimately, possibly lead to an Ego Degradation. The stronger the attachments the Ego has, the more painful Ego Degradation is, and the stronger it needs to be in order to have the same effect. When we have an Ego Degradation, we understand that we are not what the Ego tells us we are, but instead one and the same.
To disallow the Ego from attaching to created judgments, we must ask ourselves why do I have this judgment? Mindfulness is always the answer with regards to becoming acutely aware of not only how your Ego goes through its day-to-day, but also the programming that it has been taught. A simple judgment on another body’s appearance can be ground down until ultimately, you recognize what the judgment stems from, which is usually trauma. It’s easy enough to state “I hate this actor/actress because they seem so dumb,” but it’s quite another to dig deeper and acknowledge the programming this abstract perception has become relationally to your Ego. Maybe your partner finds this actor/actress attractive, and you utilize the judgment of intelligence to knock their image down a peg. Maybe this actor/actress said something in an interview that your Ego didn’t agree with. Maybe you were the ‘nerd’ in school and never got your crush’s attention so you’re being triggered. Maybe this actor/actress has played a role in the past that hit close to home regarding something you went through, and your Ego has drawn a parallel (also trauma). Maybe you find their body covetable and utilize your ability to cognitively judge as a way to self-soothe. Judgements are created by something that you have experienced and have been taught; they are not born from the ether with zero egoic reasoning behind them. What you’re able to learn in asking why is that what you believed you had a hatred towards is in actuality related to an egoic trauma. Become aware of this, acknowledge it, and understand it. The more you understand your own mind, the less attached to things you become. When you are non-attached, the less the Ego has control over you, and the less an Ego Degradation will cause pain when you go through one.
The Ego is not a “bad” thing. We need the Ego to live on this plane of existence and function within our bodies and society. We need the Ego to keep our bodies safe, to fall in love, to discern, to experience life as a human. What we do not need the Ego for is to cause us perpetual stress, anxiety, depression, and irritation. We do not need the Ego to sublimate its own emotions, or create assumptions, expectations, or attach to judgments. The Ego is a tool for our benefit, just like the senses, but as we have evolved, so has the Ego, and we now allow it to run our lives, unaware that the Ego is in control instead of the other way around. We must become perpetual watchers of the Ego, mindful of what it does and willing to dig deeply into the why. If Ego Degradation happens to you, it will help to alleviate all of the falsities the Ego has made you believe, and the beauty of an Ego Degradation is that afterwards, you can re-program the Ego to your own preferences, heal deep-seated traumas that you were never previously able to touch, and be aware of how the Ego spins stories based on its taught narrative. Ego Degradation allows you to see beyond the dreamscapes the Ego creates and understand your power as the universe interconnected to all whilst not egoically affected by any.
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About the Book:
If you’ve ever hit rock bottom and then completely changed how you live and do things, you’ve gone through an Ego Degradation. If you’ve ever had physical symptoms that you couldn’t explain – your personality becoming unrecognizable to your friends and family – you’ve gone through an Ego Degradation. If you’ve ever felt like you were losing your mind but came out more spiritual, more aware, more connected, then you’ve gone through an Ego Degradation.
Ego Degradation is the ‘how’ to awakening, and it is the reason awakening comes with so many physical symptoms: when the mind can no longer take its falsely understood existence and thereby strips itself of programming. Utilizing science and psychology to explain how the brain and society create programming within the ego, as well as philosophy and spirituality to give step-by-step actions on how to overcome emotions and feelings that surface with trauma and triggers, Ego Degradation explains that what is experienced by who you believe yourself to be is, truly, mere perception.
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About the Author:
Alexx Shaw has been working in the field of Eastern Healing for over fifteen years. She is a certified Master Herbalist; 500- hour certified Yoga instructor; certified Energy Healer, Chakra Healer, Cacao Ceremony Facilitator, and Reiki Master. Alexx comes from a strong academic background, receiving her MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies from the University of Manchester and was pursuing her doctorate in Philosophy and Art Theory before joining the holistic sphere.
Shaw has contributed to major platforms including Tiny Buddha (over 3 million monthly readers), where her work was featured in their yearly calendar, Purpose Fairy (over 1 million monthly readers), and Yogi Times. Additionally, she served as a resident art critic for Flavorpill, White Hot Magazine of Contemporary Art, ArtScene Magazine, and Valley Scene Magazine, with her critiques appearing in international publications like Abitare and translated into over 30 languages. She lives in Las Vegas, NA.
Publication Information:
Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-917704-60-1
Category: Nonfiction | Mind, Body & Spirit | Self-help
Release date: 30 June 2026
Price: $22.95 | £15.99
Size: 8.5×5.5 inches | 216×140 mm
Page count: 264PP
E-book
ISBN: 978-1-917704-65-6
Price: $11.99 | £7.99
