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Ep 8: Brain Power: Using Your Subconscious Mind for What Matters
26 Plays4 months ago
In this episode of the Aligned Living podcast, Coach Autumn explores how our subconscious mind influences our thoughts, behaviors, and overall well-being. Drawing on insight from various experts, Coach Autumn reveals how our thoughts shape who we are and encourages strategic, proactive thinking for mental wellness. She discusses the subconscious's role in immune system function and holistic health, advocating for mindfulness and self-regulation.
Intro and Outro Music Credit: Savage by Beat Mekanik, Free Music Archive, License type: CC BY
Please visit: www.autumnswain.com
Contact: [email protected]
IG: @drautumnswain
FB: Autumn Alena Swain
Resources: Dr. Caroline Leaf “Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess”
Transcript
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello there. I'm Dr. Autumn, leadership consultant, wellness coach, author, and I'm incredibly grateful to be your host of the Align Living podcast.
00:00:19
Speaker
I'm here to equip you with the tools, inspiration, and practical tips necessary to lead a life of wholeness and pursue greater Shalom in your life and that of your families, teams, and communities. My mission is to empower you to lead from a place of holistic wellbeing. It's time to say peace out to the fatigue, fog, and frustration of living in a place that lacks abundant wellbeing. Join me as we embark on a comprehensive exploration of spiritual, physical,
00:00:56
Speaker
mental, emotional, social, and economic well-being all within the comforting embrace of one podcast.
00:01:10
Speaker
Hey, good people, Dr. Autumn here, and welcome back to the Aligned ah Living Podcast. And I'm just so excited to have this opportunity to chat with you today about a critical part of navigating our thought patterns. The subconscious mind is this go-between from our unconscious to our conscious mind. Okay, it's really significant. So no matter which directions our thoughts are arising from, they must go through the subconscious mind. It's right there in the middle. So let's talk about how to impact that space in a positive way so that your thoughts will support your health, your goals, your relationships, your pursuit of wholeness in a positive way.
00:01:59
Speaker
If you're wondering how relevant this is, just consider that all the foundational discussions we have had on making the right choices, delayed gratification, being coachable, navigating rhythms in your life to support your holistic wellness goals, right? Our thoughts touch every one of these things. And Dr. Caroline Leaf, one of my favorite experts on the mind, often shares how our thoughts make up a large percentage of who we are, more so than our brain and our body, very much more so than our brain and our body, actually. It's our personality and so much more. So let's dig in.
00:02:52
Speaker
So please let me begin by saying this is not my greatest area of expertise. I feel like I know quite a bit about all six areas that comprise aligned living, but there's certainly some areas that I know more than others. When I um was going through grad school, um you know, I was re researching you know, what is required in the pursuit of wholeness or shalom, right? So when I look at the integrative nature of who we are and the basis for aligned living, it's all six of those areas, right? Our spiritual wellness, our physical wellness, our mental and emotional wellness, and our social and our economic wellness, right?
00:03:34
Speaker
They're all integrated on an individual level, also a community level. If you start considering what comprises wholeness in your communities, all of these areas are integrated or intertwined intimately. and so But the reality is, me as one human being, I know more about some of those spaces than others, but the beautiful thing is I've done lots of research and learning and experiencing and applying myself ah that I've learned from people who do have
00:04:08
Speaker
a very, very specific area of expertise. And that's why I'll be referencing some of Dr. Caroline Leaf's work today because she's brilliant. This is her area. This is what she's a ah doctor in. Like she knows so much about thoughts in the mind. and how they're connected to everything else. Therefore, she actually knows quite a bit about um nutrition and emotions and all the things because we're such integrated beings that once you start doing a deep dive in one area, you start to just realize how essential it is to know more and more about other areas. But that's the beauty of this podcast and the aligned living community where I go even deeper in my coursework and the communities you can be part of and the challenges.
