Terms: Conscious, Subconscious, & Unconscious

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1. The Analogy of the Iceberg Our conscious awareness is like the tiny exposed part of the iceberg.     • It is where our logical, rational, and sequential mind resides. We reason, doubt, and demand substantiating evidence. Our subconscious awareness is like the huge submerged part of the iceberg.     • We visit this part rarely, except through dreams, meditation, hypnosis and infrequent "aha!" experiences.     • It is where memories, dreams, imagination and creativity reside, a theoretical "place" full of powerful, mostly untapped and often unknown resources. 2. The Analogy of the Horse, Its Rider, and the Horse Trainer The subconscious is like a powerful horse, not necessarily "honest," "sacred," or "wise."     • You need to treat it with respect, acknowledging its needs and its dependence on you.     • It needs firm and specific directions.     • Once it trusts you, it wants to obey your (conscious mind's) commands.     • If you establish good communication and rapport, it will help you explore resources you haven't learned to appreciated yet.     • Like a horse, if we don't train it, it will run wild (can act irresponsibly and irrationally).     • It may be driven by the simple desire for a carrot or a praise. The conscious mind is like the rider, who believes him/herself to be more mature, responsible, and in charge of the horse. The hypnotherapist is like a horse trainer, with the knowledge and the willingness to help your relationship with the subconscious.     • I have knowledge to share with you, but you, the rider, has to learn to treat the horse/subcounscious with respect, gratefulness, and firmness. 3. The Analogy of the Subconscious Mind as The Child This analogy helps us understand the simple needs of our subconscious mind.     • It has a child-like openness to possibilities, and freely finds plausible connections between seemingly unconnected ideas.     • It can process information in random order.     • It understands literally and believes anything, such as, "I'll kiss it and make it feel better." Doubt resides outside, in the conscious mind.     • It may skip the meaning of "not." Directives, such as "Do not touch the crystals" invites it to touch. Positively worded directives, such as "Let's touch the toys" helps it to stay away from the crystals.     • Real memories and made-up stories feel the same to the Subconscious. Uplifting made-up stories are just as gratifying as uplifting real-life memories. Traumatic made-up stories are just as horrifying as traumatic real-life memories. Luckily, uplifting made-up stories can help console the Subconscious suffering from traumatic real-life memories.     • Like a child, it likes gentle yet firm guidance. Once it trusts and feels safe around you, it will share whatever you ask for. *Megumi uses the following terms interchangeably: 1) "subconscious" and "unconscious"; 2) "state," "mind," "process," and "awareness"; and 3) "hypnosis" and "trance." Ideas expressed on this website are that of Grace Fleming ("Megumi") only, and do not necessarily represent that of any organization or group. See the website by American Society of Clinical Hypnosis for more information about hypnosis.