Listening to your body , listening to your ego ?

How many times have you heard your yoga instructor mention the ego?  Listen to your body and not your ego you’ll often hear, have you ever wondered what they actually mean and what is the difference of my body and my ego aren’t they apart of the same thing?
Let’s start by looking at ‘Ego’, what is ego?
I see ego as being competitive with yourself or others. For example ” I need to be better that the other person” . Ego can feel like that old good and bad sitting on our shoulders fighting with us on what we should do. Ego can also at times disguise itself.  Ego is pushing oneself further than what your ready to go and this can Sadly cause injuries.
So how do we stop The contestant battle with ourselves ? I guess we first need to work out if it is ego that is controlling our practice or movements or are you actually listening to what your body needs?
I am guessing that we are all guilty at times of listening to our egos, I know am. I have been pushing myself and feeling a pain in the ankle of my right foot ( especially in balancing and standing poses) , even though I know it’s there and it’s painful I still keep going and going. Or missing a flow sequence and staying in child’s pose while thinking I should be moving like everyone else, lazy get up, what must the others be thinking.
Guilty of ego listening for sure..
Well lately I have been trying hard to let go of all that ego listening and paying more attention to what is going on within my body , breath and even my practice. Closing my eyes as much as I can within my practice and learning to trust my body and movements, trying to feel the connection of breath and movement together.
No one said it was going to be easy and didn’t expect it to be as hard as it is proving to be , however I am getting there one practice at a time, Resting when I need to and not worrying on what others are thinking as to be honest there not even aware of my movements it’s just my ego trying to trick me. It’s a habit I will keep working hard to break as I know that it will be bette for my mind and body in the long term.