As humans, we have two different minds, the conscious and the subconscious mind. Our conscious mind is the little voice that speaks to us throughout the day, it is the thing that can also tell us we’re not good enough or that we are failing at something. It’s not always kind!
The subconscious is buried a little deeper. It holds all our beliefs, the root of our fears, our likes and dislikes. It is the part of our brain that makes us truly who we are, but it can also create the biggest obstacles for us.
What control does the subconscious mind have?
We tend to underestimate the subconscious mind, because it lurks in the background, like a puppet master. It can cause not just the creation of thoughts and feelings, but it can also influence our physical wellbeing.
A lot of common mental health problems stem from the subconscious mind, from anxiety and depression to irrational fears. All of these start their lives in the subconscious, which is why it is so tricky to battle them head on.
I like to think of the mind as a tree, the roots are the subconscious mind and the branches are the conscious thoughts. Everything that grows on the tree does so because of the roots (subconscious mind), it feeds these thoughts and beliefs and helps them thrive and grow. How you stop these feelings and thoughts, is by dealing with the roots.
Some examples of the subconscious mind at work are:
-
Believing that you have nothing to contribute in a group conversation
-
Thinking you can’t do something you’ve always wanted because you’re not good enough or because someone can do it better
-
Procrastinating from taking action because you fear the outcome
-
Feeling and thinking that you are not wanted or loved
All of these things have their roots in the subconscious. Something buried deep within is feeding these thoughts and by giving our subconscious some TLC, we are better equipped to stop this negativity in its tracks.
How do you unlock the subconscious mind?
There are two main ways that will effectively give you a window to the subconscious mind. They are:
-
Meditation
-
Divination
Meditation allows you the time and space, to notice what is a conscious thought and what is a subconscious thought. When you meditate for 20+ minutes, your mind starts to calm down, your conscious thoughts begin to run out and your subconscious starts to become clearer. I’ve had a number of experiences where I’ve meditated for long periods and come to a sudden realisation about a problem or obstacle. Patience is key of course and a great deal of mindfulness is needed to ensure it works.
Divination is a something that can be used by most people and includes tools such as pendulums, oracle cards, tarot cards, spirit boards, runes and scrying. These tools create a mirror that reflects the subconscious mind in our physical world. It allows us to see our subconscious in front of us and helps us to better understand and process subconscious thoughts.
This is where tarot reading and oracle card reading come into play, and why I love to use them both for my own wellbeing and for clients. I personally love divination, because I’m a very visual person, I need to see things to be able to make sense of them. These tools give me a visual to grasp hold of and create a narrative with, whether it is using the illustrations on the cards, the direction of a pendulum or the shapes whilst scrying.
How to take care of your subconscious mind
We should always put some time aside to take care of our subconscious mind. When you are thinking about your self care routine, make sure to add in something that allows you to unlock and sort through your subconscious.
This could be adding in 10-minutes of meditation every day or every other day, having regular tarot readings or picking a few oracle cards to help you think and dig a little deeper. Make sure to challenge negative thoughts and expand on them to uncover why they were created in the first place.
Create a tarot journal or oracle card journal, where you write down the cards you pick and what they mean to you. Write about how they make you feel and what they make you think about. Get specific and don’t hold back. The more we write the clearer things often become.
