What is real freedom? This is, first of all, internal freedom, which gives an extraordinary perception of life and the surrounding reality. To become an internally free person, you need to take off your psychological masks, which we are used to changing like gloves, and gain freedom from your own past and all the negativity in it.

This often happens - a person is confused in himself, wants to understand his feelings, but does not know how. Perhaps he wants to find his true self, to become internally free, but some unknown burden prevents him from gaining this freedom, spreading his wings and living without oppression negative emotions, fears, doubts and eternal uncertainty about the future.

First of all, what hinders a person is his psychological masks, which he is used to wearing throughout life, changing depending on the situation. Each mask corresponds to a specific role of a person, the image that he tries to maintain. What a person is like in the family, at work, on stage, in society, in a store or when he is just walking down the street. At home, we can wear the masks of exemplary family men or, on the contrary, grumpy and grumpy house builders. At the same time, the same person can be exceptionally polite and tactful at work, helpful to superiors and coo affectionately with work colleagues. In any public place he will try to be the center of attention. And alone with yourself - to be thoughtful, gloomy and self-critical.

The masks we change

Everyone can have many psychological masks. All of them gradually accumulate throughout life as a result of certain events when we were hurt, unpleasant, when we were humiliated, criticized, rejected and deprived of attention. A mask is our defensive reaction, an outer shell behind which we hide from our true emotions, from our inner suffering world. At the same time, psychological masks are the product of everything that we have accumulated within ourselves, all our convictions, beliefs, adopted meanings, rules, parental attitudes, our uncryed tears, unexpressed grievances, fears, complexes and suppressed emotions.

To find out what real life is, a person must first of all know his real self. From early childhood, especially if it was unhappy, if the parents tried hard and laid it in their child great amount complexes, instilled a feeling of guilt, paid him little attention and love, taught him to lead a “double” life: to express outer obedience and submission, while suppressing his protest and indignation, a person gets used to the splitting of his own personality, to feel one thing inside and not dare to express it and show your true self.

The pressure of demands, constant suggestions and demonstrations that we are worth little on our own, that love must be earned by good behavior and obedience, leads to the fact that most people grow up with the firm conviction that it is safer to hide their emotions inside and adapt to external circumstances. or otherwise. It becomes a habit to experience everything within yourself. Over time, there are more and more roles and all a person has time to do is change masks and adapt to external circumstances.

How to become free

The mental burden subsequently does not allow one to abandon one’s roles and masks. It is he who prevents you from feeling real inner freedom- freedom to be yourself. People grow accustomed to their masks, images, and get used to living under the yoke of their own and those adopted from others beliefs, rules, and patterns of behavior. For modern society it is characteristic to “seem” and not “to be.” And a person cannot feel real inner freedom while his mental burden presses on him.

True inner freedom is, of course, not permissiveness. The absence of rules and the rejection of dogmas, rules and false beliefs does not mean at all that you need to go over your head, rubbing everything and everyone in your path. We are talking about freedom from everything unnecessary to a person. After all, all his mental baggage (all thoughts and conclusions, attitudes and rules), all the pain of the past and the negativity held inside - all this is the result of past events, grievances, shocks and lack of attention, stored in the subconscious. But this is not the person himself. Our real feelings and the real us are hidden behind our masks, our mental burden, which force us to act, show emotions, react and express ourselves “automatically”.

We act in one way or another, we think, we feel aggression, feelings of guilt, we fall into depression, apathy and laziness, we are jealous, we feel envy and anger, not because we are like that and nothing can be done about it, but because it sits inside us a lot of disparate personalities, a huge amount of charged material that makes us express ourselves this way.

To gain inner freedom, freedom from the past and everything that we have accumulated in our subconscious as a result is necessary. Freedom from mental burden, from everything false that we have adopted, all absorbed beliefs and meanings, from our psychological masks. This is the only way to achieve internal integrity so that parts of our personality stop fighting inside, the “automatic machines” of reaction stop working and emotional experiences, manifestations of our fears. Through gaining this inner freedom, a person is able to experience a new perception of himself and the world around him.

