The Three Selves of Huna: Returning to the Wisdom Within

More than twenty years ago, I encountered the Hawaiian teachings of Huna, and something in me immediately recognized their truth.

One of the reasons I fell in love with Huna was that it offered a way of understanding ourselves that felt deeply aligned with my own experience.

We are not meant to live from the mind alone.

Our intellect is brilliant. It can analyze, plan, imagine, and make meaning of our experiences. It helps us make decisions, solve problems, and navigate our lives.

But there is another kind of intelligence available to us.

One that doesn't think in words or logic.

It feels.

It senses.

It knows.

One of the foundational teachings of Huna is the concept of the Three Selves. The ancient Hawaiians understood us as having three aspects of self that are all essential and all sacred.

Transformation happens not by suppressing one of them, but by bringing them into relationship and harmony.

The Uhane: The Conscious Mind

The uhane is our conscious mind.

It is our intellect, our ability to focus, discern, make choices, and bring intention into form. It is the part of us that can reflect on the past, imagine the future, and make decisions in the present moment.

In many spiritual traditions, the ego and intellect are often viewed with suspicion. Yet Huna sees the uhane as sacred.

We need our conscious mind.

We need our ability to choose.

We need our capacity to bring possibilities into action.

The mind is not the problem.

The challenge arises when the intellect attempts to lead every aspect of our lives and loses connection with the deeper wisdom available to us.

The Unihipili: The Wisdom of the Body

The unihipili is our subconscious and body.

It is the home of our emotions, instincts, memories, and intuition.

It carries the imprints of our life experiences and holds information that often exists beyond words and conscious understanding.

The language of the unihipili is not linear.

It speaks through sensations.

Through feelings.

Through images and symbols.

Through expansion and contraction.

Through a quiet inner knowing that often arrives before we can explain it.

The ancient Hawaiians considered the body to be sacred because it is through the body that deeper wisdom becomes available to us.

The body is not separate from our spiritual life.

It is the bridge.

The Aumakua: The Higher Self

The aumakua is our higher self.

It is our deepest essence, our innate wisdom, our connection to Source and to the larger intelligence of life itself.

It is the place of inspiration, insight, and what some might call divine knowing.

According to Huna, the aumakua is always communicating with us.

But it does not speak directly to the intellect.

It speaks through the body.

It speaks through the unihipili.

This understanding changed the way I relate to intuition and inner guidance.

So often, we seek answers by thinking harder.

Yet some of the deepest truths we will ever know arrive in an entirely different way.

As a sensation.

As an inner pull.

As goosebumps.

As tears we didn't expect.

As a sense of expansion.

As a quiet certainty that something is true before we can fully explain why.

When the Three Selves Work Together

The ancient Hawaiians believed that transformation occurs when these three aspects of ourselves are in relationship with one another.

When the wisdom of the aumakua can move through the unihipili and become known to the uhane.

And when the uhane can bring conscious intention back through the body and offer it to the deeper wisdom of the soul.

When the Three Selves begin to move together, there is often a profound sense of coherence.

Less forcing.

Less confusion.

Less trying to control life through the mind alone.

And more trust.

More clarity.

More alignment.

More of a sense that life is moving through us and with us.

Perhaps this is why so much of healing and spiritual growth is not about becoming someone new.

It is about remembering.

Remembering that we are more than our thoughts.

Remembering the intelligence of the body.

Remembering our deeper nature.

Remembering how to listen.

And perhaps, most importantly, remembering the part of us that has always known.

A Guided Meditation: Returning to the Wisdom Within

If this teaching resonates with you, I invite you to experience it directly through my guided meditation:

 The Three Selves Meditation | Returning to the Wisdom Within 

In this meditation, you'll be guided on an inner journey through the uhane, the unihipili, and the aumakua, with an invitation to experience the body as the sacred bridge between mind and soul.

You don't need to understand anything.

Simply breathe.

Listen.

Receive.

And perhaps remember the wisdom that has always lived within you.