The center that I cannot find is known to my unconscious mind. ~ Auden
What if I told you that your unconscious mind actually controls your conscious mind?
Not exactly what you had in mind, now is it?
In my studies of neuroscience and neuro-practices, I've learned that many of the beliefs we've been taught for decades are little more than urban myth.
The more we understand about our minds, the easier it becomes to step into our full potential. Our minds are designed for each and every one of us to create BIG potential!
So here are 10 things you didn't know about your unconscious mind.
Your Unconscious Mind(UM):
1) Processes all of the data inputs from our five senses.
That's now around 11M bits/second, which is a lot of info to handle. More than any supercomputer out there can manage. Your UM uses deletion, distortion and generalization to manage all that data. We'll talk more about this process on Wednesday.
2) Is the master of your conscious mind.
In fact, your conscious mind only gets involved in data processing and responses when the unconscious mind calls upon it. That's when the UM decides it needs logical input to analyze something that's new and different, that doesn't fit the known patterns. Until then, your unconscious rules.
3) Is symbolic.
Your UM stores all of your memories in symbols and images -- not in text or paragraph form. That's one reason why visual is a stronger communication/memory system than simple text.
4) Enjoys serving you, but needs clear direction.
Your UM is programmed to serve you. It runs all of your body's systems, instinctually responds to danger and creates mindware programs to automate your every day decisions and behaviors. Think about the first time you tried to drive vs. now. That's your unconscious mind creating a program to save you. That said, it also needs very clear direction. That's where we humans sometimes get in trouble.
5) Does not process negatives.
That's right -- your UM does not hear that negation or negative. When you talk or think about what you do not want to happen, it's the same as telling your UM to go out and get that very thing. That's why it's so important to say and focus on what you want.
6) Takes everything personally.
Since perception is all about our own unique meta programs and processes that are used to analyze, store and respond to information -- everything is personal to your UM. Each of us has to consciously strive for objectivity, stepping beyond our unique programs and perspectives to see various viewpoints.
7) Controls and maintains all perceptions.
Our initial perceptions are formed in early childhood. Between the ages of 0-7, every single thing that happens in our world becomes a truth to our UM. We then build on those initial perceptions and they become like fly paper -- attracting more experiences that match the perception to make it true.
8) Works on the principle of least effort.
Our minds want to use the least resources possible to manage inputs, run our bodies and more. The smaller the effort, the more mental capacity we have for emergency processing -- like when that woolly mammoth charges us or when all heck breaks loose in our business.
9) Maintains instincts and generates habits.
The more we can respond out of habit or instinct, the less energy our UM has to use. We create habit after habit to allow our minds to have excess capacity for those all important moments. The challenge is that those instincts and habits often get in the way of our own best path.
10) Is programmed to constantly seek more and more.
This is why there is always more and more to discover, why we never stop learning and expanding. It's the function of our UM to expand and as such, so does mankind.
You Unconscious Mind is the ruler of your reality. The more you learn about how to direct your UM, the more you take charge of your reality.