How Does Subconscious Mind Influence Conscious Mind?
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Your mind leads you in different ways. First, there is the conscious mind, which is where our logic and reasoning come from. Then there is the unconscious mind. This is where our emotions and fears reside.
Your mind works together to make sure you are always taking steps to survive. By working together, your mind ensures that your needs are met and that your urges guide you.
Unfortunately, this often means that your subconscious mind takes charge. Any time you do things without thinking or letting your emotions take control, your subconscious mind rules over you.
When Does it Happen?
Our conscious mind is pretty much constantly fed information from our subconscious. However, we often don’t realize how often it is happening. It is theorized that our subconscious actually does most of, if not all, of our decision-making.
Our conscious mind is the logical part of our brain. However, the subconscious mind is our emotions and instinct. It makes sure that all of our needs and urges are met. For example, we often notice our subconscious mind taking control when we are afraid.
For example, when we find ourselves not asking someone out on a date or hesitating to buy a showy outfit, our subconscious mind takes over.
What Causes it?
Instincts and emotions are what cause our subconscious mind to take control. Generally, this is done by connections we form.
So if you have been hurt by asking someone out before, you will always associate hurt with asking someone out until you can change the connections.
This is because your subconscious mind wants you to avoid the hurt. By avoiding what is hurting you, your mind thinks it is protecting you.
Other examples are food and water. For example, if you often eat when you are bored or stressed, your brain is making connections between boredom and hunger or stress and hunger.
This means even if you aren’t hungry, your subconscious mind is telling you that you are.
Can You Stop it from Happening?
Since your subconscious runs on instinct and survival, it is very hard to stop it from happening. It wants you to stay consistent with your reactions in the past. This is why new situations may make you uncomfortable or struggle to break a bad habit.
When your emotions get the better of you, it is your subconscious coming to the surface. Anything you do without active thought or logic is your subconscious brain taking over.
To stop it from happening and to change the connections your brain has ever formed, you have to be constantly hyper-aware of your brain. When your subconscious tries to take over, you have to continue to let your conscious mind lead by thinking about logic.
For example, when you go to eat because you are stressed, you need to think about if you are hungry and what is triggering your hunger. If you are scared to ask someone out, you need to think about the worst-case scenarios and push your conscious mind to lead.
How does the Subconscious Mind Communicate with the Conscious Mind?
Our conscious mind gets signals from our subconscious mind via emotions and feelings. This may come off as random emotions you get throughout the day or even your ‘sixth sense.’ Our anxieties and phobias are also from our subconscious.
Any time we let our mind wander or relax as well, we can hear from our subconscious. This often shows itself as daydreams, dreams, or just idle thoughts.
You may also find that your subconscious mind makes physical sensations occur. We can see this when we get sensations like butterflies in the body, your heart fluttering, something crawling on your skin, or even a headache.
What is the Relationship Between the Conscious and Unconscious Mind?
The unconscious mind and conscious mind work together most of the time to maximize your survival. For example, if you have a traumatic experience, then your brain may push that to the unconscious mind to help you keep going like normal.
When the unconscious mind wants to get in contact with us, it sends signals, messages, or emotions to guide us. This is why we may get angry or upset suddenly, even if we can’t figure out the exact reasoning behind it.
Often, the information it wants to send the conscious mind is disguised or indirect. This is why analyzing our dreams can lead us to better understand our worries and needs because it is our mind trying to interpret the messages that our subconscious mind is providing us.
Final Thoughts on How Does Subconscious Mind Influence Conscious Mind
It isn’t easy to beat your subconscious mind and change your behaviors. Since it runs on instincts and emotions, it often leads us without us even realizing it is happening.
However, if you work hard and always stay focused on your conscious mind, you may be able to change the connections that form and use logic instead of emotions to rule your actions.
To fix your mind and get the best of your subconscious, you have to focus on the goals you want to reach that day and let them lead you. By keeping goals in mind every day, you can let that guide you instead of your subconscious.
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