3 Pathways to tap into the subconscious mind and how it will change your life.

The subconscious is the ruler of your mind, your habits, memories and deepest desires. It is the navigation map to your most authentic self and the belief systems which over power the conscious part of you each and every time you set up a new goal or embark on a unprecedented journey. It holds the key to your shadow self, creativity and uniqueness, BUT in order to express it, improve and accept it, you have to be wiling to face the subconscious and all the dark shadows lurking inside of it. The benefits of taping into the subconscious are endless, such as, self realization, forming healthier relationships creating better habits and a more positive outlook on yourself and situations you come across. Here are 3 powerful techniques to unlock the secrets of the subconscious mind and how to practise them.

1. Traditional Meditation Practise

While there are many different forms of meditation, the best way to start is to sit or lie down in a quiet place, begin by taking in a few deep slow breaths, allowing your mind and body to slow down, than while allowing thoughts to pass through in your head, try not to attach to the thoughts and allow them to simply drive past like a moving train. This ancient eastern practise offers a much needed mental vacation from the daily grind and the persistent voices in our heads buzzing in our heads like wasps stinging our subconscious over and over again. You can practise a self-led or guided meditation staring with just 30 seconds a day and increasing this over time and as you become more comfortable with this practise.

2. Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is a very unique style of Yoga, often led by an experienced Yoga instructor in a group class setting, where you will be guided to lie down on the floor in a supine position using whatever props are available to help you stay warm and relaxed, such as, blankets, bolsters or pillows. Once you are comfortable on the floor, the instructor will than use a series of techniques such as deep breathing and a complete body-scan in order to prepare you for a 45 minute guided meditation taking you through a series of mental pictures, such as a sun flower, a swing, a dead body, think of it as a prolonged Savasana. These classes are usually ran in a Yoga studios however there are plenty of free apps you can try online before you dive into this form of powerful mediation.

3. Active Imagination Exercise

The active imagination exercise, developed by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung between 1913 to 1916, takes meditation to a deeper and more active level of interacting with the subconscious mind by not only allowing one self to day-dream and fantasise but to interact with the mental images and characters in your head. Unlike traditional eastern meditation practises, the active imagination exercise not only encourages attachment to the thoughts in your head but to analyze the meaning of them and why they appeared in the first place. You can begin the exercise by starting with one simple image such as, a dark room and going from there, where does the dark room take you? Is there someone there? If so who is it? How do they make you feel? Why are they there? Do they say anything to you? It is a very good idea to journal, draw or paint post the initial stage of this exercise in order to help you to understand what the images may be trying to tell you. Try this from of meditation once or twice a week and increase over time.

All 3 of these meditation techniques can help you to understand yourself more, tap into your creativity and lead to a state of self-acceptance. In is much easier to create forward movement and positive changes in your life once you merge the the subconscious and conscious mind with one another. Practising these techniques may feel awkward at fist but just like anything else in life it will get easier and make more sense the more you implement them into your daily life. Remember there is always an expert you can reach out to to help guide you through these. I personally recommend using free online apps, reading books on meditation and attending local classes lead by teachers with knowledge on these practises. In the mean time, don’t hesitate to meditate and play with your imagination.