Every day, we take actions that affect the world around us and these actions originate with thoughts and decisions that start in our minds. Fully understanding the mind can seem like a complicated undertaking, but to know how the mind works in a practical way that can enhance your day-to-day life can be rather simple. I will present to you a simple model that we will explore in depth in this series on the human mind.

The human mind can be divided into two parts, the conscious and the unconscious mind. The conscious mind is what we are aware of in any given moment. It is the part of the mind that is aware of our thoughts and perceptions, making sense of what we perceive. It is responsible for where we choose to focus our attention, and can be used to direct our intention.

The unconscious mind is everything outside of our conscious awareness. It is where our memories are stored and our emotions originate. Many of our driving forces in our daily life originate from the unconscious mind. It is a powerful force that can drive our actions and behaviours.

While some people may believe that the conscious mind is the strongest part of the mind, the reality is that the unconscious mind is much more powerful. The unconscious mind is responsible for processing all input that we receive, and generating the output of our physical bodies and minds. The unconscious is drives the automatic processes, such as breathing, digestion, heart function, and posture. In addition, it is constantly deleting and distorting sensory input to make sense of it.

Even though the unconscious mind has all the processing power, the conscious mind has an important role. By directing our attention, the conscious mind can produce the filters that direct the unconscious processing power to our own advantage. Understanding this interdependent relationship is key to personal growth and discovery.

When you have been stuck on a problem, often times thinking consciously about the problem limits your solutions because of the limited power of the conscious mind. When you are able to identify the problem and hand over processing to the unconscious mind, the solution will come easier. This is the reason that often taking a break from your work will give you the space to find the proper next steps.

At this point, it is important to understand that everything I will present in this series is simply a model – a representation of reality that may be useful to you. The test of a model is it’s usefulness, so take time to reflect on how this model can apply to your life.

In the rest of this series, I will break down the conscious and unconscious mind and by the end of this set of articles, you will have a model of the mind that you can apply to find balance and harmony for better mental health.