Is The Subconscious Mind Real?

Hi there. Welcome back to Ketamine Connections. I am your host, Anna Kristall, your ketamine coach. And today we're diving into one of the most intriguing and dare I say, mysterious topics in the world of mental health and healing, the subconscious mind, which fun fact, that's where my interest for all of this began back in 2014 was when I started investigating the subconscious mind, and it has been a love affair.

It is still one of my greatest passions to get to know and explore. So before we get started, maybe you're thinking like, Is the subconscious mind even real? Or maybe you're imagining it as some mystical woo woo concept that only exists in, I don't know, some other conversation. Well, buckle up because today we are going to explore what the subconscious mind really is, how it plays in your everyday life, and why it's especially important when we are talking about healing through psychedelics like ketamine.

So, uh, Let's dive in. Okay. Is any good place to start? Let's start with the basics. What exactly is the subconscious mind? There's a classical metaphor for this. And it's the metaphor of the iceberg. So if you think of an iceberg, you have the part of it that's above water. And in most cases, that's the minority of it, right?

It's like the smaller percentage of it. The bit that you can see of the iceberg above the water. That is the analogy for the beach. Conscious mind. This is where you're aware, you're making decisions, you're engaging with the world around you and underneath the surface, right? Subconscious sub is underneath like a submarine goes below water.

So the subconscious mind is the a larger part of the iceberg that is beneath the surface. And that's the part that you cannot see when you're above the surface of the water, but you can dive under and you can have a look. And I think that's one of the biggest misconceptions about the subconscious mind is that it's Inaccessible.

Some people call it, it's used interchangeably to call it the unconscious mind. I like to say subconscious mind because it is underneath the surface. You can access it absolutely with so many different practices. Psychedelics, ketamine is one of them. And the entirety of it, the iceberg, the part that's above water and below water, that makes up the, the entirety of your mind.

So your sub, your subconscious mind Back up, your conscious mind is the minority. And because it's that little bit above water, it's the 5 percent of your entire mind. It's looking to automate and minimize how much work it has to do. So it gives as much work as it can. to the subconscious mind that's underneath the surface, like a giant storage room that holds your memories, your beliefs, your habits, your experiences, your autonomic nervous system, why you can breathe and do all these things unconsciously.

So the subconscious mind is actually the part that's running the show. It's influencing your thoughts, your feelings, your behaviors. And unless you build a practice of of accessing it. It's going to be doing that without you even really realizing it. So whether you believe in it or not, the subconscious mind is very much real and very much in charge.

So you might be thinking like, okay, that's fascinating. Cool. But what does this have to do with ketamine? Let me tell you. When we use psychedelics like ketamine, we're not just having a wild trip or seeing pretty colors or having a somatic release. What's really happening is that the boundary, the line between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind is beginning to blur.

So, I like to describe it like a house. Imagine all the different parts of your personality as different rooms in the house. So, the part of you that is an adult is in a different room than the room of you being someone's child, or you. There's a room for different emotions that you feel and what ketamine does is that it comes in and it lowers the walls between these rooms and that creates an unprecedented experience in your brain.

This gives you a rare opportunity to access deeper hidden parts of yourself. The parts that are Maybe tucked away, sometimes out of reach. So imagine opening a door to a secret room in your mind. If you have seen Inside Out 2, that was a brilliant showcase of what happens with ketamine therapy. And inside that you might find old memories or some emotions, some limiting beliefs that, you know, are influencing your life.

The late and great Carl Jung said, until we make the unconscious conscious, it will rule your life and you would call it fate. So you're opening the door to the storehouse of where your fate, destiny is. And here's The absolute magic is that one, it doesn't have to be scary you when you have the right guidance and you have the right intention and you have the ability to get in there and start working through these things.

You can reprogram old patterns, make lasting change that ripples through your whole life. And something that I like to remind people is that when we're accessing these parts, They're going to come out in stages. You're not going to go for the deepest depths immediately Unless you're ready for that. So if you get to it, it's You know, if you get to it, you're ready to move through it.

Just kind of made that up. Uh, okay. So I would love to take you through an exercise to give you a lived experience of accessing the subconscious mind and specifically accessing how. Mind blowingly powerful it is. So if you are somewhere where you can close your eyes, I want you to go ahead and do that.

If you cannot close your eyes, if you're driving or walking or anything like that, come back to this later. I think it is a little bit more powerful with your eyes closed, but listen along and see what experience you have with your eyes open. And then you can compare it with your eyes closed. I have done this exercise myself.

