In Ibiza at www.thebodycamp.com, we spend the first few days unwinding from all the stress of life, soaking up the Spanish sunshine (in moderation), eating live, healthy organic foods in an incredible setting and enjoying some fun exercise. We also spend a few hours daily, talking and discussing the interesting subject of the conscious and unconscious mind (the two brains).
In today’s blog, we will today discuss how your two minds affects you.
What is the conscious mind?
(5-10% of your daily thought process)
The conscious mind is what we choose to focus on, in the moment (around 3-7 things) such as thinking about someone or looking at something. It’s where our focus goes – when WE CHOOSE to use it.
Just for a moment think of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic. The ship’s captain only saw the top of the iceberg. What lay underneath the surface, was a much larger piece of ice, which is what did the damage – the hidden deep, “under the surface” part of the iceberg.
What is the critical facility?
If you believe you have no will power and you can’t stop smoking, eating chocolate, drinking etc, it could be because you have a critical facility. It’s a gap between your conscious and unconscious mind.
When the conscious and unconscious are linked, the two minds talk easy and communicate to each other. Therefore simple orders like “I am going to stop smoking” or “I am going to stop eating too much chocolate’ (or any highly addictive substances) are followed, allowing both minds to work in harmony and make this a certainty. People with a large critical facility’s don’t process much (in terms of will power) and find it difficult to control the urge or impulses they sometimes feel in daily life.
What is the unconscious mind?
(90% of your hidden learned daily habits and behaviors)
The unconscious mind drives your heart to beat 100,000 times a day, ensures you breathe over 20,000 times a day – and that’s just for starters! It also consists of all your learned habits and behaviors from education, family, your environment, learned experiences and is very, very powerful.
It’s believed that we have over 70,000 thoughts a day in this area of our minds, which is why the conscious mind can only pick 3-7 things to focus on at once. The unconscious mind is an incredibly powerful part of your mind and heavily involved in your daily habits (which you sometimes don’t even think about), such as brushing your teeth, driving and texting (some people!), dressing yourself in a hurry perhaps, eating and drinking. If you can communicate to this part of the brain, you have a high chance of success in life. The most successful people in life are able to say something, act on it and just do it. Why? It’s because of the communication between the two brains (conscious and unconscious mind) without the gap – or critical facility.
There are many ways to improve your habits, learn better behaviours and improve the communication between the two minds, such as attending www.thebodycamp.com, mindfulness training, meditation, yoga, tai-chi, mindful eating and mindful walking.
Rick Parcell
Master Coach