And already in this new state, he will not only perceive himself differently, but also show himself to others differently. Respect for someone else's right to self-determination, someone else's right to choose begins to be felt by a person who, having freed himself from his mental baggage, understands that he himself initially had these rights. That is why real inner freedom is not permissiveness, it is a new state, a new sense of self, which is difficult to fully describe verbally, it can only be felt. Turbo gopher system may be useful in this endeavor. Free flights!

The information in this article is the result personal experience its author, all articles are written based on their own results of using the system and are not intended to convince anyone of anything.

This site is a personal initiative of its author and has no relation to the author of the Turbo-Suslik technique, Dmitry Leushkin.

Despite the fact that the topic of freedom seems so attractive, most people prefer to run away from it like hell (this is a famous phenomenon described by Erich Fromm in his book “Flight from Freedom”). At the same time, some sincerely lie to themselves that they are actually free, that they can do whatever they want, without noticing or not wanting to notice that the scope of their freedom is reliably and strictly limited by the norms of education, bourgeois or intellectual morality, parental attitudes, and behavioral stereotypes.

As Goethe said on this matter, " greatest slavery- not having freedom, consider yourself free"(“Selective Affinity”). In this they resemble alcoholics who, drinking a “chekushka” every evening, sincerely believe that they are not slaves to alcohol, but are just “cultured drinkers.”

The first step to freedom

As with any illness, where the path to recovery begins with the recognition of the very fact that you, friend, are sick, the path to gaining inner freedom begins with the realization that you are, in fact, a slave. First of all, a slave of the ways of thinking “installed” into your unconscious during education and socialization, worldviews, rules of conduct, decision-making criteria, etc., etc., that are inadequate to reality.

As a result, many things that a person would like or could do and that would bring him new opportunities, new resources, pleasure in life, happiness, comfort and mental well-being, he does not do, because “it is indecent”, “shameful”, "So normal people they don’t” and other “stoppers”. As a result, he lives a relatively well-fed and safe life, deceiving himself every single day that everything is, in general, not bad for him, that he lives, in principle, no worse than others.

“The unhappy fate of many people is the consequence of the choice they did not make. They are neither alive nor dead. Life turns out to be a burden, a pointless pursuit, and deeds are only a means of protection from the torment of existence in the kingdom of shadows.”

Erich Fromm.

Recognizing oneself as a slave is unpleasant, uncomfortable, painful for pride, but without this one cannot gain inner freedom. You can lay clean, fresh parquet on a holey, rotten floor, and for a while everything will be fine, for a while the illusion of “repair” will work. But one day the floor will collapse along with the parquet and the unlucky poor fellow who laid it.

Methodically squeeze out the slave drop by drop

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, in a letter to his colleague Alexei Suvorin, advised:

“Write a story about how a young man, the son of a serf, a former shopkeeper, a choirboy, a high school student and a student, brought up on honoring rank, kissing priests’ hands, worshiping other people’s thoughts, thanked for every piece of bread, was flogged many times, went to class without Galosh, who fought, tormented animals, loved to dine with rich relatives, was a hypocrite to both God and people without any need, only out of consciousness of his insignificance - write how this young man squeezes out a slave drop by drop, and how he, waking up one fine morning, feels that it is no longer slave blood flowing in his veins, but real human blood...”

Suvorin did not write the story, but the phrase became a catchphrase.

It is precisely squeezing slaves out of oneself drop by drop that is the only possible, reliable and effective strategy for gaining inner freedom. This process is not very pleasant, painful, since you have to tear out from the flesh of your consciousness the slavish attitudes and ideas about life that have firmly sprouted there. A comfortable walk around seashore(as many people imagine the process of personal growth) it certainly is not.

Well, it’s generally clear what exactly to do. And now, please, how exactly to “squeeze the slave out of yourself,” how to increase the level of inner freedom in yourself? Perhaps this is the question that interests the reader most of all. And perhaps I will disappoint him by saying that how - this, in fact, is the whole process of methodical and consistent (but unlike technical instructions) personal growth, regular work to squeeze out various kinds of blockages from your psyche. Yes, there are special techniques for this, but it’s not about the techniques, it’s about intention and self-discipline. What good is a pistol if at the right moment there is no internal readiness to pull the trigger to shoot?