So many times it never gets old. It's always really fun. So let's close our eyes. And as I love to do, let's just take a cleansing breath. Inhale through the nose, exhale, let it go. So I'm asking you to access the part of you that is your imagination and different people access the different imagination through different access points.

For some people, it's easier to see. Others have an easier time hearing. Other people have a sensed knowing or an imagination. So whatever is easiest for you to access, I want you to imagine a hot day, sunny day, the sun is beaming down. It is heating up the ground, the earth and you, and you decide to venture inside.

You walk into a building that has a kitchen and a refrigerator. You walk up to the refrigerator, you open it up, there is a bowl of lemons inside the refrigerator. You pick one up, you bring it over to the counter, There's a cutting board, good, you lay it down on the cutting board, you roll it a few times just to get it really, really juicy, really, really plump, and then you pull out a knife and you cut that lemon, cut a lemon wedge, piece of that lemon, and you put it into your mouth and you take a bite.

Whew. Okay, go ahead and put that lemon back down. Take a cleansing inhale through the nose and exhale, let it go. And you can bring a big smile to your face and open your eyes when you're ready. So, what likely happened is that you had a lived experience of biting into an apple, a lemon, biting into a lemon, and having the physiological response to that of your mouth salivating, right?

The like anticipatory bitter taste and the, all of the parts of it, right? How is that, do you have a lemon in your mouth right now? Probably not. Did that happen? How did that happen? That is the power of the subconscious mind right there. That is a lived experience of the power of the subconscious mind to make you feel like you're living something that you're not actually living.

I want you to imagine the scope of that. I want you to imagine the sheer power that your subconscious mind has to produce a lived experience of eating a lemon. Yes, that was a fun, innocuous experience. Imagine what else is hanging out that is having you have a lived experience. Anyways, that's just a wild example.

I love that game. Thank you for playing. I would love to hear your feedback on how that was. Feel free to leave it as a comment in the podcast or you can reach out to me in social media. The links are In the podcast notes. So let me know how it was for you. Okay. So let's bring it back to ketamine healing.

And why does this matter in the space of ketamine healing? Well, a few reasons. One, because ketamine is lowering those doors, the walls in between different states of being, and that is producing a new experience. And you want to maximize the. potential of that, of the lowering of that walls. It's the window of neuroplasticity that is created.

And I will absolutely create another episode about that for sure. That is a fascinating topic, but there is a window of heightened neuroplasticity that ketamine creates, which means you have the access to change things around more. So imagine going into ketamine and not knowing that this is what's happening.

And that's why I want to put this out there. So this is important when it comes to ketamine because this is why the ketamine is working. This is how the ketamine is working. And this is the entry point into the potential that ketamine brings. So if you've ever heard the saying of, Oh, guess what? All the answers you seek are inside of you.

And you may have thought, What the? Then this is where the answers are, they're in the subconscious mind. So by tapping into the subconscious mind, you get to sort of the neck that steers the head, right? If your head is, if your head is looking this way, your eyes is looking this way, your focus is this way, your neck is what gets you there.

So if you are looking at your, any part of you, your existence. Right? Whatever you're experiencing that has you looking over here, by changing the subconscious mind, you can look in a different direction and have a completely different experience of life. That's where the true healing takes place. And so ketamine in particular is a key to unlock the door, to lower those walls, lower the doors and to give yourself a chance to rewrite stories and create whatever you want.

Truly. I've seen it happen. There is no limit on the potential here. So that's what I want you to know because the unlimited nature of this potential lies in the subconscious mind. So wrapping it up, is the subconscious mind real? Yeah, absolutely. And it's not just real. It's incredibly powerful as you had a lived experience of today.

So by understanding and working with your subconscious mind, especially in the context of ketamine therapy, you can influence. Profound changes in your life, and that's why I hope that you share today's episode with somebody who maybe doesn't know what the subconscious mind is, or is embarking on Academy journey.

And you're like, Hey, do you know about this? That's my hope for today's episode. And I hope that it sparked some curiosity in you. And maybe even made you think about your own mind in a new way. Maybe the more that we explore, and understand the subconscious, the more we can transform ourselves, which ripples into transforming the world around us.

So thank you so much for tuning into ketamine connections. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone who might benefit from it. I love your comments. Please keep leaving reviews. And if you have any questions on topics that you would like covered or anything that sparked it, your peak, your interest, there is a link in the show notes below for you to write in and leave whatever you like, please be in touch.

It's what makes this experience interactive and more fun for me. And until next time, keep exploring, stay curious, and remember that the real magic is beneath the surface.