What if stress and anxiety is buried so far into our unconscious we are not aware it is there. What if this hidden stress is affecting the way our body works, the way we think and react? But …what if there was a way to identify it and eliminate it? That’s something we all need to explore, because unconscious stress is silently stripping you of the life you were meant to have.
Our minds have an amazing capacity to process information, whether by sight, sound, touch or taste. We are literally processing billions of tiny pieces of information every day. Some we use immediately, some we store away in our filing system to be used later or maybe never. Everything we have seen, heard, touched or smelt, whether consciously or subconsciously is stored somewhere deep in your unconscious mind. Fascinating really.
When we need the appropriate response, our minds recall this information and we experience joy, fear, anger, safety etc. For some the smell of roses invoke a beautiful memory of them playing in their rose garden as a child. For someone else it may invoke feeling of anxiety at the memory of falling in a rose bush and being badly injured. The sight of the ocean for some is soothing and therapeutic, for others terrifying at the memory of almost being drowned at the beach as a child.
Why does this happen? Because every memory is stored. Every experience is stored. They are learning tools. Our experiences as children have taught us to not run out into traffic. Who we trust and who we don't. To walk toward pleasure and to walk away from danger. However, we processed them as children and we have recalled on them as children. There is no reason to fear roses or the beach any longer but we recall time and time again the fear response because our unconscious mind is trying to keep us safe as it did when we were children.
The unconscious mind is responsible for our safety. It keeps the physical body functioning, it is responsible for giving us appropriate responses to situations; think of tears that appear when you are happy or sad. You might not even want to cry but the tears come automatically as a response to either outside stimulus, i.e. something in your eye, or an upsetting personal experience. This is the working of the unconscious mind. Now, it is time to evaluate what we need to keep in our unconscious minds and what no longer serves us, because, it also gives us inappropriate responses such as our fear of the water.
So, how do we know if we are keeping destructive stress and trauma in the unconscious mind. It may just be that your body is giving you all the answers you need. We are being sent signals every day to alert us that something needs to be healed or eradicated. If you fall and twist an ankle, it will immediately swell and bruise. This is your unconscious mind at work to protect the body and give it the chance to heal. The inflammation immobilises the joint so you can’t walk on it and cause more damage and the bruising is an outward sign that trauma has occurred and is in the healing phase.
The body and the mind are connected on so many levels, so it stands to reason that the same thing happens when your unconscious wants you to heal an old stress or trauma you have been holding on to. It will send a message. At first the message may be small and insignificant, but soon it will be a bigger problem, until it turns into full blown anxiety if ignored. Your unconscious mind no longer wants you to hold on to this negative force in the body so it sends a simple message. Maybe this message is a headache, tightness in the neck and shoulders, irritability, sleep disturbances, digestive issues etc. Maybe the message has already become anxiety, depression or panic attacks.
If we fall and injure our ankle, we take steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We will get better shoes, fix the broken step or avoid the hole in the footpath. If our unconscious mind sends us a message through our shoulder stiffness and soreness we probably go to the Osteopath or put a heat pack on it and hope it goes away but, it comes back time and time again.
These are the messages we need to listen to. This is our unconscious mind telling us it is time to let go. We, however, never take the appropriate steps to make sure it doesn't happen again. So, the message gets bigger, maybe it’s already anxiety or depression.
If we want to have a healthy mind and body, it is time to listen. How many times do you sit with yourself and listen to your mind. Put on some peaceful music, light a candle, have a bath or find somewhere comfortable to lay down and just listen. You just might find the way forward.