On Wednesday this week there is a new moon in Leo, meaning both the sun and the moon will be in Leo.

Leo is ruled by the sun. The sun in astrology represents our ego, our willpower, how we express ourselves, what we want, and the way we are perceived by others.

You might read the title of this week’s update and wonder, a healthy ego? What is she talking about?

Once I taught at a yoga studio that had a sign next to the shoe bench, “Please leave your shoes and your ego here.” So, isn’t the ego our enemy? Shouldn’t we try to eliminate, destroy, or at least ignore it?

Let me explain my point through a little exercise. Close your eyes and think about three words that associate with the sun. Then think about three words that associate with ego.

Usually when we think about the sun, we connect it with vitality, healing, light, energy, and life. Ego conjures associations of egocentrism, selfishness, arrogance, vanity, or false identity.

But if sun represents the ego, how is it possible that the sun is so benevolent, and the ego is so bad?

The answer is that the ego is not bad at all. On the contrary, the ego is an important human component. If we believe that our ego is bad, we believe that part of us is bad. Astrology claims that there is a good reason why we are the way we are. We’re meant to have an ego and there is nothing inherently wrong with it.  When we fight our innate nature, we put a stick in our own wheel.

The perception that ego is bad is rooted in a misunderstanding of a Buddhist concept called Anatta, which means no-self. This teaching does not mean that we don’t exist or that we should destroy our ego. Instead, it is aimed to teach us that we are not a fixed, unchanging, and independent entity.

Some Buddhist teachers admit the damage that was made by the western interpretation of Anatta which views ego as our enemy. The Buddhist teacher Thanissaro Bhikkhu, for example, said that “the Buddha was actually advocating ego-development instead of egolessness”.

When we don’t have a strong and healthy ego, we might tend to merge energetically with other people. We over-extend ourselves and give too much. We care so much for others that they become more important than we are, and hence we deplete ourselves. We might even permit abusive behavior, because we don’t value our own needs and well-being.

When I co-owned a yoga studio, my sun energy was very low. I was focused on supporting my partner’s success, but it was just because it was easier for me to care for him than to care for myself. It was my way to avoid dealing with my own issues and changing my unhealthy ways of life. It also made my partner uncomfortable, because he felt like I placed him on a pedestal.

I am still in a learning process with cultivating a healthy sun energy. For instance, the strong earth energy of the past weeks has motivated me to restructure my business and cut my expenses. Despite my accounting experience, it has always been easier for me to take care of the efficiency of other businesses. When it came to my own business, I have been a little careless. Taking control on my financials empowered me so much that it made me feel like I could achieve just about anything.

Without a healthy ego, we lack the assertiveness to express who we truly are as well as what we need and want. We do not know how to create and maintain healthy boundaries, and we do not have the vitality and willpower to set and pursue our own goals.

The ego is the part of us that generates desires. That includes the desire to be happy. Without a healthy ego, we cannot aspire for happiness and therefore cannot achieve happiness.

“Most human beings do not live up to the potential of their sun, for they are only dimly aware of their essence…If a person were in complete harmony with his sun (self), then he would be able to achieve a form of self-mastery.”

~Alan Oken

The problem with ego starts when we let it boss us around and forget that it is just one component of the human experience. A healthy ego is in service to the soul and not the other way around.

To have a healthy ego we also need to make sure that by empowering our sense of self and fulfilling our desires, we benefit others. If we are only concerned about our own achievements while disregarding the impact we have on others, it indicates overidentification with our ego and excessive sun energy. This will eventually lead us to feeling isolated and empty.

On this new moon in Leo, it is a great time to reflect on our relationship with our ego and our sun energy and bring them to a healthy balance. Some questions you can ask yourself and journal about:

• Do I know to keep my boundaries in my relationships with others?
• Do I tend to give too much to others and deplete myself?
• Do I allow people to mistreat me without objection?
• What do I actively do to create the life I desire?
• In which way does the fulfilment of my desires benefit others?

A healthy connection with our sun energy and ego will lead us to self-mastery, which means we will be aligned with ourselves and with our life’s purpose and will be in service to the greater good of all.