The Key to the Unconscious Mind: Unlocking the Mystery

The average human brain only weighs about 3 pounds and is remarkable in its complexity. Some believe it is the seat of the mind while others believe the mind is in the subtle body, the network of energy we emit as living creatures.

Whichever you believe, the mind controls and dictates all our thoughts, deeds, and reactions. But it essentially started as a blank slate and your mind can go as far back as the beginning of humankind as we know it.

90% of what we do is done unconsciously. Consider this: Hwo cna yuo raed tihs atricle atbou teh brian?

Most people can read that sentence without giving it much thought because the brain has perceived the words as they should be. It has instantly unscrambled each word at the time it is read because it has seen the words before.

According to Matt James, Ph. D. (Psychology Today), the unconscious mind has the following characteristics:

1. It acts like a child: The unconscious mind needs very clear and detailed directions. It takes things literally. For example, if your favorite saying is “cleaning is a pain in the rear”, you may begin to experience pains in the posterior.
   
   Key: Give your mind precise, affirmative, literal directives.
2. Communicates through emotions and symbols: Whether something is dangerous or joyful, it will attract your attention through an emotion (fear or happiness), regardless of whether it’s a valid response or not. That will depend on your subjective experience.
   
   Key: Learn to recognize which events are valid in causing fear, anger, joy, or any other emotion. Don’t simply react.
3. Deals only with positives: So any negative words you might utter as a way of succeeding or moving forward are ignored by the unconscious mind. Statements such as “I don’t want to overeat” will be perceived as “overeat”. Your mind will create a picture of you overeating.
   
   Key: Make positive statements such as “I eat well and just enough to be healthy.”
4. Makes associations and learns quickly: This is vital to survival and includes your physical body as well as your emotional condition. The unconscious mind must instantly assess a situation and is always vigilant so it can alert and protect you.
   
   On the down side, it remembers almost too well. So if you forgot your lines in the school play, anything associated with being in front of an audience might make you nervous and anxious throughout your life.
   
   The up side is you can tap into this stored information regarding your feelings and your body to determine your needs.
   
   Key: Use reinforcement and behavior modification techniques to change your perception of negative experiences and rid yourself of unwarranted fears.
5. Stores and organizes memories: It determines which experiential memories to bring to the surface and which to supress in order to protect you.
   
   Key: Use meditation and relaxation to open your mind so it will release unresolved trauma or other aspects of your past you may be consciously unaware of.

How does the unconscious mind gather information?

The only way for us to experience anything is through the five senses, and this is how the mind and the brain get their information. From the day you’re born memories are stored. After that, perception, cognition, and discernment are all used by the unconscious mind to simulate a reality. It fills in details based on past experiences.

But you will sometimes get a ‘false reading’. In other words, because you missed your lines in the high school play 10 years ago, it will tell you this is the reality of what’s going to happen next time you get on a stage.

But you have the conscious power to change that memory perception. Unlocking the unconscious mind is about manipulating where your attention goes and how, specifically, you want to direct it.

Walter Mischel, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Columbia University, said:

“The conception of willpower as a stoic thing, where you essentially will it and make it happen, is a terrific way to have resolutions that don't work out. You have to in some way engage the environment. The only thing you can do is change your perception, and change where you put your attention.”

Whether you’re able to control your outcomes and decisions or not, it’s always good to know how things work.

You can tap into your unconscious mind by opening up the creative process. Paint, draw, sing, dance; express yourself creatively.

Get in the habit of visualizing your desired outcomes, and this process can include your attitude, thoughts, reactions, and how you want a conversation to go.

Always use positive speech and thinking. In this way you affirm a consistency in keeping with what you want to be or achieve.

So being mindful of everything you say and how you allow situations to affect you, focusing on what you’re doing right now, and generally become more engaged in the process of consciousness will help you unlock the secrets your unconscious mind is holding.

You’ve literally created the mind that directs you. Knowing this, you can make it do, remember, and point you in a direction of your choosing.