Freud posed the idea that our identity operates on more than one level, and that what was underneath was more responsible than what was above. The idea of an iceberg represents the conscious - what you can see - but most of what is present is beneath the surface. These are just models of understanding. Freud’s model of the guiding unconscious, also known as the pleasure principle, is that all behaviour is driven by the desire to avoid pain and towards pleasure.

Neuroscience has taken this idea further. It is estimated that 90% of what we do is generated unconsciously. So only 10% of us are conscious at any one time! So most of the time we operate in a trance state and are not actually conscious of what we are doing. Most of the time this serves us well: with positive trances like driving, attraction, and love. But we also have negative trances, like smoking, drinking, and drug use.

The conscious mind is the idea of the observing self, the critical factor which processes everything that comes to its attention. It can only take on board between 5 and 9 bits of information at any one time. In order to make sense of the world in these small chunks, it deletes, distorts and generalises using the unconscious programmes a guide. As you are reading this, for example, you will only be paying attention to certain bits of information, certain words, phrases etc.

The unconscious mind takes in everything up to 2 million bits of information at any one time. This is where our programmes run in helpful and unhelpful ways. The unconscious takes care of everything from breathing, digestion, heart rate etc, as well as our mental and emotional programmes. Habitual behaviour resides in the unconscious mind and if we didn’t habituate we would never have survived as a species. As you are reading this, your unconscious mind is taking in every bit of sensory information available the surroundings you are in: how your clothes feel on your body, the noises around you, etc. Notice how when I list these things your conscious mind is drawn there. The unconscious is in charge of what the conscious mind pays attention to.

This partnership works very well most of the time - unless there is a faulty programme in the unconscious which is usually a limiting belief. I had a client recently who had a chronic fear of exams which had blighted her career as a dancer. She was a great ballroom dancer and wanted to learn how to teach, but she had to sit exams in order to do so. She had managed to get through two exams and pass, but she had spent the weeks running up to them unable to sleep or concentrate, and the exam itself was also traumatic for her - even though she passed. This experience did not make sense to her consciously. She knew how good she was, and that she could do it, but the anxiety was getting in the way of her achieving her potential. So, what was driving this unconscious behaviour to avoid this situation? She had a limiting belief from her first day at school (aged 5) when she had felt acutely embarrassed when asked to write her first name and she could not. Her unconscious had generalised this fear of failure to other similar situations and now was doing the same to her experience of dance exams.

What was happening for this woman? Her brain was doing exactly what it does best. It was alerting her to a dangerous situation by triggering a strong physiological response called the fight/ flight response. This is intended to protect us in a dangerous situation, but on this occasion the response was based on a faulty perception or limiting belief from an earlier experience.

Why is this? It’s all about the brain. Read more next week in Part II.