Issue #12 - How To Tap Into Our Inner Wisdom
Welcome to the latest issue of The Qi of Self-Sovereignty. The newsletter exploring what it means to be free in an increasingly not-so-free world.
Whether you're looking to locate your authentic self or investigate sovereignty, you're in the right place! Each week, with just a few minutes of reading, I aim to expand your awareness through a quote and a piece of content that made me go hmm...
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Thought-Provoking Quote:
"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will control your life and you will call it fate." - Carl Jung
In one of my previous posts, I discussed the difference between active and passive thought.
You can find that post here:
Seb Bunney
TL;DR:
Active thought, as wording alludes, involves actively and consciously focusing on a central thought and exploring how this thought fits in with what we know.
Passive thought, on the other hand, is the act of stepping back from active thought, giving our mind time to disconnect and the subconscious the power to take over. Letting go of our conscious stream of thoughts through meditation, sleep, exercise etc.
In doing so, our subconscious can tap into the deep web of our experience and knowledge and unearth information unavailable to our conscious mind.
For the sake of time, I want to direct our focus toward passive thought.
You may have heard these books:
"The Untethered Soul" - Michael Singer
"The Power of Now" - Eckhart Tolle
"The Art of Contemplation" - Richard Rudd
Outside of recommending these books, they all have something in common...
The author supposedly tapped into deeper wisdom unavailable to their conscious mind.
You can think of it as an "aha!" moment, an experience of a sudden and striking realization.
These individuals, as well as others, commonly refer to these experiences as a "download." Or, as you may have heard, an epiphany.
Have you ever had a moment of deep insight or a thought emerge that seemed to contain knowledge outside of what you know?
I believe these moments are the result of passive thought in action.
This brings up the question, are we at the whim of our subconscious, or can we foster passive thought?
I have been pondering this question for a while now. But I wasn't making much headway... until I came across a few critical pieces of the puzzle.
One of those pieces was in the book "The Honeymoon Effect" by Bruce Lipton.
In this book, Bruce briefly touches on something that, for most, will seem insignificant, but for me, it was profound.
As children, our brains experience much more theta-wave brain activity. The power of this theta-wave state is that we can write to our subconscious without overlaying our interpretation of our experience. This can be both positive and negative, i.e. if we are to accidentally drop a carton of eggs and are subsequently told by our parents, "you're an idiot," as a child, we will take this literally. We struggle to recognize that our parent's response resulted from our actions. It was not intended as an attack on who we are.
This increased theta-wave activity lasts until around seven when alpha-wave activity begins to dominate. At this point, our conscious mind is far better at evaluating situations allowing us to interpret the world more accurately.
This got me thinking...
As adults, do we experience theta-wave activity?
And if so, rather than simply writing to our subconscious while in this theta state, can we pull from our subconscious?
Through countless hours of digging, it turns out the answer to both these questions is yes.
Insightful Content which made me go, hmm...
While on this journey into the realm of the theta-wave, I stumbled across this article, "Theta - Entering the World of Our Subconscious" by Samie Al-Achrafi.
What I learnt from perusing this article was truly fascinating.
Often the best type of thinking is... not thinking.
Letting go of the relentless stream of thoughts marching through our minds actually leads to healthier brain wave states. But more importantly, it allows us to tap into the deep wisdom of our subconscious.
While napping, have you ever found yourself in that blissful state between sleep and awake?
Or
Have you woken in the night, relaxed but barely conscious, unsure whether you're asleep?
In both of these moments, a meditative state of sorts, our brain is experiencing theta-wave activity.
What makes this theta state so powerful is that it allows us to connect with our subconscious– the mysterious part of us governing our autonomic body functions, emotions, imagination, memory, intuitions and habits. In doing so, we benefit in two ways:
- Profound insights, whether about ourselves or not, will sometimes emerge
- We can push meaningful changes straight to our subconscious, bypassing our conscious filter
Or as Samie, from the article above, explains:
"By learning to use a conscious theta brain wave pattern, we can access and more effectively influence the powerful subconscious part of ourselves that is normally inaccessible to our waking minds. While in a theta state, the mind is capable of deep and profound learning, healing and growth."
You're now probably wondering, "this all sounds great, but how do I tap into the power of theta-wave activity?"
Most subconscious thought starts with conscious, active thought.
With this in mind, before you go to bed, direct your attention to a question you'd like answers to or a problem you might be facing. This primes the brain to start looking for answers.
When you wake up, observe any thoughts that arise.
Alternatively, if you find yourself in this blissful state between sleep and waking, notice what comes up.
Thomas Edison was said to have held a ball in each hand as he rested. That way, if he started to fall asleep, the noise of the balls hitting the floor would bring him back into this semi-conscious state between awake and asleep.
Salvador Dali used a similar technique. He would hold keys above a metal plate. He claims the thoughts that arose in these moments of deep relaxation inspired his art.
Another option is to set an intention before diving into meditation. Simply state what you intend to accomplish in this moment of relaxation.
*Other alternatives to tap into this state include binaural beats, breathwork, and self-hypnosis, to name a few.
To end, I want to leave you with a thought.
It can be easy to dismiss passive thought as simply tapping into our subconscious and connecting abstract dots of previously consumed information.
But this doesn't explain why these thoughts can sometimes be so profound and feel so foreign.
...such as the books listed above. The authors claim their book's wisdom did not come from them.
This raises the question, while in passive thought, are we simply tapping into our subconscious, or are we connecting to some deeper collective knowledge, something science has yet to understand?
I'll save that for another post.
Thanks for taking the time to read this issue of The Qi of Self-Sovereignty. I hope you found it insightful.
I always welcome feedback and thoughts. So, do not hesitate to respond to the newsletter email, comment on the article or reach out via Twitter.
Seb
The future is bright!