On the way to freedom

The main obstacle on the path to freedom is not outside, but inside. This concentrated expression of all the restrictions imposed by society on an individual can be called an internal controller or supervisor. You can consider it a “program”, an aspect, a subpersonality, inner voice, Freudian Super-Ego - the name is not important. It is important to understand its function. And it is very simple - not to let you go beyond what is permitted by the prevailing system of ideas about life in society (morality, culture, historical and ideological mythologies, etc.).

The overseer points out what to think about and what not to do, because it is “indecent”, “shameful”, “shameful”, “inconvenient”, “not good”, “wrong”, “bad” and so on and so forth. . Since you are not aware of the fact that your behavior is controlled by an overseer, it seems that it is all you think and do, that it is your choice. But that's not true.

Path to freedom- this is the way to weaken the overseer. It is impossible to defeat him, and it is not necessary, since such a victory means a final break with society, and therefore a refusal of self-realization, because self-realization involves active participation in society, promoting its change and development. The desire for absolute freedom, in essence, is a fiction, unattainable within the framework of an individual human life.

And in order to weaken the taskmaster, you need to be strong. Strong in your spirit. Become aware of and control your aspirations, desires and other motivations. This is again the path of working on oneself, the path of serious, adult personal growth.

Surrounded by slaves

Many researchers have noticed that, despite all the progress in social relations, people did not become freer because of it. The reason here is that freedom also has a downside - you have to be responsible for it. Before yourself. Since all your decisions have consequences, and the consequences tend to affect you most directly, before you take any serious step, you need to think carefully and weigh the risks. It’s easier for a person who is not free - others make decisions for him. And even though he still feels the consequences on his own skin, the responsibility for this can always be shifted onto others - they say, “it’s their fault.” This makes your soul feel more comfortable.

Therefore, most people are internally slaves. This makes it easier and simpler for them. These slaves, like dogs tamed by humans, can be different. Well-fed slaves, hungry and dissatisfied slaves, well-groomed slaves, well-fed slaves, idle slaves, chain slaves, pitiful slaves in their insignificance, slaves in the “grain place”, retired slaves and so on. But one cannot despise them for this; only weak and vile people mock the unfortunate.

Therefore, we need the understanding that everyone around us is slaves, first of all, to understand one simple, but seemingly terrifying thought (from the point of view of the internal “overseer”). This idea is as follows: the opinion of others is always the opinion of slaves, and the value of the opinion of slaves is equivalent to the value of a dog barking at a passing caravan. In other words, the quality of an internally free person is a complete disregard for the opinions of others. Agree, the idea is seditious. But there is no other way.

Inner freedom is the basis of successful self-realization

Obviously, the fewer boundaries there are within a person, the more successful he is in his actions, since he is able to do such things and solve problems in such ways that an ordinary person cannot even think about, since they are beyond his slave worldview.

For example, it did not occur to people with a slavish worldview that medicine could be extracted from mold (the invention of penicillin by Fleming), because mold is “poop”, delving into it is “indecent”, it is somehow inconvenient when asked by others - “what are you doing?” ?" - answer “I’m digging in the mold.” It's not solid somehow.

If we imagine this in the form of a metaphor, then a free person climbs a tree (that is, engages in personal growth) and from there surveys life in all its breadth and splendor, understands what’s what, where, where, where and why. While an internally unfree person with a slave morality tramples around, because climbing up is scary and requires effort, if only without any difficulty! And immediately at the top. And the unfree one sees only bushes, trunks, windbreaks and the darkness of the forest. And so he lives his life in ignorance and according to other people’s rules, without realizing his potential. Sorry for him.

Therefore, for those who want to build their life themselves, according to their own canons, according to their own, developed, suffered, based on real facts worldview. Who wants to live their life happily, fully, doing what they want, to realize their life purpose, building his relationship with the world in a way that suits him. For such people, the question of gaining inner freedom is a matter of a breath of oxygen. Without any "either-or".

If you are free in a relationship, then you do not condition your behavior on how your partner will react to it. For example, you allow yourself to be angry and express anger because you want to, and don’t stop yourself because a loved one is offended by it.