00:04:48
Speaker
is because what i'm kind of taking all of this knowledge that i've accumulated and putting it into like bite size pieces and really practical ways that you can apply it to benefit from it without having to do all of the other work that i've had to go through so i'm with that being said i do also know some people like to continue to learn and dig deeper which is why um in the um Aligned Living Course there is so many resources that I'll be sharing so that if you're like, I do want to learn more about something and read more about it, you can do so. Plus in this podcast I'll be referencing some ah fantastic ah resources as well. So that's up to you on how deep you want to go. But my point is, is
00:05:30
Speaker
and This area of thoughts and understanding the mind is like deep. It goes deep and wide and so I'll just be touching on one specific aspect of it today and looking into the subconscious mind because I think it's really really important for us just like if we want to eat better we have to know what to put in our bodies. If we want our thoughts to really add value to our life and make a really really big difference because it does impact everything else our thoughts do. It impacts our physical health, our emotional health, all of it. And so we do want to be really mindful of this space. So I'm so excited to be doing this podcast episode for you because I think we need to pause and say, okay, what is truly impacting my subconscious mind in my day-to-day life? Because
00:06:14
Speaker
then you can actually have like take the time to set some tangible goals when your awareness of how important this is. you know so ah With that being said, of course I'm going to be integrating many of my own applications and takes, but there are some incredible experts out there that could take you so much deeper than what this podcast is going to get into. so Our subconscious mind is just one part of our thought formation. But I want to break it down so you can walk away with some understanding and really practical applications for how this can change your life.
00:06:51
Speaker
Now we probably all have set important goals, but how often do we say, I want to invest in myself by improving how I manage my thoughts and emotions, right? If I was typing this out, I'd add like an LOL in there because it is funny, right? Like do we take the time to do that? I get pretty passionate about this because I think a lot of problems would be reduced if we chose to respond instead of react to situations. If we chose to respond to a person or an issue or a challenge instead of reacting. Understanding this for ourselves not only benefits us individually,
00:07:34
Speaker
But just consider how many things we see or experiences or stuff we learn of every day that are impacted by people either choosing to react or respond. Like this impacts everyone around us. And sometimes indirectly impacts us. Like if there's something happening in your community as a result of this playing out, that also then will impact you and your kids and your family. So this is a really, really important topic. So this is where we're going to focus today. How can we be people who know how to respond instead of reacting?
00:08:16
Speaker
And I love how Dr. Leaf says it. We can respond reactively, which generally ends up being messy or proactively, which is how we clean up our mental mess, which happens to be the name of her new book. She particularly recommends starting by understanding the divisions of the mind and how these relate to the dynamic natures of thoughts, okay? Again, this could go super deep. It's actually fascinating. Like, I like want to follow my knees and say, thank you God for how brilliantly you created our bodies because it is really quite crazy. And I'm going to get into some of how um there's emotions
00:08:59
Speaker
like how we express thoughts and emotions, how it's connected to all aspects of our body, not just our brain. But ah anyways, as you've heard me say over and over in these podcasts, I believe that our choices are not neutral. So just think of it, a physical habit either has a positive or negative impact on you. If you consume something, if you eat something, it's going to either add value to you or have a negative effect. And the same things with our thoughts. I don't believe they are neutral either. The thoughts that we have, the things that we put in our mind,
00:09:34
Speaker
you know, what's floating around in our subconscious mind and even our non-conscious mind, right? it's It's not neutral. It's going to have a positive or negative effect. Those who know me know my desire is to help people get to the root of the issue. No band-aid approaches here. Ugh! One of my many soap boxes is to take a more preventative approach to whatever it is. Let's talk about relationships. Let's talk about health. Let's talk about anything. I don't care. You name it. but we want to get to the root and take a preventative approach. Okay, so we're going to apply that here because um Dr. Leaf, she says it while she goes on to say looking at our thoughts and specifically um ah for today when we're considering the role of the subconscious mind, we can even think of this practice as preventative medicine for your brain.
00:10:27
Speaker
Like I love that, like it has to start here. To understand the three parts of thought though, um it's just gonna be more helpful for you if I just share from Dr. Leaf's website. um There is a ah blog post that basically just highlights the difference between the non-conscious mind, the subconscious mind and the conscious mind. So the mind's divided into these three parts. The conscious, the non-conscious, and subconscious. Subconscious is right there in the middle. To understand these three parts, think of a tree. I love nature analogies, so I love how she shares this. The top of the tree is the conscious mind, all right? And this is where our communication and behavior are what we say and do lie. The tree trunk, then, and the grass are the subconscious mind, which are the prompts from the non-conscious mind that are just on the edge of our conscious awareness.
