Clients ask about this after I explain a little bit about how the conscious and the unconscious minds interact. In truth they are all the same mind, just different levels of function. But it is easier to think of them as two minds because their operations are very different. Sometimes, the unconscious mind can seemingly sabotage your efforts in life, so you want to make sure that you have him/her on board. That’s when the question comes up – How can I better access the unconscious mind?
To access the unconscious mind means to be in tune with your unconscious communication, or to be more receptive to you unconscious inklings. These inklings might come out in the form of feelings or sensations. Your intuition or ‘gut feeling’ is closely tied with your unconscious mind.
Ignoring the Inner Voice
When people ignore their unconscious minds, it can cause the unconscious mind to speak up more loudly, so that it can be heard. This often happens with anxiety for example. If you are harbouring a fear or phobia that has not been resolved, it can create an uncomfortable sensation in your body, such as a panic attack. A lot of the time you won’t know why you are getting this sensation, so it’s my job to help you work it out and then to help you resolve it.
Self-Sabotage
Other examples of inner inklings might come out in apparent self sabotage. For example you really want to reach your ideal weight but you find yourself binge eating and you simply cannot stop. For whatever reason, your unconscious mind believe=s that you need to binge eat in order to satisfy an underlying need., But again, you might not be aware of what that need is. It could be comfort eating in response to feeling not good enough, for example. Or, it could be a fear of losing weight, for whatever reason. There are many scenarios – these are just two examples.
The point is that calling this behaviour self-sabotage is not really accurate… in truth there is no such thing. In fact your unconscious mind is trying to help you, but just not very effectively.
Benefits of Communicating With Your Unconscious
Aside from preventing self-sabotage and establishing a sense of control over your day-to-day emotions and sensations, accessing the unconscious mind can help you to reach your goals more effectively, simply by working with it. To do this, you need to learn how to listen to it, and how to communicate with it, in its own language. Then you can redirect it. You see, usually the unconscious mind controls you, but you can change the status quo so that your unconscious mind assists you better in reaching the goals that you decide on with your conscious mind.
For example, say that you are in the market for a new car and you have your list of ‘must have’, ‘would be nice’, ‘simply cannot tolerate’ and ‘might compromise on’. You find a car that seems to satisfy your criteria, but you have a foreboding sense of fear when you go to sign the contract. That could be cold feet, after all there is a lot of money at stake, or it could be your unconscious mind either warning you against it, or simply sabotaging your efforts.
When you know how to listen to your unconscious, it can help you to make the best decision for you. If you have fears attached with spending the money, they might be due to unresolved issues and if they are resolved, you could instead feel excited about it. Perhaps there is something negative that you have noticed unconsciously, but you are trying to ignore it because you so love the colour of this shiny new car. Understanding that feeling will help you to make the right choice to get the car that you will be happy with over time.
How to Access the Unconscious Mind
So how can we become more aligned with our unconscious self? It is essentially a combination of practicing and exercising the abstract or creative mind, as well as valuing that side of yourself. If you don’t value it as important, you won’t be able to respect that side of yourself and it will always be kept in the dark, begging for attention like a mischievous child, making oud noises every now and then until you acknowledge it.
A very business savvy client came to see me about getting better in touch with her unconscious because she understood, logically, that she would never find that inner peace she was looking for unless she did. The problem was that she completely ignored it. When I asked her to discuss his feelings about certain aspects of the presenting issue, she said that she did not have strong feelings, that she never had, that her upbringing was normal, she had no trauma ,she just never recognised her feelings. Yet here she was, in my clinic wanting to fight a lagging sense of despondency and apathy. Hello? These are feelings. Otherwise she would be content, right?
This client was used to analysing everything to the extent that she did not allow space to hear her inner voice. Whilst she recognised what she wanted, a state of inner peace, she was so focused on reaching this goal she had little patience or indeed respect for the pathway towards that outcome. That pathway is about learning to listen, and to communicate. So give it creed. Understand that the lethargy or the distraction or whatever else you find yourself doing is quite possibly a rebellion from your unconscious mind.
The more hypnosis you do, the more your unconscious mind will understand that you value its role in your life. Also the more you do it the deeper you will go. You don’t need to come in for endless sessions, but treating hypnosis like you would a massage is not a bad idea. It is about focusing on your mind, as opposed to your muscles. You can also listen to hypnosis at home, or you can meditate – depending on the type of meditation you do and whether or not meditation is a good idea for you. Guided hypnosis is much easier to manoeuvre in terms of side effects.
Also allow time to simply tune in and ask your body what it thinks about this or that, staying quiet and simply observing, with an attitude of curiosity, as to what impulses you might receive. If you would like to access the unconscious mind better, book an appointment and get started 🙂
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