Conscious Mind

These days you hear the word "conscious" bandied about quite frequently, it’s becoming a part of our daily lingo, as in not just for psychologists and shrinks. We hear folks talk about becoming more conscious, or raising their consciousness level right along with raising their vibration. What does this phrase really mean? Raising your consciousness is understood in three ways, psychologically, energetically and spiritually. Our work at Sacred Healing Journey is based in Transpersonal Psychology which integrates both perspectives.Conscious mind is the part of our mind which holds our awakened awareness. We all function from a combination of conscious and unconscious behaviors. Our conscious behaviors are those behaviors which we choose because they match the persona whom we perceive ourselves to be. The interesting thing is that in reality we are much more than the awareness we are holding in our consciousness at any time. Often, unbeknownst to us, we are simultaneously functioning from old scripts written in the memory banks of our childhood, or perhaps even past lives (depending on one’s belief system) and stored in our unconscious mind. Therefore, in addition to the persona we hold up as ourselves and strive to be, we are actually perceiving the world and responding to it from what is often a vastly different self, the vast storehouse of the unconscious. It is estimated that only about 10% of our mental awareness is conscious, while the rest is a combination of subconscious and unconscious. (See previous blogs from August 2015 for more information on this.)There is great healing in bringing unconscious material to consciousness. This is what is meant by “raising our consciousness” psychologically. It is a process of listening to the clues from our unconscious, which come in the form of heightened emotional reactivity known as “triggers," noticing patterns in personal dynamics, or working with “the shadow,” which are the aspects of our personality that we wish to hide or deny. Once you set your intention to become more conscious, and are open to listening by noting the patterns, you can begin to work with the clues you receive from your unconscious to learn more about yourself. In our work we use hypnotherapy to follow the clues from the current states of heightened reaction, either emotional or physical, and allow these states to lead us back to the root of that unconscious pattern in your life. In the child state we find the old false belief about the self and the dysfunctional behavior that the child self-adopted to survive. Now the material that was once unconscious has become conscious, and you can now choose a new, healthier belief to hold about yourself along with a new behavior. For instance, if your old unconscious behavior was to shut down and not share or feel your feelings because it was not safe to express them as a small child, your new belief could be “It is safe to feel my feelings”. A matching behavior would be something like “I now express my feelings clearly and gently to safe others.”As we become more conscious, we are able to see our true selves more clearly, both our shadow aspects, as well as our inner beauty. As we work with the vulnerable parts of ourselves that have been wounded, and bring healing to those parts, we are able to drop old worn out defenses that once served to protect us, but now merely block us from intimacy in our relationships.Raising our consciousness energetically typically refers to clearing out one’s chakras. (See our May and June 2015 Blogs for more information on this topic.) In a nutshell, this involves attuning our awareness to our subtle energy system and beginning to notice the difference energetically when a chakra center is blocked or diminished, and learning ways to keep our chakra centers open and flowing, grounded below and connected above. (Click here to try our chakra cleansing meditation)Raising our consciousness spiritually involves listening to our higher selves or Soul. Spirit speaks to us through symbols, metaphors, and patterns most easily accessed through a relaxed mind, as during meditation, the use of symbolic card reading (tarot or angel cards), daydreams, or night time dreams. As we practice reading these messages through listening, observing, journaling, and / or working with a partner, to discuss findings and growth, we increase our skills at reading the higher energies. As we continue to set our intention to allow and receive messages from our higher selves, we become calmer and gentler due to the fact that we are increasingly spiritually connected.You can become your best self, and live the life of your wishes and dreams. It requires a little effort, discipline, and commitment. To heal old patterns and become more conscious, more aware of your patterns in relationship dynamics and increase your power to shift to healthier dynamics, begin with any of these paths of increasing consciousness, or all three at once. The psychological, energetic and spiritual paths layer well, and typically one leads to the other. Meditation is key in all three, so if you haven’t yet established a meditation practice, that’s a great place to start your path to raising your consciousness. Click here to try our meditation on raising your consciousness.Many Blessings on your journey of raising your consciousness!Lynn Bos, LCSWFind out more about our next group meditation.You are welcome to join us at our Facebook community.Contact us with any questions or for more information, CherylandLynn@sacredhealingjourney.com.