00:11:25
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These are those tip of the tongue, I can't quite put your finger on it cues that evoke and trigger that feeling that something needs to be addressed. Something's trying to get her attention and the non-conscious mind is those then deep spiritual and phenomenally fast quantum world where our truth and value, intelligence, wisdom, meaning, and thoughts which with there their thoughts with their embedded memories are stored in this swirling mass of energy. okay So do you get those like three different parts? you The conscious, then the subconscious, and then that non-conscious part? like
00:12:03
Speaker
They're all super significant, but we're going to really talk about the subconscious mind today. um The biggest takeaway, you know, when I've just of done so different research and reading and deep diving into this, is that thoughts are malleable, okay? This is where the hope comes in, and I'm all about having some hope. We all need more hope in our lives, right? Thoughts are malleable. So if you're like, oh, I just have some like trashy thinking lately or whatever, other people around me just, oh, trashy thinking. Our thoughts are malleable. All right. And the other really cool thing is that subconscious in the middle, these these thoughts are two way processes. All right. So what's fascinating about this is the, the non-conscious, all that deep seated stuff can positively inform your conscious thoughts, right? Via the subconscious mind, but also the other way around, we can make conscious choices that could in turn,
00:12:58
Speaker
impact our non-conscious mind when we need to relearn some things or rewire some things, okay? So it's like brilliance, all malleable. That's the hope. When you consciously engage the non-conscious mind, which is the largest part, through deliberate and intentional, intentional, you hear me say that word a lot, strategic and proactive deep thinking, you draw your thoughts with their embedded memories, all right? Then through awareness, you can notice how your body responds, right? Like body awareness stuff. There's more and more conversations out there about this. It's so, so important. And I have personal stories of the significance of this. And you'll hear more about that when I get to talk about my personal rhythms and how I am making personal progress in my pursuit of wholeness in Aligned Living.
00:13:47
Speaker
But you know your body responds then from from the non-conscious, these thoughts and in embedded memories, and then your body responds. So whether it's good or bad, this is information you're now conscious of in that moment. And you can change the thought in your response. right Awareness to it, whatever it is, you're in charge then of changing that thought, if need be, and your response to it. Ah, this is so hopeful. Interestingly, you can benefit your subconscious and non-conscious mind through self-regulation of conscious thoughts, right? And when I get to talk more about emotional health, as such a big part of that is emotional regulation. And I've been learning so much about this because I have a seven-year-old and a 10-year-old and talk about this these are the ages they're navigating
00:14:38
Speaker
self-regulation, you know, we're all emotional beings, so you feel something, how you regulate it and respond is everything. So with my kids, you know, I've been spending a lot of time understanding this and learning about it and trying to implement things for them, but um so so this, the reverse process, conscious to subconscious to non-conscious, we could do this through self-regulation of our conscious thoughts, okay? Now, awareness of your thoughts, okay? We need to be aware of them so that being strategic and proactive and deliberate about our thinking. That means leaving enough margin. You've heard me talk about it when it was episode two. Like, margin your life to even pause for a second to consider your thoughts because if you don't, like, this this impacts everything.
00:15:27
Speaker
So it's it's important to take that time. And this is called mind management. by Dr. Leaf phrases it that way, and I love it. Mind management. Manage your mind. But we've probably heard it more, like probably read some books, some more, a leadership book or something. it's just We say mind your mind, right? Like mind your mind is awareness of it. So despite maybe some of your experiences where you let your thoughts cause you to react, you can actually take your thoughts, adjust them, and send better thoughts back through the channels. And at this point, this is beyond my level of expertise, but now it can impact your subconscious and non-conscious thoughts, okay?
00:16:06
Speaker
It's actually crazy. I'm not going to try to verbalize this, but how our bodies work and the things that we could do to impact this in a positive way. It's not just what we're watching or what we're scrolling on social media. It's everything like how we manage our bodies, like nutritionally, deep breathing, the sleep that we get, the people we're on, the community we're in, is all having an impact, which is why we have to bring awareness to this. And you can actually read more about it in Dr. Leaf's book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess. It's her newest one. She has lots of them. but Cleaning up your mental mess, okay? ah So, and if you're like mine, I have no mental mess. Like, I feel like I'm pretty good. you You still have so much to learn, right? Because we're all doing this. We all deal with people. We all like,
00:16:52
Speaker
our living life that's not perfect and there's brokenness so we all can benefit from learning more about this. So much research shows that subconscious mind impacts our physical health. And I would argue it impacts all areas of our wellness because it's all connected, right? Say it over and over again, it's integrated, it's integrated. And the reason I keep saying it over and over, because it doesn't matter how much we hear it so many times, it's easy to default back to a disintegrated nature. I'm actually going to reference a book in a minute.
