We all think differently. However, there is a pattern according to which we can identify what is going on in our minds and how we can understand it.
We can divide our thoughts into 2 spheres: conscious & subconscious. Which can be explained by the thoughts we control or the ones we do not. There is an overlap between controlled and uncontrolled thoughts with examples of imagination.
Controlled thoughts arising from our consciousness can be divided into 2 groups: chosen or created.
Controlled chosen thoughts are things we consciously decided to investigate. Whether it's a school/work assignment we are forced to do, or it's our hobby as learning musical instruments or our analytical thoughts which can plan our next holidays. We have consciously decided to pay attention to these things. Prefrontal cortex grants us this ability.
Controlled creating thoughts are results of our imagination. Imagination combines things we have consciously learned with information stored in our subconscious. We can see it by what our imagination brings to us or by analyzing art and seeing the thoughts patterns of an artist in a song, painting or sculpture. Amygdala and hippocampus play the key role.
Uncontrolled thoughts that come from our consciousness can be divided into 2 groups: acquired or owned.
Uncontrolled acquired thoughts are the building blocks of our subconscious. Our beliefs, expectations, self-esteem or somatic experiences and all of our traumas are stored here. These blocks have an influential effect on the way we talk, interact with people, walk, use money, and how our body feels. Amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex are storing this information.
Uncontrolled owned thoughts are intuition. This is a thought process we have acquired from birth. If not disturbed it allows us to read subtle clues about the environment and what is good or bad for us. It belongs to our subconscious and it is often managed by our gut and brain stem.
How does trauma affect our thoughts?
As Pierre Janet, father of Traumatic studies explained in 1889:
“as long as people are unable to integrate the memories of the trauma, fragments of the experience keep returning as intense emotions, images, bodily sensations and as irrelevant behaviors.”
The unpleasant experiences we have acquired are often ruling our life like a puppet master decides the next move of its toy. In our fast paced world we tend to follow numerous distractions, often to bewilder and numb ourselves from the painful memory which wants to leave us. This past exposure leaves in us pressure, burden related with the emotion we have not acknowledged and processed. Often when we use our analytical mind to acquire our goals, we struggle to keep our mind on point and smoothly accomplish our tasks. Other times we might experience strong sensations from our body due to unknown triggers, which cause us to feel fear and think that people, situation we are in are risky or dangerous. In other situations, unprocessed experience can cause our body to experience psychosomatic disturbance which can result in numerous illnesses which spiral our thought pattern in regards to our health.
Have you ever experienced that learning a new skill, tasting new food or putting yourself in a new situation is just above you? As Janet follows ”Unable to integrate traumatic memories, they seem to lose their capacity to assimilate new experiences (...).”
Often our traumatic experiences shatter our image of self, making it appear as if it's unable to progress in life. We might cognitively know that learning a new skill, trying new things is in our reach, yet something is holding us back.
In the theory of ego evolution and theory of parts we learn that every unprocessed experience leaves a psychic and somatic mark within ourselves. We might be 40 years old, educated and successful but when a specific trigger appears we revert to our previous self from the moment this trigger was recorded making us feel and act as a 5 or 14 year old. Leaving us baffled on how we reacted to such insignificant things.
Our thoughts are very often a representation of the way we feel.
If we feel safe our thoughts are positive, cheerful and allow us to learn.
If we feel danger our thoughts are negative, pessimistic, full of comparison and do not let us learn easily.
“Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance.
Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.”
James Allen: As the man thinketh
Practice of Mindfulness and Trauma therapy can help you in the process of clearing out your mind of the limiting subconscious thoughts.
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