How well do you understand the phrase ‘Tip of the Iceberg’? That is exactly what is when we talk about our minds.
Freud frequently utilised the iceberg metaphor to illustrate the two major facets of human nature.
The protruding tip of the iceberg represents our conscious awareness(we will get back to it). The conscious mind is only the “tip of the iceberg.” The far bigger proportion of the iceberg, which represents the unconscious, lies beneath the water.
While Freud recognised the importance of the conscious and subconscious, he considered they were considerably less crucial than the unconscious. Let’s go deeper in these levels and learn more about how they operate.
Table of Contents
The Three Levels of Human Consciousness-The Conscious, Unconscious and the Subconscious Minds
Each level of consciousness contributes to the shaping of human behaviour and thought.
According to Sigmund Freud, conduct and personality are the result of the continual and unique interaction of competing psychological forces operating at three distinct levels of awareness: preconscious, conscious, and unconscious. He felt that each of these components of the mind has a significant influence on behaviour.
To comprehend Freud’s theory, it is necessary to first comprehend what he believed each component of personality accomplished, how it functioned, and how these three components interact to contribute to human experience.
While an iceberg floats in the water, the vast majority of it remains submerged. Only a small portion of the total is visible above the surface, while the largest and most influential portion remains hidden beneath it.
Similarly, each of us will frequently reveal a portion of ourselves to others while concealing a larger portion of ourselves that no one ever sees.
The Conscious Mind
The first level of consciousness is referred to as the conscious state, and it refers to our present awareness as you read this. When we receive information from our senses, analyse it, and then make decisions based on that information, we are utilising our conscious mind.
For instance, you may be conscious of the information you’re reading, the sound of the music you’re listening to, or the content of a conversation you’re having at the moment. All of the thoughts that pass through your mind, all of the sensations and perceptions from the outside world, and all of the memories that you bring into awareness are all a part of that conscious experience.
The conscious mind comprises everything that we are aware of at any given moment. It encompasses everything we’re thinking about right now, whether it’s in the forefront or the back of our minds. If we are conscious of it, it is in our conscious mind.
The Subconscious Mind
The subconscious level of consciousness is where dreams are created. We can think of it as a repository for all recalled experiences, the impressions these experiences leave on the mind, and the tendencies that are awoken or reinforced by these impressions.
Every experience, thought, and impression you’ve ever had is stored in your subconscious mind and has a far greater influence on our thought and behaviour patterns than we realise.
The subconscious stores information just beneath the level of conscious awareness. Individuals can retrieve such information relatively easily, and these are commonly referred to as memories.
Suppose someone were to ask you right now what your middle name was, you would recall it, as well as your father’s birthday and the last time it rained. Past experiences are stored in what Freud referred to as the subconscious part of our minds, which we may be unaware of at one point and then completely focused on at another.
Our success in life, work, and relationships is frequently determined by the habits we develop over time. Setting priorities and completing critical day-to-day tasks requires both mental and physical strength. As such, this habit is amenable to learning through practise and repetition until it becomes ingrained in our subconscious mind and becomes an indelible part of our behaviour.
The Unconscious Mind
The unconscious is the final level of consciousness. This is composed of thoughts, memories, and primitive/instinctual desires that are deeply buried within us, well below our conscious awareness. While we are unaware of their existence, they have a sizable impact on our behaviour.
While our behaviours frequently reveal the unconscious forces that motivate them, we are unable to readily access the information stored in the unconscious mind. Throughout our childhood, we accumulated a variety of memories and experiences that shaped our current beliefs, fears, and insecurities. However, we are unable to recall the majority of these memories. They are unseen forces that influence our behaviour.
Things that may be forgotten in your unconscious mind include negative past experiences or a traumatic event that you pushed out of your subconscious. Certain life experiences or thoughts may be too frightening for some individuals to fully acknowledge and are thus mediated by the subconscious mind.
The conscious mind’s contents are all of the things of which you are actively aware. The closely related preconscious mind contains all of the possibilities for bringing something into conscious awareness. Additionally, the preconscious acts as a gatekeeper, limiting the amount of information that enters conscious awareness.
Explore Consciousness at The Coaching Conclave
Every being that has come into existence travels and traverses through different stages of human consciousness. Every iota that emerges out of Shunya evolves, multiplies, and expands, and merges into consciousness.
And, the consciousness further expands into collective awareness. What happens after that – is the journey that we are set to explore at The Coaching Conclave 2021, on these Three Tracks.
- Expression: Expression acknowledges your identity that brings forth awareness. It helps in fabricating our own consciousness.
- Connection: Establishing a Connection expands the integral frame of the world. Build more connections. Set goals. Expand with more and more connections.
- Contribution: Multiply the ability to express, enabling your connections to identify their Self. Contribute to expanding your territory of nothingness and raise your field of consciousness.
We are making an attempt to expand collective awareness so that we can embrace a larger portion of the universal field of consciousness. We are aiming to create it through a series of events around masterful coaching conversations, mindfulness practices, spiritual practices, mystical experiences, learning, and sharing,The Coaching Conclave 2021-Journey Into Shunya and Expansion: Raising Consciousness Through Coaching.
