The truth is that there is only "one" mind, that's why the question above asks about the conscious and unconscious "mind" instead of "minds". However, the mind is a very complex mechanism and using the metaphor of "two minds" makes it possible for us to describe some very complex operations in a way that is easier to comprehend and understand.

So what do we mean when we talk about the "conscious" mind? This is the part of your mind that you are using at this very moment to read this newsletter. It's in the present, and has limited focus. The conscious mind can focus on only 5-9 bits of information, or 5-9 activities, or a combination of the two, at a time. The conscious mind is the analytical, logical mind, and the conscious mind "rationalizes" the decisions made by the unconscious mind.

The "unconscious" mind on the other hand has access to all of your life experiences, memories, knowledge, etc. on top of the 5-9 bits we discussed above, and much more. The unconscious mind is where your imagination, innovation and creativity live. All learning and communication comes from the unconscious mind. In the battle for your "will", the unconscious mind is the "800lbs Gorilla" in the fight. However, the unconscious mind can take direction from the conscious mind, in the form of suggestions, if they are worded properly.

The unconscious mind also manages all of our unconscious activities, like heart rate, temperature, and other bodily functions. It also runs the internal programs we have for driving our unconscious behaviors. For example, when you first learned to tie your shoes, ride a bike, or drive a car, it took a lot of 'conscious' concentration and effort to keep track of all the things you had to do to perform the task properly. However, once this knowledge was committed to long term memory (stored in the unconscious) you no longer had to consciously think about how to perform these activities, you just did them, automatically. That is the power of the unconscious mind, it takes care of the day-to-day mundane activities, so that we don't have to consciously focus on them.

A metaphor for these two minds has been describes as follows. Think of the unconscious mind as a massive cave, full of treasures, and the conscious mind is a man with a flashlight, exploring the cave. Whatever the light of his flashlight hits, is what he is aware of at that moment. No matter how big the beam is, it can only be aware of a fragment of the caves wonders at a time.

Through the use of hypnosis, we can access much, much more of these treasures and even change them (in the case they are no longer serving us in a positive way) as needed, so that we can become ever better versions of ourselves.

Michael C. White, C.Ht.