Doorways to the Subconscious (part 2/2)

In part one of this article, I have discussed the first two doorways through which you can access the subconscious. These were the Mind and the Body In this article, I will continue with doorways three and four: Actions and Reactions, and Fear and Desire.

Doorway 3: Actions and Reactions

The third entry into the subconscious is through noticing actions and reactions. I'll move straight into the how, before I explain why it works.

To use actions and reactions to explore yourself, be on the watch out for an event like the one as follows:

When noticing it, write down the qualities of that situation:

Next, also write down how you felt afterward. To do so, ask yourself:

The answers to all of these questions can give you insight into two different parts of you:

1. A part of you that is strongly identified (with itself)

2. The part of you that is fully aligned with who you are as a whole.

A part of you that is strongly identified

The part that is strongly identified is a part that is strongly identified with itself. Meaning that this part of you is very convinced about the way it is, who you are, what you want and need, and so on. It is a conviction this part has about you, thinking it is you. Here's an example to explain this:

Let's say there is a part of you that feels she is very strong and resilient. It is not you (as you are more than just that), but it thinks it is you. This part is not so very aware that there are other parts. It has a firm conviction about itself, almost as if it is its own person. It thinks it is you. Therefore if this part would describe you, it would say: I am a strong woman.

Now, the following situation occurs: You are at a party, and someone asks you where you work. Without a doubt, this part pops up and says something like: I manage a team of 30 people in a treatment center for drug addiction. In a heartbeat, your part has been able to show: You work in an industry that is very challenging (drug addiction). Plus, you have a job in this demanding industry that most likely requires a lot of strength and resilience (managing 30 people).

There is nothing wrong with the answer, but you may be aware of what happened: The question asked was: Where do you work? You could have said: A treatment center for addiction. But somewhere inside of you, you instantly went on to describe something that showed the intensity of your job there too. Probably saying it this way made the strongly identified part satisfied.

Another way this same part could show up is: You are at the same party, a drunk person is starting to pick a fight with someone, and you see it happen. The same part in you steps up and walks over to see if you can calm down the situation.

This part is very likely to act or react instantly in certain situations. Whether or not it does indeed depends on how strong the identification with itself is. That is where the questions I proposed you ask yourself come in. By using these to analyse the situation afterward you'll get an indication on how much you were identified with a strongly identified part at that moment.

The part of you that is fully aligned with who you are as a whole

The questions can also help indicate whether or not you were acting from a part that is fully aligned with who you are as a whole. This part can also act or react instantly, not because of strong identification but simply because it comes naturally.

You can probably imagine it is tough to separate the two. But you'll see that the way you feel is different in this case. As are your thoughts.

Let's go back to the same situation once more. You are asked where you work. Again you answer without a doubt, without hesitation. Your answer may be different, it may be the same. The indicator is not necessarily in the answer or reaction itself. So let's say you gave the same answer. However, in the former example, the way you felt may have been:

The latter is how you most likely feel when all your parts are in alignment. None of your parts are trying to get some confirmation of themselves. All are present at the same time in a balanced matter.

You are not a different person, you are still also a strong woman. However, that part of you does not need to fight for its existence as being you. Maybe in this case you are more aware of the other person and what they are trying to understand about you or about life in general.

In the case of the potential fight, the part that strongly identifies may have shown up in thoughts or feelings like:

Afterward, you may have felt relieved you prevented the fight. Maybe it was good you were there. Your body still feels high in energy. What led you was: You had to eliminate the threat, and the surge of energy you felt made you move/act upon that instinct.

The part in alignment with the whole of you, however, may have shown up in this case through:

Possibly, in the second case, you did something similar. Maybe you did walk up, or perhaps you didn't. As mentioned, the reaction itself is not as important as how you were feeling, thinking, and what was moving you into action.

Afterward, you will most likely feel different. Possibly you feel more connected to all the people in the space. Most likely your energy is not heightened as much, as there are no parts of you that need to hold on to it.

That may sound a bit cryptical, but a great indicator of strongly identified parts is fear of loss. In this case, a strongly identified part as described would be likely to hold onto those peak energy surges. It feels it needs this to not lose itself.