00:17:24
Speaker
that talks about that, but like it's so easy in our humanity to become disintegrated again. And we're like, wait, we're integrated. We're integrated. Keep hearing this. We're going to hear it on repeat. Our thoughts, feelings, and experiences can create physiological responses in the body affecting everything, our immune system, our hormone levels, just our overall wellness, all right? It is intimately connected. the subconscious mind plays a crucial role in this connection. And there's so much I could talk about here, but I am just going to point out that I'm not going to go into the role of unresolved trauma and suppressed emotions, but it's just more evidence that everything within us is connected. So you can't ignore it in the pursuit of wholeness. And to be honest, there's amazing practitioners and you know people who've written books and podcasts on these topics ah that go into a lot of detail when it comes to trauma and
00:18:19
Speaker
suppressed emotions and stuff. I will continue to share my favorite resources as I come across them, both on my social media, ah here on future podcast episodes, as well as my Aligned Living membership platform. ah But I just want to acknowledge at least this reality that some of you are working through, like maybe dealing with some childhood to trauma or hurt or like current um challenges or like maybe you're still navigating how to express emotions a healthy way. You aren't alone and then just lean into people who can help you navigate the space. So that book that I just referenced ah that I'm currently reading, it's actually called The Soul of Desire by Dr. Kurt Thompson. And I love reading subtitles because I think they just add that extra oomph to it. But the subtitle here is Discovering the Neuroscience of Longing
00:19:08
Speaker
beauty and community. Alright, so some of these things like, you know, shame and trauma and stuff he touches on there, ah you know, the importance of beauty in our life and navigating it. So it all is also very, very connected to thought patterns. So that's another resource for you. There's so many more resources out there that could bless your heart and your mind. um But that's one.
00:19:34
Speaker
So We are talking about responding in a healthy way and not reacting, right? And this is also a product of aligned living, right? You start ah implementing the practices, the things we're talking about in different areas. It's all connected, so it'll all help you respond in a healthy way in the way of thought patterns. Um, but I know some of this could be overwhelming. So that's the whole point here is to like break it down to bite size pieces. So you don't feel overwhelmed. And to be honest, I'm not saying I totally understand everything that I read to the full extent. Cause it's a lot, but I just want to give you a foundation that's pretty powerful. And then we could just expand on it in future episodes. Um, just so you have like at least a starting place of where you can go. Okay.
00:20:20
Speaker
So the subconscious mind is just a few like, I think most significant bullets that I like kind of walked away with. No, just facts. It consists of long-term memory, emotions and feelings, habits and behavior patterns. Okay. Those are important things. Like it's not just like information, like take them in for a second, right? Our habits, our behaviors, emotions, like those are significant things. So don't ignore your subconscious mind, right? ah Your subconscious is programmed and your subconscious in turn shapes who you are and how you perceive the world.
00:20:59
Speaker
Dang. It's part of the brain that controls everything we do and say without us knowing. Oof. That to me immediately, I'm like, oh, that will impact your relationships. It's also where our deepest desires and fears live, right? I'm a passionate person. I feel strongly so I can relate when I start thinking about the desires of the heart. So, I want to help my subconscious mind as much as possible and help my thought patterns. If we don't know how to train, our subconscious minds will always be at the mercy of these deep-seated beliefs and emotions.
00:21:35
Speaker
So your body actually is a big part of your subconscious mind, right? So it's not just sitting down like meditating and thinking about things, our body's part of it. Every cell in the body has receptors that modify our mental state, like whoa. Now, those of you who I've been able to health coach or do health coaching with, or maybe I've talked about it, it's probably some other platforms, the gut health, for example, is intimately connected to mental wellness, right? Like our serotonin levels in our gut health are intimately connected, those happy hormones. So every cell in the body has receptors that modify our mental state. It's not just the brain. Almost every part of the brain is also connected to the limbic system. So everything's also tied to emotion.
