TALK TO YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS

  In my experience of having to put up with a subconscious, I've found that it's a good idea to check in with it from time to time. Otherwise, it can misbehave on you in all kinds of ways that you aren't expecting.

  But first, you have to know what exactly it is that you're checking in with. By the word subconscious, I mean anything beyond conscious awareness; but people have meant all kinds of different things by this term (or by its close synonym "unconscious") throughout the years. It just depends on what they believe is actually happening below (or above) the level of our full awareness.

  For Freud, the subconscious was basically a place for all of our repressed, unacceptable, selfish, yet somehow vital urges to lurk and to mess with our nicer, more socially acceptable thoughts.

  Jung's collective unconscious had its "Shadowy" parts as well, but it wasn't nearly as bleak. It had a lot more to do with our hidden capacities for spirituality, connectedness, and other forgotten treasures of the heart waiting to be unearthed.

  These days, most modern theorists think of the "new unconscious" in terms of deeply rooted behavioral patterns, perceptual and cultural biases, and evolutionary drives that trip up the logic of our more rational, deliberate, conscious thoughts.

  I'm inclined to believe that there is room enough in the hidden depths of our minds for all of this. But you shouldn't take my word for it. Check things out for yourself. There is no better school of the mind's secrets than your own powers of introspection; and there are all kinds of methods to enroll in your own personal academy of the subconscious.

Imagination

  Any act of creativity or self expression in which you can "lose yourself" is probably a good start. Automatic writing (uncensored, unedited, stream of consciousness journaling) and free-flowing art work well for me; but so does just walking around imagining things with no particular creative agenda.

  Of course, people place differing degrees of importance on the imagination. Where some people see an escapist realm of mildly entertaining daydreams, others see a gateway that opens us up to our most profound spiritual potential. Being that I'm a shamanically inclined hypnotherapist, artist, and author, it's pretty easy to guess which camp I fall into. But I'm betting that even the most hard-nosed, empirically minded behaviorist would be hard pressed to deny that things like art therapy and play therapy have value in holding up a mirror to our behavioral health.

Dreams

  No discussion of the subconscious would be complete without touching on dreams; so I'd better mention that it's helpful to pay attention to our nightly dreams as well as to our day dreams.

  We all dream, but we don't all remember our dreams. I find that the best way to start remembering them in any detail is to write them down as soon as possible after waking up.

  Once you do write them down, though, be careful with dream dictionaries and other books that tell you what the contents of your dreams are supposed to mean. Freud was big on dream interpretation, but most anything that showed up in his patients' dreams meant the same thing to him: S. E. X. And the fact that he saw this everywhere probably had a lot more to do with him than it did with his patients. My point here is that you'd do best to pay attention to what your dream symbols mean to you, and to how they make you feel, and what your experience with them has been.

Free Association

  Another idea that can be credited to Freud is called "free association" but you don't necessarily need a Sigmund Freud or any other therapist to do this one. Just talk to yourself for a while without letting yourself stop and pay attention to the words that come out of your mouth when you get tired of trying to control them. This is basically the same thing that psychoanalysts do while sitting behind desks and taking notes.

Hypnotherapy

  While we're on the topic of Freud, I should mention that he came up with these techniques because he was bad at hypnosis (hypnotherapy is how he was originally trained to treat "hysteria"). Before Freud and since, hypnotherapy has proven to be highly effective in helping people get in touch with the hidden aspects of their selves. I think of it less as a way to quit smoking (although it certainly can do that) and more as a way to plumb the most profound depths of the subconscious, but in a safe place with someone verbally holding your hand along the way.

Projective Tests

  Then, there are things like the Rorschach, the famous inkblot test, in which the viewer projects his or her own interpretation of a messed up image onto that image, and finds out things about his or her self in the process. Psychoanalysts didn't invent this technique though. Tarot readers have been using this method for self discovery for a long time, as have crystal ball gazers, shamans, or pretty much anyone else who makes their intuition their vocation. If you get tired of looking at smudges of ink or clumps of tea leaves, take a peek at a random image from my oracle deck and see what it reflects back at you.

  I've read books and books on these subjects, so I know that they are out there. I know that I can't fit them all onto this webpage. But I hope that this gives you a good start on your journey of self-discovery.