By: Jeff E. Masters LMT, NASM-CPT, MPCT

When we are young, the world is full of discovery and adventure.  Our minds are open and receptive to impulses from the subconscious and perhaps even the deeper levels of consciousness.  However, as we grow older and the bombardment of stimuli from parents, teachers and our environment saturate our consciousness, our subconscious begins to recede into the inner depths of our minds.  At this point, information from the subconscious gradually tapers from an audible voice to barely a wisper.  But why?

Between six and ten years old, our subconscious encounters its first barrier to the outside perception of reality; our reasoning and judgemental mind.  From this mind comes our opinions about what is good and bad, real or imaginary.  It is usually around this time that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny cease to exist in the real world and become figments of our imagination.  Society teaches us that this is a normal progression in the process of growing up, but in actuality it's a symptom of our shutting down.  In fact, every experience or stimulus we receive from the outside world is filtered and judged by our conscious mind.  After years of  censorship and being fed only certain thoughts or considerations, our subconscious becomes closed off, given only a small, dark corner of our mind.

Much like a prisoner would, the subconscious searches for ways to escape and express the pure unadulterated  knowledge it holds.  It waits for an opportune moment to make its break by exploiting the weaknesses of the conscious mind.  We know that while we sleep, the conscious mind is sedated and that the subconscious has free reign over our thoughts through our dreams, but how does it communicate with us while we are awake?

The Imagination

Just as a crafty spy knows that intelligence is foremost in any battle, the subconscious realizes that it must hide its communications from the conscious mind.  If it did not, the information would be thrown out unused.  Consequently, these communications are camouflaged by entering our thoughts through the flights of fantasy or imagination, all this so as not to alert the ever-present "Watchdog."

While we are awake, the subconscious uses the imagination’s palette, creating elaborate masterpieces from thoughts, emotions, sounds, memories and even intuition.  Sometimes it compels us with hidden messages, while at other times the message is crystal clear and obvious.  It is the nature of our subconscious to cloak its messages in visions that our conscious mind deems as harmless. 

All this in hopes that we will someday recognize the true meaning behind the experience.

In very general terms, the Western world as a whole perceives the imagination as a fantasy realm, where what we think has little or no bearing on the world around us.  In fact, we would even say that it sometimes distracts us from what is really important in our daily lives.  Things such as the month status report that was due yesterday or little Jonny’s homework are thought to suffer from the follies of an undisciplined mind.

In the East however, people generally believe that the imagination is one of the most powerful tools at their disposal.  Ancient texts on Tai Chi Ch'uan outline mental exercises to develop and use one's internal energies.  These exercises begin by using the mind to focus on "imaginary" feelings of energy flowing through the various limbs and trunk of the body.  Later, it is said that the Qi, or internal energy, will follow the path of such guided imagery.

Qi-Gong practitioners begin their training in a very similar way, by using meditative postures and breathing, combined with internal visualizations or what we could term controlled imagination.  The practitioner’s imagination then becomes a tool for them to develop their inner abilities and work with the potential that they instinctively know exists beyond their conscious mind.

Only a few years ago, the New Age community began to see a trend towards "Creative Visualization"; using the imagination combined with emotion and energy to attain goals and tap one's inner gifts.  This system utilizes the subconscious and imagination to effect changes in the mind, body, spirit and eventually life.  Ok, how can the imagination work for us in our everyday life?  By making the connection.

Making The Connection

Our conscious mind is constantly active, chattering about any number of things throughout the course of the day.  It always speaks over the voice of our innermost knowledge, the subconscious.  When we meditate or seek to become silent inside, the conscious mind struggles to keep up its rhetoric, overpowering the subconscious.  If we continue to pursue this inner silence, the conscious mind starts to lose interest and stumble, creating patches of sublime silence.  Within these patches the subconscious begins to come closer to the surface of our waking state.  If we push even further into the silence, the conscious mind is subdued completely and the subconscious is allowed to come forth into the realm of our conscious state.  Once free, the subconscious spreads it's wings, exposing the incredible insights hidden for so long.   We characterize these moments as flashes of intuition or enlightenment.  As we continue to enter into this state, we quiet the conscious mind and then merge the two together until eventually they become one.  From the impulses and messages received, we access a new fountain of information, one that can protect, help us to become more creative and help attain out own self development.  If the subconscious can speak to us, even in a limited capacity, can we communicate with it?

Ask any Olympic level gymnast what they do to prepare themselves mentally before a competition, and they will tell you that before they compete they will visualize each step of their routine.  They will see each movement, each facet of their routine performed in exquisite slow motion, perfectly executed.  This not only prepares the body to execute the movements but also the minds to accept them.  It is widely proven that controlled imagination or visualization enhances any performance oriented sport or activity.  Going beyond that, I believe that this dynamic can be applied to all aspects of life.

Why does it work?

Think back to a time when someone you know (or maybe someone you don't know) acted in a way that greatly upset you, really made you angry.  Imagine it in aching detail, recreating all the actions, hearing each word said, remembering everything about the confrontation.  Become immersed in the vision, give it new life.  How does it make you feel now?  Is your heart beating faster?  Did you experience a physical sensation as a result of the mental visualization?  If the confrontation was bad enough and your imagination vivid, you probably feel agitated or possibly angry again at the thought of it.  That is the way that imagination helps us.  It affects us.  It can elicit deeper more profound feelings and emotions.  It is a key to your innermost spirit.  It can elevate your heart rate, bring you to tears or even put you to sleep.  If the imagination can affect the body in a biological way, the most fundamental aspect of ourselves, think of what it can do for the spirit or even energy of the body, that most subtle realm of ourselves.

That brings us to the most important aspect of all, communication.  To communicate with our own subconscious, we must again enter into our inner silence.  Once we attain the quietude of spirit and find that space where the conscious and subconscious dwell, we show it our thoughts; be they goals, a new job, a raise or other desires; increased sensitivity, companionship.  Imagine your goal with all the detail you can, make it real, empower it with positive energy and emotion.  You, in a way, are teaching your subconscious through the translator of your imagination. 

The subconscious will then send it's own messages to the Universal Spirit.  By setting up the program of what you desire through the deeper levels of your consciousness, you create a carrier wave for the greater energy of the collective consciousness.  On this carrier wave rides all that you have tried to create, generating each goal bit by bit, second by second.  The collective consciousness then aligns itself within the lives of those to be affected by your actions, slowly harmonizing your desired goals within their lives.  These are the fundamental techniques of manifestation. 

By first seeking the inner silence of our minds and then communicating with the deeper levels of our consciousness we establish a link between two worlds.  Once we are able to dwell within these two worlds, we will see our lives in a richer, more meaningful way.  Our everyday actions will no longer be mundane movements through life but instead, have inherent within them an impact on others.  Through the looking glass of our imagination we will understand the interconnectedness that we all share.  Through the silence, we find the common thread that runs within us all, the spirit that flows through us all and everything around us.  By using our inner silence and inner speech, we are able to communicate with that spirit, to communicate with all beings, no matter where they are.