The subconscious at work. In the last article, we discussed the nature of the human mind and the functions of the brain, with an emphasis on how the conscious mind operates. We discovered the value of the conscious mind, how it analyzes sensory stimuli, and filters ideas in order to prevent us from becoming overwhelmed and bombarded by information from the external environment.

The Subconscious At Work

Neuro-linguistic programming or NLP considers the two sectors of the mind – the conscious and subconscious – and it analyzes how to best utilize the strengths in both sectors to accomplish specific goals like dissolving phobias or eradicating negative memories.

We’re now going to take a look at the subconscious mind. Often described as the larger sector of the mind, the subconscious is the primary processing center for all sensory input, life experiences, impulses, memories, and many other things.

Even though the subconscious mind resides in a greater portion of “real estate” of your mind as a whole – about 80% – your conscious mind is conducive to important tasks such as logical analysis and quick decision-making.

Let’s consider the primary functions of the subconscious mind:

Batching Things Together – Your conscious mind is quite capable of “connecting the dots” on different bits of information, often batching together anywhere from five to seven at a time. Despite this amazing capability, the conscious mind is still actually quite limited when new information comes in. It can become overwhelmed quickly.

Your brain has come up with a solution to this issue – pass the new information on to your subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is then able to utilize its own capability to build a larger structure using the additional batches of information.

The most tangible example of this capability is experienced in the “eureka” or “a-ha” moment, or when an amazing plan or idea pops into your head seemingly out of thin air.

When you experience these sudden moments of mental clarity, it just means that your subconscious mind has finished processing specific sets of information. You won’t be able to detect this process consciously since it takes place at a subconscious level.

Memory Creation – When raw information enters your conscious mind, it is first formed into a logical structure. Then the subconscious mind takes this logical structure and designates it as a memory.

Memory storage

When a memory is formed, it doesn’t just “exist” in the space known as the subconscious mind. Many believe that the brain physically creates a neurological connection in the organ. It is physically stored through a neurological connection.

Understanding our subconscious mind and past experiences

All of our memories have what’s referred to as submodalities – characteristics like color, volume, tone, etc. Our subconscious mind is able to organize all of these submodalities and designate the applicable emotions to the memory.

Therefore our memories are only mental representations of lived experiences.

Your memory does not reflect the actual event. You can count on your memories being biased based on your subconscious mind. During the creation of your memories, your subconscious mind utilizes an angle that effectively gives you the advantage.

You may ask why, if it’s true that our subconscious mind is trying to give us the advantage, we have so many memories that are negative

As far as your brain is concerned, you deserve the best. Our brains store negative memories as a way to protect us from future bad experiences.

Your negative memories provide you with lessons learned so that you can avoid future mishaps. For those in the field of NLP, the internal analysis of stored memories is essential in order to get to the core of the issue. For example, these issues might include anxiety, procrastination, and the like.

Creativity – When you think of creativity, you may think of the arts such as playing an instrument, sculpting, or painting. While these activities certainly utilize the full capacity of the mind’s creativity, we also use our creativity to accomplish the most basic of activities.

The creation of original and unique ideas. That’s creativity.

Original and unique ideas at play

When you’re faced with a problem, you can count on your mind to come up with an original or unique idea that can be used as the solution. Because of our creativity, our understanding of what is possible is stretched to afford us an easier progression through life.

Participating in artistic activities is a great way to get in touch with your own creativity. These activities can help stir up the part of the subconscious mind driven by imagination. Grow in your appreciation for your subconscious mind and your imagination. Together they can help you generate creative ways to achieve your goals and solve any problems you might face.

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The next time you achieve that thing that you didn’t think was possible, thank your subconscious mind and your imagination. Even while you were sleeping, they were working in tandem to simulate every possible solution and scenario to ensure your success.