But here you need to understand one rule:
If you do not limit yourself to responsibilities and rules with other people, then the psyche begins to compensate by the appearance of an internal structure (that is, internal rules and restrictions of a neurotic nature will begin to appear). Therefore, to preserve yourself, it is important to build your own, internal structure, your own rules and restrictions, and not those of others (public or parental).
For example: “I can express and do something contrary to the prohibitions of relatives or people around me, but at the same time clearly understand why I am doing it, what values ​​I am defending and what goals I am pursuing, taking into account my own responsibility and the consequences of my actions. Then I am truly free."
Thus:
If you are free in a relationship with another person, you can behave with him in accordance with your needs and desires. If you are a psychopath, then that's all. If not, and relationships with others are important to you, then you listen to their desires and needs. And you can satisfy them (if it is in your power), or you can not satisfy them. The feeling of freedom for you comes from having a choice and the strength to implement it.

What else is important for gaining inner freedom?

Cost of an hour of consultation with a psychologist

First of all it is required mobility and flexibility. You can cling to your rules and principles, and hold on to them even when they have lost all relevance and are causing harm. Then we can talk about internal lack of freedom, turning oneself into a slave of principles, which ignores the meaning inherent in previously adopted rules. Principle for the sake of principle, fixed idea. Provided that internal beliefs and principles cannot effectively resolve life's difficulties, an internal conflict inevitably arises, to which the brain reacts different symptoms: from diseases to mental illnesses.

The second thing that is important for inner freedom it is the presence of alternatives and associated prospects.

Here are some examples:

• The adult son had been trying all his life to get love and recognition from his cold, rejecting mother, and he had no other alternatives - until he thought about the fact that it was apparently impossible to achieve this love... ;
• A woman, obsessed with order and tired of the eternal struggle for “cleanliness” with her family, began to gain freedom the moment she thought about the question of whether there was any alternative to a scrubbed apartment;
• The husband, who did not even allow the thought of getting a divorce and felt himself in real bondage, began to breathe differently when he allowed himself to think about divorce and realized (with his whole being!) its possibility. There was no need to get a divorce...

Awareness of the existence of alternatives is the beginning of freedom. If there are no alternatives, there is no freedom and no prospects. But this is only the beginning, since you still need to be able to take advantage of the alternative.
Awareness " I want and can do it differently!“comes along with the fact that when you start doing something differently, then you gain strength for something else. You don't have to do everything differently, just having a clear vision of other options and knowing that you can take advantage of them is enough to feel freedom and change in your relationships with people and social institutions.
Otherwise everything remains “just in your head”, but breathing will not become easier. And these " you are not capable of anything», « it's all useless», « there's no point in trying», « nothing can change anyway"and so on are beneficial only to those who are already satisfied with what they live in. And this is no joke. But then there is nothing to complain about.

Third component is non-attachment or the desire for it. We ourselves are deprived of freedom when another person has something that we need. It could be something concretely material, or it could be something else - for example, or recognition from this particular person. In this case, you personally “give” gains power over you.

Exit- start learning " finish building» yourself to another person on whom you are dependent. Learn to get what he has, but in his own ways. And if he wants, he will give you what you need. If he wants...

Finally so that you know exactly when you are depriving yourself of freedom:

1. You deprive yourself of freedom when you do not come up with a conscious alternative (choice).
2. You deprive yourself of freedom when you do everything to deprive yourself of the strength/energy to pursue alternatives. And this is exactly: you make scandals, cry, take pills, blame yourself, think negatively, etc.
3. You deprive yourself of freedom when you create a fixed idea that you are obsessed with.
4. You deprive yourself of freedom when another person has what you want to get from him at any cost.

How to find inner freedom and harmony in the soul?

If you start asking yourself the question “How to find inner freedom?”, this is the first signal that something is bothering you, something is stopping you from realizing your thoughts, something is slowing you down inside, and this has a bad effect not only on emotions, but also on health.

Each person has some attitudes that have been ingrained in us since childhood. Growing up, we don’t notice that we often think not with our thoughts, speak not with our words, and do what we are used to. We lose inner freedom, and, therefore, we lose ourselves.

A small number of people have inner freedom. And this, of course, does not mean that they do not have any boundaries and limitations, they are simply much fewer than everyone else.

