Conscious of the Unconscious
We must learn to work with our unconscious, rather than trying to browbeat it into submission. Remember this important quote:
"The conscious mind determines the actions,
the unconscious mind determines the reactions;
and the reactions are just as important as the actions."
~E. Stanley Jones
You may have come across what is called the "Huna perspective" on the unconscious mind (unihipili) and how the ancient Hawaiians worked with it to release negative emotions, in order to maintain their physical and emotional health. This perspective and process raises a number of questions about the unconscious that I would like to speak about in this article.
Theories about the unconscious vary widely within psychological circles, from the Freudian view that it’s a storehouse of socially unacceptable desires, traumatic memories, and painful emotions - to cognitive psychology’s perspective that the unconscious mind is simply a bundle of cognitive processes that we’re not aware of, not an entity in itself. Basically, boxes full of stuff.
The Truth is that it’s hard to prove any of these theories. Just as we know that the universe is vast, we know the unconscious mind is powerful ... and vast. And like our research into space, our knowledge of the unconscious mind is limited by the scientific equipment we have available to observe it at this moment in time. So we end up subscribing to theories we find to be most useful. For me, that means the perspectives of Huna, Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) (link is external) and Jung.
To laypeople in Western cultures, the unconscious mind has been viewed as an enemy, a murky power that swooped in to sabotage our conscious desires. It became the scapegoat for every failure, mistake or unwanted reaction. More recently, people have come to think of the unconscious mind as a tool they can consciously use to get where they want to go. They bludgeon the mind with affirmations then wonder why they aren’t working. Too many cooks in the kitchen mixing recipes.
But Huna, NLP, and Jung, all treat the unconscious mind with a lot more respect. They believe that the unconscious has specific, important roles to play and duties to perform. They see the unconscious mind as having a Wisdom of its own that should be honoured. And they emphasize actually working with the unconscious region of mind rather than trying to browbeat it into submission or ignoring it.
You don’t need a PhD in psychology to work effectively with your unconscious, but you do need to understand a few basics. Here are a few of the aspects of the unconscious that are taught to students in Huna and NLP, and how they would apply to you.
The unconscious mind:
Preserves the body:
One of its main objectives is the survival of your physical body. It will fight anything that appears to be a threat to that survival. So if you want to change a behavior more easily, show your unconscious how that behavior is hurting your body.
Runs the body:
The unconscious handles all of your basic physical functions (breathing, heart rate, immune system, cell reproduction, etc.). Huna believes that the unconscious holds the blueprint of your body as it is now, and also the blueprint of your perfect health. Rather than telling the unconscious what perfect health looks like, try asking it what it knows and what you need for better health. Chances are that it's already in there ... as default programming by Source Energy.
Is like a 7-year old child:
Like a young child, the unconscious likes to serve, needs very clear directions, and takes your instructions very literally. So if you say, “This job is a pain in the neck,” your unconscious will figure out a way to make sure that your neck hurts at work. Sounds silly in a way, but it is true and literal. The unconscious is also very “moral” in the way a young child is moral, which means based on the morality taught and accepted by your parents or surroundings. So if you were taught that “sin brings eternal guilt and punishment” your unconscious will still respond to that teaching even after your conscious mind has rejected it.
Communicates through emotion and symbols:
To get your attention, the unconscious uses emotions. For example, if you suddenly feel afraid, your unconscious has detected (rightly or wrongly) that your survival is at risk. Stress hormones may be released, fight or flight ... anxiety or panic.
Stores and organizes memories:
The unconscious decides where and how your memories are stored. It may hide certain memories (such as traumas) that have very strong negative emotions - until you are mature enough to process them ... consciously. When it senses that you are ready (whether you consciously think you are or not), it will bring them up so you can deal with them. Usually at the most importune times.
Does not process negatives:
The unconscious absorbs pictures rather than words. All is graphic images. So if you say, “I don’t want to procrastinate,” the unconscious generates a picture of you procrastinating. Switching that picture from the negative to the positive takes an extra step. Better to tell your unconscious, “Let’s get to work." If you say "I will not have a bad day today, the mind will manifest a bad day." Instead, affirm that you desire a good day and that is what will manifest in form. It cannot won't, can't, shouldn't, wouldn't, because there is not way to create an image or a picture of you NOT doing something.
Makes associations and learns quickly:
To protect you, the unconscious stays alert and tries to glean the lessons from each experience. For example, if you had a bad experience in school, your unconscious may choose to lump all of your learning experiences into the “this is not going to be fun” category. It will signal you with sweaty palms and anxiety whenever you attempt something new. But if you do well in sports, your unconscious will remember that “sports equals success” and you’ll feel positive and energized whenever physical activity comes up.
There’s much more to the unconscious mind ... but even just understanding the basics above will help you harness some of it's magnificent power.
Just a thought ...
~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.
My thanks to Dr. Matthew B. James, MA, Ph.D.
