The mind can function both consciously and unconsciously. It functions consciously or voluntarily when we are aware of what we are doing, that is, when we pay attention to what we are doing.
Unconscious is more an adjective than a noun; it is not so much a thing as a process: precisely an automatic process that occurs without our intervention and is therefore very fast and efficient. Our body works better when it is trained, and even better when it is used to doing a certain thing.
Training, exercise, repetition of anything “incorporates” a process that at some point becomes automatic or habitual through the formation of neurological networks or circuits.
In these cases we are in the present and our conscious mind is aligned with our heart (body) which is always in the present. In the present, the mind and body are perfectly centered and integrated with each other, i.e., neither dominates.
On the contrary, the mind functions automatically or unconsciously when we are unconscious. In this case, the mind wallows in the unreality of the past and future, ignoring the reality of the present and getting us into trouble. The unconscious mind is not integrated with the body in the reality of the here and now, but is dissociated so that mind and body are in tension with each other.
90% of the time it is not conscious
Only when the mind is alert and conscious, it is also in the present, in the center, and there is a perfect integration with the heart and both are coherent. The present, the here and now, is in the center between the past and the future. The center is the unification of opposites, it is the disappearance of duality between mind and body (as well as between all pairs of opposites).
Unfortunately, we are unconscious or unaware, some more and some less evidently, for about 90% of the time – which is an enormous amount of time – precisely because our body, when it has reached (as a result of exercises and repetitions) the phase of automaticity that characterizes habits, works easily and without apparent effort.
In fact, we almost always work on autopilot, that is, through our habits, whether good or bad. Obviously, bad habits make life hell.
In my opinion, all actions that are attributed to the unconscious, such as internal blocks, resistance, self-sabotage and various addictions, are actually caused by obsolete habits that are inevitably inadequate and conflicting with the reality of the here and now.
Internal blocks, self-sabotage, resistance to change and addictions are inappropriate behaviors and can be cured by acquiring healthy habits.
Internal conflicts are also a consequence of obsolete habits that prevail. The conflict is between what we would like to be and what we are forced to be by our inadequate behavior, that is, our habits. In these cases, willpower, which is a property of the cerebral cortex, is absolutely powerless against the unconscious automatisms of negative and/or obsolete habits that also characterize traumas and phobias.
The mind coordinates the body through emotions
The mind and the body, unfortunately or fortunately, have different languages, thoughts and feelings respectively, and therefore cannot understand each other. This is the function of emotions, which belong to the emotional brain or limbic system that activates hormones and neurotransmitters through the autonomic nervous system.
In fact, thoughts or ideas, and even more so words (which are oral or verbal thoughts), as well as visualizations and metaphors, mantras and affirmations, are transformed in the heart into emotions by the action of hormones that are transported in the bloodstream.
Hormones and/or neurotransmitters, acting specifically on various types of thoughts, change the rhythm of the breath and the heart at the same time, thus modifying the mood. Emotions are perceived as sensations in the various parts of the body involved. Positive feelings induce the body to action and negative feelings induce the body to reaction, causing positive and negative results respectively.
Emotion means “blood in action”
The heart is temporarily flooded with blood: the capillaries of the face in case of shyness, the corpora cavernosa in case of excitement, the arms in case of anger, the legs to facilitate flight in case of danger and fear.
Negative emotions represent the failure of communication or integration between the mind and the body.
This occurs when the mind is unconscious and wanders into the past or future instead of the present, and is therefore not aligned with the heart. The unconscious mind produces negative thoughts that become negative emotions.
Unfortunately, by wandering into the past or future 90% of the time, the mind produces many more negative thoughts than positive ones. Only a conscious mind, trained in mindfulness through meditation, reading and writing, produces positive thoughts.
The unconscious mind only causes problems because it gives too much free rein to the body and its immediate selfish impulses.
This is why awareness is the most important skill to acquire, so much so that it represents the pinnacle of personal growth. Consciousness grows over the years thanks to the knowledge acquired and, above all, to direct experience. Conscience, in fact, is also the precious fruit of our mistakes turned into life lessons.
Everything works through repetition
Thus, both consciousness (awareness) and unconsciousness (unconsciousness), being formed by neurological circuits, can be considered positive and negative habits respectively. And beliefs, from which our thoughts originate, are also neurological circuits, obviously structured and developed differently.
In fact, both the brain and muscles evolve through repetition of exercises, which are precisely the basis of habits, and regress through lack of use.
Neuroscientists have also established that emotions, including kindness, happiness and gratitude, being also habits, can be improved through exercise and repetition, at any age.
As Carl Gustav Jung said, the unknown must be known, otherwise we will act in a forced way, dominated by our impulses. This is not at all appropriate or advisable in a highly civilized and necessarily restrictive world of personal freedoms, such as ours.
In conclusion, all our existential problems can be traced back to the organic unconsciousness that invades us from birth and for many, many years and because of our obsolete habits.
The world changes rapidly, while the individual does not know how to update and reinvent himself at the same speed – also because this requires an almost always late maturity – and therefore remains more or less dependent on his old habits for a long time! And from all this arises the suffering of living.
Only by continually updating our habits can we ensure coherence between mind and heart and free ourselves from illness and the distressing discomfort caused by inadequacy.