00:22:22
Speaker
So then the reason I love saying this is because it would be argued that, you know, if you want to improve your thoughts and emotions, taking care of your body is important. Taking care of your mind, your brain is important. to Taking care of all of it are community or social connections, because also the way that it works, and I've read about this, but it's not in front of me, so I'm not going to quote it, but like two human beings together also impact the chemical responses like when it comes to empathy or how we can improve one another's mind health and emotional health, right? Like it's also connected to the people around us. Like there's no escaping it. Okay. So that's like a big takeaway here is like, we're like okay, I want to improve my thought patterns. Like everything in your life is impacting it. So that's why we have to pay attention.
00:23:14
Speaker
So think of the mind body, the body mind as a field. Emotions are everywhere in the body triggering at all times. So that's why the management piece is like so key. And again, to remember the things we do and around us are not neutral, right? They're either adding value or not. So just kind of in summary, wrapping up here, the subconscious connects the conscious and non-conscious, right? So where everything, this is where things lie. This is our actions, right? This is super significant. So then what can we do? All right? Hopefully you're more knowledgeable on this now, but like, what can you do? You could be mindful of what you do. Like, that that's it. Just be mindful of the who, of the what, of the when, of the how. All the things are impacting your mind.
00:24:04
Speaker
So I just want to pivot for a really quick second here as I wrap up because now the things that you do for you are so important because you're important. But communities are made up of individuals and healthy community is like essential for a quality of life. So I just want to pivot to healthy community for a second and kind of bridge this because I found this quite fascinating, um you know, because when you start thinking about healthy communities, it involves our thoughts significantly, like understanding empathy and compassion.
00:24:39
Speaker
and deep-seated or deep-rooted beliefs, right? This subconscious is integral for unity. It's integral for healthy community. So I want to wrap up by covering a blog post I actually wrote many, many years ago. I completely forgot about it. I was actually searching something on my computer, and then this ah ah blog post popped up that I wrote about the subconscious mind. I'm like, oh, interesting. What did I write about five years ago? And the blog is seeingcolor.net. So the whole mission of this blog is to promote social wellness through loving others and celebrating our differences. And so for some reason, many, many, many years ago, I'm like, before I even started Aligned Living, I was like, social health and the subconscious are like super connected. So let's talk about it. So I just want to read some of what I wrote ah just to help us further make progress in Aligned Living.
00:25:34
Speaker
And then I'll wrap up with um my tip for the day and then I will see you next time. So the power of the subconscious mind. Okay, this is some of what I said. Did you know that the subconscious mind works continually for the common good? In other words, by default, God created our bodies to be moving toward wholeness such as the healing that takes place when our bodies are injured. Cool, huh? The divine norm of the subconscious wants to move in the direction of harmony and health and peace. The problem then lies in how man, in her humans, interfere with this innate principle of harmony.
00:26:16
Speaker
Everyone has had some negative influence in our lives, everybody, that has harmed the way the subconscious mind leads to actions that are not peaceful or productive. But I want to share with you this big word of encouragement. We're in a society that's stressed with work and life and overwhelmed by all the problems and negativity and bombarded by these unavoidable messages that are infiltrated with inaccuracies that can influence people in the wrong direction. According to dictionary dot.com, the subconscious is the concerning part of the mind of which one's not fully aware, but which influences one's actions and feelings, as you just heard above.
00:26:55
Speaker
or earlier, your subconscious mind is subjective. It does not think or reason independently. It just merely obeys the command it receives from your conscious mind just as your conscious mind could be thought of as the gardener planting seeds. Your subconscious mind could be thought of as the garden or fertile soil in which the seeds germinate and grow. What then influences the subconscious? There's a mighty power at work, a divine power that is found within those that believe this as true, that wants to pull things back together toward peace, harmony, and wholeness. Mark 9, verse 23, in the Bible says, if you can, said Jesus, everything is possible for one who believes.