By setting barriers for ourselves, we complicate our lives and create unnecessary problems, and then we grab our heads and try to solve them. Even the world we begin to see through the prism of our own frames.

Without inner freedom, we become dissatisfied with the world around us. We are not satisfied with the man next to us, but habit wins, and we don’t want to be alone. Or you can love your partner, give him your warmth, share joy, watch sunrises and chat about nothing.

If we are tired of work, but it brings money, then we work. True, the money is only enough to survive. Or you can do what you love, help people and receive gratitude in return. A .

Don't like the area you live in or the city? A person with inner freedom will definitely move, and will not criticize his country and home.

But it's never too late to change everything. Only we are responsible for our lives. And we, within the framework of our attitudes, make the right or wrong choice. Then we realize everything, but it’s too late, life passes. And it becomes a pity for missed opportunities. Yes, and because of our framework, we forget who we really are, real. But we have a chance to change everything, because there are no right or wrong actions, but only actions that make us better.

What to do to find inner freedom?

Trust the Universe. She knows what is best for us and will give us happy opportunities.

You are responsible for your own life. It's up to you what decision to make.

Be yourself, don't follow the lead of others.

The concept of right or wrong is relative. There are only life lessons and invaluable experiences in the world.

You can change your life for the better at any moment because you are the master of your destiny.

Love yourself and accept all aspects of yourself.

Reduce control over the surrounding reality.

To gain inner freedom, you need to work on yourself: deal with your fears and attitudes. This will not be easy to do because it is difficult to think differently from the way we are used to.

Reviews (3) on How to find inner freedom and harmony in the soul?

Work on oneself must be carried out, but who wants to become what, that is the question. More and more often I come across the statement that any activity (be it work, hobby, study) must be carried out with love and for people, then it is provided, but it will not come overnight. Everything takes time. For me, the main thing in life is: do not cultivate selfishness and selfishness, greed, cynicism. Do not harm others while you are moving towards your goal

Spasibo za interesnuju statju- est nad them podumat.. Menja na protazenii wsei zizni inogda muthal etot wopros: “Pothemu mi segda prisluschiwaemsa k thuzomu mneniju po rescheniju woprosa?” I ne sekret, wed sometimes, thtobi ne obidet theloweka. ostawlaem prawo reschenija za nim.. i otxodim w storonu.. a potom nosim w sebe tazest neudowletworennosti konethnim rezultatom i obidu na sebja, thto wse realizowalos ne tak, kak ti etogo xotela. Prithini zdes opat taki iz dalekogo proschlogo; Nas s detstwa uthili ogladiwatsa po sideronam. “Athto skazut drugie? Torgowat ne poidem- spekulantom nazowut.. broskuju odezdu ne odewai- skazut wiradilas.. rabotu na bolee oplathewaemuju ne pomenaju- ludi skazut- pognalas za bolschim karmanom.. Mnogoe w zizni zawisit ot zuzogo mnenija, wed ranse mi daze odetsa mogli, how xotim.. ludi obsmotrat i kritiki ne obereschsa. A NA TANZ PLOSCHADKAX 70 godow- kakaja wnutrennaja swoboda? Tanzewat tolko tak, kak dozwoleno.. i w protiwnom sluthae srazu tebja DND pod ruthki.. i k wixodu.. Seithas w eto wremja ludi stali namnogo swobodnee- sami mogut reschat wse woprosi., thto i raduet. Wproschlom ludi inogda ne mogli pomenat nelubimuju rabotu tolko po tomu.., thto stojali w otheredi na poluthenie kwartiri ili mesta w sadike. DA- ETO BESKONETHNAJA TEMA RAZGOWORA: No esli budesch obretat wnutrennuju swobodu tolko tak, thtobi tebe bilo xoroscho, toze smotra thto.. wsegda radom est ludi, kotorie dorogi nam i ix mnenie toze wazno-mi s nimi ziwem. THANK YOU!!

Once again, when you open your eyes, out of habit you scroll through everything that is planned for the day. And every time there are more and more bright and pleasant moments that you look forward to. This, perhaps, is freedom - to do exactly what you like...

I remember the moments when I was just starting to engage in self-development and I didn’t even have plans to open my own blog in my thoughts, I didn’t even think about the issues of freedom, happiness and good nature. Perhaps that is why they should be separated from each other.

