I can attest to the reality that becoming aware of what has seemed to block my spiritual journey from greater levels of understanding and knowing has been an ongoing challenge in my life, a process, really. One I think most of us share. But just this week the topics of subconscious and unconscious and the difference, if any, came up in a conversation with my wife and I decided to do a search and ended up finding an article on Psychology Today’s website.
It provided me with an “aha!” moment and I was quickly prompted to write this blog and offer you an opportunity to perhaps have one of your own. That is my hope.
The greater understanding for me came from the article’s discussion and definition of two other related words:
1. Suppression – This occurs when, for a momentary instant, we are aware of an impulse or desire which feels like a danger too frightening to the psyche to admit into a conscious state; so, we push it back even further down into our subconscious, and at that point it is no longer recognizable.
2. Repression – This is an involuntary reaction; it represents a psychological mechanism of defense (the enemy is out there!) and all such self-protective reactions are instinctual, driven by our shadow beliefs that are operating to protect us. And these typically take root in our early childhood when our ability to understand the world around us is very limited.
I was guided to this particular article—no doubt, because few things happen by accident—, since my post-graduate training and life experiences have involved a variety of approaches to learning and teaching ways to attain mastery over one’s emotions and the addictions which come out of early childhood trauma.
Probably the most recent experiential trainings I’ve taken on have been both Byron Katie’s The Work and the Q Process (now known as Quantum Living) and I think the Psychology Today article piggybacks nicely with what I’ve learned as a Quantum Living coach. I know a number of you reading this have gone through at least one iteration of the Q Process/Quantum Living 21-day training and, if you haven’t, I really encourage you to sign up for it when another training is announced at the Unity Spiritual Center Near The Villages in Fruitland Park or is being offered at a spiritual community near you.
Here’s what I’d like you to take away from this blog:
1. You are not broken or lacking in any way; you may simply be experiencing the effects of a neurological pattern of behavior that is operating out of your awareness.
2. These patterns of behavior have brought you to where you are right now and may well have protected you from making a life-altering and -ending decision: suicide or going crazy. Please trust me on this…I know a bit about such moments.
3. Your level of awareness can change right now, in this very moment, if you are willing to stop, breathe, and focus your entire attention on your heart as you still the mind and listen.
4. Be kind to yourself! Here’s a short mental exercise for you to do (you may even want to grab a notebook or piece of paper and a pencil and write out your responses):
a. Think of someone you care for very deeply, someone who has just come to you and shared that they are in great emotional pain and need support; it’s happening right now.
b. What do you say and or do in response?
c. How are you feeling as you say or do what you do?
d. Can you sense what the other person may be feeling right now? Is your answer based upon what you’re sensing or is it based on what you’re observing or a combination of these?
e. Now either look into a mirror (if that’s possible) or simply exercise your power of imagination and visualize an image of yourself looking back at you (perhaps that part of you who may be hurting) and let your heart remain open as you express and take in that same level of compassion and kindness for yourself. No judgments.
5. Realize that you are, in Truth, a spiritual being living out this lifetime in a human body, doing the very best you can and that is enough…right now. And don’t be afraid to step out into the unknown (God is right there with you)!
Love & Light, Steven