00:27:40
Speaker
What does this have to do with peace and wholeness? Well, transformation of the subconscious, which influences the conscious mind and all its actions and thoughts, begin with belief. Ask yourself, what what do I believe? And proceed to fill your mind with life-giving truths, especially in those areas where one needs to counteract worldly truths with God's truths. So I go on to say, what do you believe of people? What have you allowed to be molded onto your subconscious mind? What media says, what family says, or what God says? Do you view people through lenses of race, or do you see the beauty through which God created people with different canvases that are all significant because they are painted by the same creator?
00:28:25
Speaker
Race was a concept instituted by man, but the ethnicity and culture of people is something to be celebrated because it's one's history, their story, the embodiment of a different journey. Race that divides us only has negatively influenced the subconscious mind, but celebrating our differences through authenticity and love will unite us. As Dr. Lucretia Carter-Berry mentions in her book, What Lies Between Us, we need to awaken our subconscious thoughts about race. Because we are unaware of this non-conscious association, much of our thinking and actions stem from unchallenged racial messages racial messages we've received all of our lives from numerous socializing agents.
00:29:10
Speaker
So I go on, our beliefs have been instilled in us in some capacity and many times without us even knowing where in our subconscious mind we're fueling our thinking and actions. Dr. Caroline Leaf has done some incredible research on our ability to change the brain. Actually, during my dissertation research, I noted her findings that what we tell ourselves has a significant impact on our brain development. For example, hearing a lot of positive language will grow brain neurons while the opposite holds true for being exposed to a lot of negative language.
00:29:42
Speaker
Barry actually applies leaf's work Dr. Barry applies Dr. Leaf's work to her studies on being able to recondition the brain to uproot toxic beliefs that have been planted deep in our psyches by race ideology and racial conditioning. okay So pick up our book, What Lies Between Us, to learn more. But ah one another author book that I'll be referencing, Joyce Stewart writes and in Interconnected by God, that what most people do not realize is that the subconscious mind is what controls the conscious mind. almost impossible to change through willpower, just the conscious mind, right? Because according to Lipton, the subconscious mind is millions more powerful than the conscious mind. Okay. So let us consider how we can live out an extraordinary life and help others do the same through the transforming of our minds through the spirit. All right. So, um, I, I mean, I go on and I write more about this, but like, I just wanted to kind of shed some light on dang, like,
00:30:39
Speaker
Taking the time to grow in our mental wellness, to grow in our thought capacity, to grow in our subconscious mind, like just to invest in it in a healthy way is like pretty significant. So in this pursuit of wholeness, we must consider our mental wellness and to do this, just be intentional about your thoughts. How you impact your subconscious mind is so important and valuable.
00:31:09
Speaker
Now for Coach Autumn's Practice the Day because practice does not make perfect. Practice makes permanent. So today's tip is to take note of the three of of things you do for three days that impact your mind. So what's impacting your subconscious in a positive way and what's impacting it in a negative way? Just for three days, just be really, really intentional. Try swapping out some of what you do that may not be helping you for a practice that will grow your subconscious mind in a healthy way and have a net positive impact on your thought pattern. So for me, I meditate on scripture, right? Like if I'm going through a period of uncertainty, I'll read scriptures on trusting God. Like one of my favorites is trust in the Lord with all of your heart and don't lean on your own understanding. Cause sometimes when you do that, your own understanding is not in the best way. And then in the future, you can look back and say, thank God for that.
00:32:01
Speaker
But trust and Lord with all your heart lean out on your own understanding and all your ways acknowledge him He'll direct your paths like for me that helps my thought patterns. You can also capture lies that cause doubt Okay from people bullying you and saying negative things to you um To news to social media like be conscious of those things. They're going into your mind again. There's no neutral effect here It's either helping or hurting And then pause when you capture that lie and then counter it. Because like I was saying above, I think it's like 10 positives to counter one negative. So you want to tip the scale in a positive way. Now I'll leave you with this. You've got this. If you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed, just break it down. Just take three days to be a little bit more conscious about what's going into your mind and the results will be so worth it.
00:32:56
Speaker
Thank you for tuning in to the Aligned Living Podcast. I'm Dr. Autumn, your guide on this journey to Shalom or wholeness. Ready to embark on this journey of self-discovery and transformation? Head over to autumnswain dot.com to learn more and to dive deeper into the world of Aligned Living. Until next time, stay aligned.