EFFECTS OF SELF-TALK: EVERY WORD HAS POWER

The Conscious & Unconscious Mind

The conscious mind is involved in only 10% of what is going on in our mind. Our conscious mind is comprised our everyday awareness, controls our voluntary movements (eg. if we want to pick up a glass). It controls works with our 5 senses gather- ing information about the environment around us. It is the decision-maker, makes generalizations (eg. recognizes a dog) as it analyzes and categorizes what is happening in the now. It also feeds information to the unconscious mind.

The unconscious mind makes up 90% of what is happening in what we call “mind”. The unconscious mind is what is busy sorting and storing memories. It also controls our involuntary movements such as digestion, breathing, heart beating, the workings of our nervous system and other bodily systems that we do not usually even think about.

It also stores our emotions, both positive and negative. It can sometimes trigger a negative emotion much later than when a present moment event happens. It controls our Sympathetic Nervous System which activates the stress response of the body.

It also allows us to do things with the least amount effort, like driving a car, riding a bike, snacking while cooking, things we tend to do without really thinking too much. These are our basic habits. Anything you can say to yourself is a “no-brainer”, is something that you are doing your unconscious mind.

The unconscious mind also likes to communicate with symbols, so with letters and diagrams or pictures. It also does not draw conclusions, that is the conscious mind. The unconscious mind can only find answers based on the information it was given in the past, it does not have information about the future. An example here is if we have seen a demonstration on how to put out a kitchen fire, and we suddenly have one, it helps know what to instinctively do as it has “seen this before”. Have you ever heard someone say “well that is what I saw them do in a movie” when they are doing something completely incorrectly?

The unconscious mind also takes direction from the conscious mind. This implies that if we talk to our unconscious mind with kindness and patience and praise, then it likes us more and trusts us more. To be aware, if we say not nice things about other people, or are negative about a situation, then our unconscious mind takes this as things we believe to be about ourselves and our ability to handle the situation. Our unconscious mind prefers direct commands.

The most interesting thing, for me, about the unconscious mind is that it does not process negative commands. If we tell is NOT to do something, it does exactly what we told it not to do. If we are riding a bike and we are concerned about hitting the curb when we are riding in traffic, and we focus on saying in our head, do not hit the curb, do not hit the curb, we are telling our mind to hit the curb and we eventually hit the curb.

The unconscious mind works constantly when we hear words: it associates a word with a symbol or picture, with action and with a thought and it does this at the speed of light.

An example of this is if I were to say to you; would you like a piece of chocolate? What happens? Chemicals are released in the brain automatically and our mouth begins to produce salvia. If I were to tell you that you had to go the front a workshop room and read a passage that you have never seen before, or do simple dance routine that you have not seen before your body automatically begins to sweat and your mouth might become dry, perhaps your stomach does a little flip, your heartbeat quickens.

This is the unconscious mind at work.