Most often, questions of continuous self-improvement come to business people who are accustomed to competition and understand that without it it is impossible to stay on the podium. They are looking for opportunities to increase their time, achieve goals, and improve the quality of their own productivity. This is commendable, but...

Many of them forget about the other side of self-development – ​​the development of the soul. We are accustomed to the fact that we constantly train our brain (consider education) and body, but it is not customary to think about our own soul and taste for life. I won't say what this leads to. My readers are so smart that they are able to imagine the tragedy of spiritual emptiness with tangible physical success.

However, developing the soul is the most difficult and lengthy task. There are also no boundaries here, but there is something more. Although... today I wanted to talk about how to find inner freedom. This post at least complements the topic spiritual development, but still does not reveal its entire essence. Therefore, if you do not want to miss material on this topic, I advise you to subscribe to blog updates.

So how to find freedom? What needs to be done to ensure that every day brings only satisfaction, and does not represent a series of tasks that drain vitality? We'll talk about this below.

How to find inner freedom

Each person has his own answer to the question of how to find inner freedom. I’ll tell you what principle I adhere to. I'm not saying that it is the only true one or that it can even work for other people. I just want you to understand the very essence of inner freedom and at least try to get closer to it.

Essentially, I understand it this way: you just do what you are passionate about, while experiencing real pleasure in life. Surely this is difficult to understand, since we are convinced of our beliefs, and I am not particularly good at putting words into sentences.

It’s just that we often copy other people’s beliefs or they are simply imposed on us. At the same time, we can be firmly confident in the absolute authenticity of our views. But that's not true. You only need to try the actions that resonate in your heart once, and you will forever learn to distinguish them from hundreds of others. It’s impossible to describe (at least for me), all you have to do is try it.

I have formulated a short and simple rule. I have noticed more than once that it is simple principles and practices that bring the greatest results. So: in order to gain inner freedom, you must constantly get rid of false beliefs, actions, prejudices and reveal your own.

Let's say. In the team you are considered a beautiful person. People constantly tell you about your beauty. You are often compared to other beautiful people. Therefore, you are completely convinced that you are truly beautiful. But one fine day you attend a beauty contest and realize that compared to them, you are mediocre. These will already be your beliefs.

Reverse example. In the team you are considered incapable. The boss constantly tells you that you are dragging the company down. Other employees don't value you and think you're just a nuisance. Of course you will think the same. But in practice, it may turn out that you are a talented and capable person.

But these are raw examples. In fact, in life everything is much more complicated and it is often impossible to distinguish your beliefs from others. Let's talk about a more practical topic...

I have noticed that it is much easier to achieve inner freedom if you apply this rule to real actions. That is, for the things that we constantly do.

I for a long time worked as a copywriter. It was hard at first, but soon I managed to reach a fairly good level of income. At the same time, I really didn't like this job. It gave me some financial freedom, but it took all my energy and was very annoying. I didn't like writing articles on topics that didn't interest me.

The solution turned out to be quite simple: abandon this practice. And you know, I have never regretted it.

You need to gradually give up things that bring nothing but devastation and concentrate on what you really like. Then you can always choose what you really want.

This practice can bring you tangible results in other areas. For example, if you give up routine tasks that are of no practical use, you will be able to save more time. In addition, you will have more strength to concentrate on a specific task where you can achieve incredible results.

This is a very long and slow process. The result cannot be felt in a month or two. I had my first feeling of complete freedom of action after about a year. But I still understand that this is just the beginning of the journey. But this path is worth it.

Practical part

Find a goal, a task, or just something that brings you only mental devastation. Try to gradually give it up. This can be done in parts (for example, every other day) or gradually (reducing the duration by a short period every day). At the same time, start doing something you really enjoy. For example, you can give up daily traffic jams in favor of hiking or a bicycle. The simplest option, in my opinion, is to experience the beauty of this method.

Try other areas of activity. Perhaps among them there will be something that you really have a passion for. For example, I recently realized that I really enjoy drawing. Now, instead of reading blogs, I spend more time drawing. Something like this.

OK it's all over Now. If you have any questions, write in the comments. And don't forget to subscribe to blog updates. Bye!