Doorway four: Fear and Desire

The final doorway is incredibly powerful. Fear is an excellent doorway because when we experience it, there surely is something going on in the subconscious. A significant part of our subconscious is in the subconscious because of fear.

Remember how the monkey mind is constantly trying to keep us safe? Everything will calm down a lot when there is less fear to handle. But to even be able to start to work with fears, you'll need to become aware of them. That is what we will do here now.

Identifying fear

The challenge with fear is that we think we know it and therefore can identify it. But often, we are not so very well capable of that. The first step is, therefore, to learn how to identify the fear. A good way to do this is by acknowledging:

Reading this, you may agree that barely anyone is without fear. As mentioned, fears are, however, not showing up as obviously as we think they do. The mechanism behind it is often complicated and hidden from us. Fears often hide behind other fears or behind what we call limitations. They may even hide behind desires. Therefore it is good to know the deeper levels of fears, which often don't directly come up in our consciousness.

To do so, you can start as follows:

Write your fear down on a list each time you notice one. When you feel/notice/experience those fears, place them in one or several of these three categories I just described: Future, Consequences, Death.

To make sure you capture the fear, pay attention to whenever you feel:

· restless
· stressed
· anxious
· scared
· not in control
· rushed
· unfocused

If you need help finding the right category, ask yourself questions like:

There is………………… (fill in, i.e. restlessness), related to ……….(fill in, i.e. the future), because ………… (i.e. I am unsure what will happen)

This will give you valuable insight into what fears are underneath much of what you experience. You'll see that they all fall under one of the three categories.

Most of the time, when any of the experiences described above pop up, it is because you are trying to avoid something or control something. Or they occur when you are not doing what you deep down know you want to be doing, most likely because of anticipated consequences.

Fear as desire

As mentioned, fear may also come up as a desire. This may seem very counterintuitive. But bear with me and imagine the following:

You want security in your life in the form of emotional balance. You want to be sure you are happy now and in the future. This need for security is based on fear. Because if there was no fear, this security would not be needed. There would be trust instead, possibly surrender to whatever comes, an embrace of not knowing what the best way to experience emotional balance is.

But because it is so normal to want security in many areas of life, you don't think of it in this way. You don't necessarily see it as being based on fear. Instead, you (for instance) create a desire for a life with a good, fun, supportive love relationship.

There is nothing wrong with desiring this. However, even though you may tell yourself it's a logical desire to have, in this case, it is indeed based on fear. If there were no fear, you would still possibly desire emotional balance, peace of heart, and joy. However, you would not be focusing on how exactly this needs to be secured.

In terms of desire, we often are unconscious of genuine desire. There is a more profound desire behind every desire you feel. Becoming conscious of this is very helpful in life. It may even prevent you chase something for decades, only to find out that it is not what you really desire.

It is very complicated however, because in the case of the example that same desire may also not be based on fear. You may not desire security of those feelings mentioned through that love relationship. Instead, your desire may be completely free of fear. However, it is very commonly based on fear.

Insight into fear and desire is so powerful that I decided to write a book on it. Keep an eye on my newsletter to follow the progress.

Using Desire to Explore the Subconscious

To start exploring your subconscious through desire right now, you can do this: When you feel a desire or a longing for something, broaden the desire. Example:

Or it might be:

So, even though it may be a good moment to eat now, you do know your genuine desire. How you fulfill your desire is still up to you, nothing is right or wrong. The difference is just that now you know what you are attempting to bring into your life or into that moment.

All of this helps you to get to know your subconscious a little more. This way, you can learn to observe and get to know yourself, without judgment or attempts to change it. Mastering the subconscious starts there: Acknowledging it, allowing it to surface, and accepting what is going on underneath. Many of us would like to skip this step and go straight to transcending it all. But if you do just that, you don't transcend. You simply deny.

A final note of importance: When doing any of this work, look at yourself with compassion and love. The intent is not to punish yourself but instead to celebrate everything you became aware of. ❤️